The Center for Pastor Theologians Journal
The Center for Pastor Theologians Journal (formerly the Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology) is published bi-annually by the Center for Pastor Theologians. The essays contained within the CPTJ are drawn from the papers presented at the Center’s theological symposia for pastors. As such, each volume of the CPTJ focuses on a single theological theme relevant to ministry and the life of the church. Spanning a wide ministry context (rural, urban, small church, mega church) and the breadth of evangelical denominational affiliations (Baptist, Anglican, Wesleyan, Reformed, Lutheran, Independent, etc.), the majority of our contributors are evangelical theologians and scholars whose primary vocation is pastoral ministry. It is our aim that the CPTJ models robust ecclesial theology — theology that is born out of a parish context and driven by parish questions and concerns.
Views of the contributors are their own, and not necessarily endorsed by the editorial staff or the Center. The CPTJ does not accept essay contributions outside the Center’s four pastoral fellowships.
Print editions of the CPTJ are available for purchase at GlossaHouse and on Amazon. Free digital downloads of CPTJ essays are available below. Indexing available in Christian Periodical Index, owned by the Association of Christian Librarians and produced by EBSCOHost.
Current Volume
Essays on Humility
Volume 11 | 2024
The call to humility is central to following Jesus. Philippians 2, a foundational text on humility, centers the very nature of what it means to be the church as we emulate Christ’s humility. As such, Paul’s model of discipleship is patterned after Christ’s willingness to loosen his grip on glory and take the place of a humble slave. In doing so, Christ models the obedience of humility in his willingness to pursue the will of his Father, even to the point of death on the cross. Out of this self-renunciation, Christ is raised up to the place of honor. He is exalted to the name above all names, receiving the glory of God and the worship of all the creation.
Philippians 2 calls each one who would take up our cross to be willing to do what Christ did: we must release our sinful hold on self-glorifying projects and be willing to obey the Father all the way to the cross, humbling ourselves through that act of self-renouncing obedience. By doing so, we participate in the fullness of the story of Christ because through our humility we too are raised up into glory by God that we might share the eternal life of God the Father, Son, and Spirit, becoming partakers of their triune fellowship.
If Pastor Theologians are to shepherd our congregations toward humility, we must have a deep understanding of what the Scriptures reveal about humility and have a sense for how humility is actually formed in disciples. We must be equipped to humble ourselves in obedience to God and call the congregations entrusted to our care to that same humility. To put it bluntly: We must get humility right if we are to truly proclaim the gospel. This volume of the CPTJ seeks to push such conversations forward.
