6
More recent resources we may draw upon are articles by D. A. Carson and Timothy
George,
15
both directed toward developing an evangelical ecclesiology.
16
They, in turn, draw
upon the resources already mentioned, with Carson, as befits a New Testament theologian,
focusing more on Scriptural themes, and George, as a historical theologian, utilizing more the
classical and Reformation marks.
Carson's article was part of a 1989 attempt to define evangelicalism by stating
"evangelical affirmations." In it, he describes his goal in the paper as giving "those features of
evangelical ecclesiology that ought to govern our self-understanding and therefore our relations
with others."
17
He then lists seven theses that he believes could be affirmed by most
evangelicals. His confidence that these theses do represent evangelical ecclesiology is based in
part on the agreement he discovered in his work with evangelicals from around the world on the
doctrine of the church, conducted under the auspices of the World Evangelical Fellowship and
published in the form of two books, both edited by Carson.
18
The seven theses he develops for
evangelical ecclesiology are as follows:
"(1) The church is the community of the new covenant."
"(2) The church is the community empowered by the Holy Spirit."
"(3) The church is an eschatological community."
15
Carson, "Evangelicals, Ecumenism, and the Church," 347-385, George, "Toward an
Evangelical Ecclesiology," 122-148.
16
In fact, "Toward An Evangelical Ecclesiology" is the title of George's article, and the
sub-title of the most pertinent section of Carson's article.
17
Carson, 348.
18
Ibid., 358-359. The two books are Biblical Interpretation and the Church: Text and
Context (Exeter: Paternoster, 1984), and The Church in the Bible and the World (Grand Rapids,
MI: Baker, 1986).