Wrestling with questions of context is essential for how we understand mission, theology, and the embodiment of the Christian faith. Showcasing many German missiological works available in English for the first time, this longitudinal study tackles the history and dynamics of contextualization and sheds new light on the state of missiology today.
How can Christians claim that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is a victory? Eastern Orthodoxy has made its own contributions to the belief in salvation through Christ, but its expressions sometimes sound unfamiliar to Western branches of the church. James Payton explores the Orthodox doctrine of salvation, helping Christians of all traditions listen to Orthodox brothers and sisters.
Do you value reason, science, and independent thinking, yet you hope there could be a greater purpose to the universe? Beginning with his own story of losing the belief in any ultimate purpose in life, philosopher Joshua Rasmussen builds a bridge to faith. Using only the instruments of reason and common experience, Rasmussen constructs a pathway that he argues can lead to meaning and, ultimately, a vision of God.
New expressions of church, including so-called insider movements, are proliferating among non-Christian religious communities worldwide. Drawing on the growing social-scientific work on emergent theory, Darren Duerksen and William Dyrness explore how all Christian movements have been and are engaged in a "reverse hermeneutic," where the gospel is read and interpreted through existing cultural and religious norms.
Modernity, according to Bob Goudzwaard and Craig Bartholomew, is not a single ideology but rather a tension between four worldviews. In conversation with students from around the world and drawing upon a variety of sources and disciplines, the authors propose ways to transcend modernity and address global crises.
How does Christianity relate to other religions? Beginning with a consideration of the biblical perspective, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen offers a detailed and comprehensive survey of the diverse explanations proposed by teachers of the church down through the ages. This indispensable guide is for anyone seeking to grasp Christianity?s relationship to world religions.
Gerald R. McDermott explores the question, "Why are there other religions?" He looks at teaching from the Old and New Testaments and from a number of key teachers from the early church to suggest an answer to this perplexing but intriguing question.
Udo W. Middelmann provides an alternative to literature that regards poverty relief as a strictly material problem. By exposing the power of fatalistic religious ideas to suppress people and devastate cultures, Middelmann places biblical ideas at the heart of cultural development.
Does God reveal himself in a way that invites all people to respond positively in saving faith? If so, what does this say about the role of religions within the sovereign providence of God? In this intriguing study, Terrance L. Tiessen reassesses the questions of salvation and offers a proposal that is biblically rooted, theologically articulated, and missiologically sensitive.
Craig Blomberg and Stephen Robinson examine the agreements and disagreements between evangelicalism and Mormonism, focusing on Scripture, God, Christ, the Trinity and salvation.