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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
The paper offers an alternative to the prevailing “discipleship” model of the Christian life that requires self-transformation, considerable effort and self-sacrifice, and tends to make negative judgements against those who fail to live according to the model. The model is illustrated by the example of Thomas Aquinas. A second, complementary model is drawn from the role of the crowds, who followed Jesus in the Gospels. With the help of Karl Barth's account of vocation, the second model makes it possible for the church to consider those who, for certain reasons, do not live in accord with the discipleship model to be considered good Christians, rather than unsatisfactory ones.
1 Kelsey, David H., Eccentric Existence: A Theological Anthropology (Louisville KY: Westminster/John Knox, 2009), e.g., pp. 610–16.Google Scholar
2 Barth's primary discussions of vocation can be found in his Church Dogmatics (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1961), vols. 3/4 pp. 595–647 and 4/3.1 pp. 481–680Google Scholar.
3 Cardinal John Henry Newman, “Preface to the Third Edition” of his On the Prophetical Office of the Church (1837, 1877), chapter 2, section 18. The preface can be found online at: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/viamedia/volume1/preface3.html.