What did the Lord mean when He said, "I will build my church"? What is "the church"? What were His purposes for forming it? With what resources did He endow it? Did He provide guidelines for its structure and operation? Did He intend that its function be connected essentially with its mature and purpose?

This book attempts to answer these questions by first establishing the primacy of Scripture in all matters pertaining to the church, then moving on to explore the nature of the church, the character and life of local churches, and the autonomy and interdependence that govern interaction between them. In the process Understanding the Church gives us a clear picture of what the church can and should be in the twenty-first century.

The essays presented in this volume were originally delivered at a colloquium sponsored by Grace Bible Chapel in St. Louis, Missouri. They were subsequently published in The Emmaus Journal, the theological organ of Emmaus Bible College, Dubuque, Iowa.

---------------

As a result of listening to Billy Graham, Jack Fish trusted Christ in his junior year of high school. He graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Linguistics and went on to receive Th.M and Th.D degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary. For the past 39 years Jack has taught at Emmaus Bible College. He currently serves as Editor of The Emmaus Journal and as an elder at Asbury Community Chapel in Asbury, Iowa.