Building the Basileia

By Ulrick Dam

Year after year, a familiar narrative unfolds: Church attendance declines, communities wither away, and once-thriving churches shutter their doors. But does this spell the end of Christianity and the relevance of church communities? Absolutely not. We have the power to breathe new life into the church and restore its significance by embracing th

• Language: English
• Publisher: SacraSage Press
• Release date: Nov 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781958670170

Book preview

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Endorsements

This book offers a lovely, compelling vision of the church of the ­future—a church that is focused on God’s reign and our chance to participate in advancing it. I am so glad to know that thoughtful leaders like Ulrick Refsager Dam will help lead the way!

—Rev. Dr. David P. Gushee, Author of After Evangelicalism

Grappling with issues of faith and belief has become somewhat commonplace in these times of upheaval. The impact of digitality and an increasingly interconnected and globalized world has presented immense challenges to traditional beliefs. This book is a bold attempt to wrestle with how, and in what ways, those who are struggling to keep their ‘spiritual heads’ above water might find pathways to a vibrant future, personally and within their communities.

—Barry Taylor, theologian and author of Sex, God, and Rock’n’Roll

With so many leaving the church today, Ulrick Refsager Dam’s new book, Building the Basileia: Moving the Church on to the 22nd Century, is a realistic, relevant attempt to call them back. This book sets the stage for critical change necessary in our churches today. Beginning with Open and Relational Theology, Dam takes the next practical step and translates ORT into Open and Relational Ecclesiology. He provides a glimpse into how we might not only build the church but, more importantly, partner with God to promote the well being of all God’s creation. Dam writes, Faith is an activator, which sets us out on a journey, with the vision of healing and rebuilding all of creation, starting with the given Church’s own neighborhood. I highly recommend this book for all who desire to be a partner with God in this change.

—Deanna M. Young, DThM, Author of Unblaming God: Interpreting the Old Testament Through the Lens of Jesus Christ; Elder UMC

This book is a wonderful demonstration of how theology can be done not merely to enrich an emerging academic field (which it undoubtedly accomplishes) but also to serve the life of the church. Dam breaks new ground developing an ecclesiology within Open and Relational Theology, and he does so combining scholarly depth with accessible clarity.

—Martin Jakobsen, Associate professor in systematic theology, Ansgar University College

The church has, since Paul, marked its purpose as making known the one who the ancient Athenians called the ‘agnostos theos’. Paul interpreted this to mean, ‘the unknown God’, which was, no doubt, the intended meaning of those who coined the term. Yet, there is a much more radical interpretation which may well define the purpose of the church should it undergo—as it needs to—a new Reformation. The shape of Future Church will be decided by discussions around, not the unknown God, but the Unknowing God. The Next Reformation will be marked, not by the logic of the ‘not-all’, where God is an exception to the deterministic universe, but rather by the logic of the ‘non-all’, where God and the universe share in a radical openness. Central to this vital conversation is the battle between open and radical theology. In this excellent work, Ulrick Dam makes the case for open theology in an accessible and engaging way. Whilst I ultimately take my stand with radical theology, if anyone were to convince me otherwise, it would be Ulrick.

—Peter Rollins, philosopher and theologian. Author of How (not) to speak of God and The Divine Magician

To look around at the state of affairs in Western Christianity today is to gaze upon a historical moment of a church who wants a future but seemingly doesn’t have one. Between polarizing rhetoric that refuses change, to a God that has evidently been outmoded and outwitted by digitality and technology, to buildings that are falling a part, funds that are drying up, and people finding a sense of community and belonging in a myriad of other places, how can the modern day church compete? This book offers a way forward past the antiquated conversations towards new questions of God, community, and transformation. In a time when so many are asking what might be left of Christianity, here we are presented with a thoughtful, developed, theologically sound, and biblically attuned offering.

—Maria Francesca French, post-christian thinker and theologian. Author of Safer than the known way

This new book is full of inspiring invitation and thoughtful theology. It reorients our view of the redemptive work of the church in the world as we bear witness to and participate with Christ in the redemption and restoration of all things. I’m thrilled to have a front row seat to that work through leaders like Ulrick, and his colleagues cultivating a compelling vision for faith communities today.

Keri Ladouceur, Co-founder and Executive Director, Post Evangelical Collective

Ulrick Refsager Dam

Moving the Church into the 22nd century

Copyright ©2023 by Ulrick Refsager Dam

NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

Print: 978-1-958670-18-7

Ebook: 978-1-958670-17-0

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

SacraSage Press / Ulrick Refsager Dam

This book is dedicated to all my friends, 
who’s been cut off and thrown out of communities, for stating the obvious, reflecting, and raising a banner for those who could not.

For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

—Pauls First Letter to the Corinthians 3:9 (NIV)

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction

1.1 What is the focus?

1.2 So what can you expect?

Part One

Ecclesiology

2 What is ecclesiology?

3 Dulles’s models of the Church

3.1 The Church as Institution

3.2 The Church as Mystical Communion

3.3 The Church as Sacrament

3.4 The Church as Herald

3.5 The Church as Servant

3.6 A summary of Dulles’s models of the Church

4 Moltmann’s Christ-centered ecclesiology

5 So what is ecclesiology?

Part Two

Open and Relational Theology

6 The origins of Open and Relational Theology

7 It all starts with Love

7.1 … to promote overall well-being

7.2 … in relational response to God and others…

7.3 To love is to act intentionally…

7.4 The love of God

8 God needs to be responsive to truly love

8.1 Panentheism

8.2 The affected God

8.3 God is repenting

9 The Essence/Experience Binate

10 Creation and freedom

10.1 Attunement

10.2 Evil arises from non-attuned beings

11 Amipotence

12 Cooperation and prayer

13 Flow of time

14 In the simplest sense…

Part Three

Open and Relational Ecclesiology

15 Building the Basileia – An Open and Relational Ecclesiology

15.1 What is the goal?

15.2 Defining Basileia

16 Two theological observations of the Basileia

16.1 Being in, but not of the world

16.2 The call to continual co-creation

17 Three Practical Outputs of ORE

17.1 The Role as Co-Creators

17.2 The Need for Relational Leadership

17.3 Radical Inclusiveness

17.4 Then what defines Open and Relational Ecclesiology?

18 What will this impact?

Part Four

Finishing Remarks

19 Forging the path ahead

Bibliography

About the Author

Foreword

Open and relational theology comes in many forms. Because it fits everyday experience, however, open and relational theology makes a great deal of sense as practical theology. It fits life as we know it.

Take prayer as an example. Most of us pray thinking our activity makes a difference to God. We believe the future may be different because we prayed. But most traditional theologies portray God as outside time and unaffected by anything we do. In them, prayer doesn’t matter. Open and relational theology thinks otherwise, and it fits the common practice of petitionary prayer.

Or take sin and evil. Most people think things happen that make our lives and the world worse. God is not pleased when we harm ourselves, others, or the earth. These occurrences are not what God wants or part of some timeless divine plan. But most conventional theologies portray God as operating from a predetermined blueprint. In their view, whatever occurs—righteous or unrighteous—is part of God’s plan. Open and relational theology says otherwise.

Let me offer one more example. The apostle Paul compares a healthy church to a body of interrelated and mutually influencing parts. Christ is the head of this body, both influencing it and being influenced by it. No part should say to another, I don’t need you, because all play a valuable role to making the body healthy. That’s a central tenet in open and relational theology.

Ulrick Refsager Dam gets it right in this book. In this creative and important work, Ulrick offers an open and relational, practical theology of ecclesiology. And it’s rich and provocative. I suspect some readers will come upon passages and say, Of course, who would think otherwise? The best practices in practical theology fit hand-in-glove with open and relational thinking. And yet few people know about this natural fit. This book should help many realize that Christian piety makes sense in this theological perspective.

I offer a prediction: I predict the book you are holding will spark further engagement in open and relational ecclesiology. Ulrick’s offerings will alter the open and relational landscape. As you read, in fact, I encourage you to ask, How might I contribute to the life-giving work to match practice with theory, piety with reflection, or the church and the academy?

Let this fine book spark creative rumination!

Thomas Jay Oord

Preface

Listen, I have never been a big fan of prefaces to books. Usually, I skim through or straight up skip them. All of that is just to say: I will keep this part short and sweet!

This book came into being because of my love for Open and Relational Theology. But I lacked something! So much of Open and Relational Theology is founded in systematic thinking. We have great books diving into any dogmatic issue you can think of. But we miss books that help us to actively and practically build communities built on Open and Relational Theology.

That is why I wrote this book.

Actually, that is why I used my thesis time when studying for a Master’s in Leadership and Congregational Development to take the first steps towards evolving an Open and Relational Ecclesiology. This book is based on that thesis.

The book is divided into three parts: Firstly, we shall look at what defines ecclesiology. Secondly, I will present Open and Relational Theology to you. Thirdly, we shall look towards an Open and Relational Ecclesiology.

I hope this will be an inspiration and a help to your practical work and leadership.

Enjoy,

Ulrick

Acknowledgements

No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.

—John Donne (1624)

This book only became a reality, due to the blessings of great friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, and so many more. I am entirely grateful that you all helped me, stood with me, and carried me forward. And know that I am thankful for all of you.

There are a few individuals who are completely essential for the becoming of this book:

• My beloved Grandmother, who taught me that you do not have to live on the terms the life deals you. You can choose to walk your own path and choose to be joyous each day.

• My loving wife, Sara, who never reads a word of anything I write and who never listens to my sermons or teachings. It is a blessing to have a secure home base where no one listens to your theological meanderings. Thank you! (Even though you’ll probably never know I wrote this)

• Thomas Oord, who has a peculiar gift for telling people that they are clearly Open and Relational Theologians, even though they do not know it themselves. Thanks for setting me on this path.

1

Introduction

Theology can have a bad reputation in some charismatic circles. We don’t do theology. We are disciples following Jesus, some might say. What these people do not realize is that their very attitude toward theology loudly speaks of their view of God and, therefore, their own theology.

I want to start my book by recognizing that theology is not simply an academic discipline presented in dissertations and dusty old books. I want to start by recognizing that everything we do is, in some sense, theology. All our actions present our view of God and, therefore, our theology.

Consequently, theology must always be in focus in our Christian communities and the life of our congregations. All our actions present our view of God, but this is also true in the reverse order. Our thinking of God, which is, of course, our theology, also shapes our actions. There is a back-and-forth action between the two. We can say that theology will always shape our lives, just as it is shaped by our lives. Therefore, it becomes vital to always hold our theology in focus, letting it evolve and unfold, as well as shape us as Christians, without the theology becoming an idol that is worshiped and takes all the focus away from being disciples of Christ.

The American process theologian and Professor of Constructive Theology Catherine Keller wisely presents that theology is more than just words. At the beginning of her book On the Mystery, she acknowledges that theology is neither God talking through us nor is it our talk about God as if God is some sort of object that we can know fully. She writes, Theology signifies something more: theology is a way of discerning divinity in process. The process is both that of our faith seeking understanding—and of that which we seek to understand.¹ All our actions speak loudly of how we view God and how we discern the process of divinity. In other words, to Keller, theology comes through seeking a deeper relationship with God. And the deeper our relation with God, the more it shapes our being.

Theology,