[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-608183-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-608183-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","the-ecumenical-moment-crisis-and-opportunity-for-the-church-reviews","The Ecumenical Moment: Crisis and Opportunity for the Church - Reviews","","The text presents book reviews in Word & World (1984), assessing two works on contemporary church leadership and early Christian tradition. It critiques Dennis Voskuil’s largely admiring portrait of Robert Schuller, evaluating “possibility thinking” and “self-esteem” as the theological center while questioning its gospel continuity. It contrasts the appeal of Schuller’s success-oriented approach to theological concern and mission effectiveness. The review section also introduces studies by Gerd Theissen and Frederick H. Borsch on miracle stories, healing, and discipleship.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-ecumenical-moment-crisis-and-opportunity-for-the-church-reviews/608183/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-ecumenical-moment-crisis-and-opportunity-for-the-church-reviews/608183.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"RuangKosong","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-17",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What is the main argument of the review of Voskuil’s book about Robert Schuller?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The review praises Voskuil for providing an accessible introduction but argues he does not adequately “come to grips” with Schuller’s ministry and its positive message, leaving a publicity-like impression.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"Why does the reviewer consider Schuller’s theology of self-esteem problematic?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"The reviewer questions whether self-esteem is a valid expression of the gospel or instead functions as a quasi-Christian form of the American success ethic, egotism, and hubris.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What kinds of topics do the text’s other reviews cover beyond Schuller?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"The text introduces works examining Jesus’ miracles and gospel miracle stories, including early Christian miracle traditions and gospel stories of healing and discipleship.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},608183,1792221740,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":117,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":79,"read_time":103},962090883219,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Word & World 4/3 (1984)  \n“REVIEWS” Copyright © 1984 by Word & World, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. All rights reserved.  \npage 320  \nMOUNTAINS INTO GOLDMINES: ROBERT SCHULLER AND THE GOSPEL OF SUCCESS, by Dennis Voskuil. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983. Pp. xii + 176. $9.95.  \nIt would seem that one of the popular recreations of clergy groups these days is taking pot-shots at Robert Schuller. One need only drop his name in one of these ecclesial assemblies toelicit a battery of groans, grimaces, and theological bons mots directed against the silver-haired champion of self-esteem and possibility thinking. And woe to the poor soul who has the audacity, naivete, or recklessness to seriously cite Schuller’s thought or practice in support of a point. The resultant loss of face and theological credibility would likely be devastating and instantaneous. In short, it is popular—perhaps even expected—among mainline clergy types to be what the man himself calls a “Schuller Shooter.”  \nFully cognizant of this state of affairs, Dennis Voskuil of Hope College, Holland, Michigan (Schuller’s alma mater), has ventured into hazardous waters. What he presents is a frankly admiring portrait of the work of Robert Schuller—church growth phenomenon, star of the popular “Hour of Power” television broadcast, and pastor of the 10,000 member “Crystal Cathedral of the Reformed Church in America.” His opening lines set the tone of the book:  \nAmerica loves success stories. And no one has a better story to tell than Robert Schuller, the ecclesiastical giant who began his ministry preaching to fifty cars from the top of a tarpaper shack at a drive-in theater in Southern California....In many respects, his life sounds like an updated version of the once-popular “ragsto-riches” stories of Horatio Alger: poor farm boy from northwest Iowa becomes pastor of one of the greatest churches in America through prayer, persistence, and possibility thinking. (3)  \nStrong stuff for Schuller Shooters.  \nYet this is not a book to be neglected, just as the phenomenon of Robert Schuller in America is not to be written off with a sneer. If clergy are somewhat discomforted by Schuller’s style, theology, and (dare we suggest it?) success, laity in many churches find him satisfying, inspiring, or at least harmless. The service Professor Voskuil has performed is to present a concise, easily digestible, and eminently readable introduction to Schullerism, its practice and tenets. It is fascinating reading even for the staunchest Schuller Shooter. Voskuil describes inconsistently favorable terms the evolution of the “Garden Grove experiment” which moved in an astonishingly short time from a rented outdoor theater to the twenty-million-dollar Crystal Cathedral. He provides a survey of Schuller’s principles of church growth, discusses his excursion into the electronic church, and exposes us in some neat synopses to the two keystones of Schuller’s message, possibility thinking and self-esteem. Also included is an interesting chapter surveying the self-help oriented “gospel of success” in popular American religiosity.  \nIf Voskuil’s positive presentation of Schuller’s work is the strength of the book, it is also its greatest weakness. The author announces in the preface that it is not his intention to “study the person of Robert Schuller” in biographical fashion, but rather “to come to grips with his ministry and the positive message that gives form and focus to that ministry”(x) . He never really achieves this latter goal. In a final chapter he hazards some rather mild criticisms in which it is clear that he would dearly like Schuller to be more theocentric than he seems willing to be. But in the main this book could have been produced under the auspices of the Schuller organization as a publicity piece. And the impression is given that Voskuil has at least a minor interest in supporting his famous co-alumnus from Hope College as a theologian of the conservative  \npage 321  \nReformed Ch","cbCaigbHOv5yZkwZ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigbHOv5yZkwZ","pdf",155938,"English","# Reviews\n## Mountains into Goldmines: Robert Schuller and the Gospel of Success\n## The Miracle Stories of the Early Christian Tradition\n## Power in Weakness: New Hearing for Gospel Stories of Healing and Discipleship","[{\"question\":\"What is the main argument of the review of Voskuil’s book about Robert Schuller?\",\"answer\":\"The review praises Voskuil for providing an accessible introduction but argues he does not adequately “come to grips” with Schuller’s ministry and its positive message, leaving a publicity-like impression.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the reviewer consider Schuller’s theology of self-esteem problematic?\",\"answer\":\"The reviewer questions whether self-esteem is a valid expression of the gospel or instead functions as a quasi-Christian form of the American success ethic, egotism, and hubris.\"},{\"question\":\"What kinds of topics do the text’s other reviews cover beyond Schuller?\",\"answer\":\"The text introduces works examining Jesus’ miracles and gospel miracle stories, including early Christian miracle traditions and gospel stories of healing and discipleship.\"}]","The Ecumenical Moment: Crisis and Opportunity for the Church - Reviews | PDF"]