Download or read book Missional Ecclesiologies in Creative Tension written by Joon-Sik Park and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2007 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this masterful study of the critical issues in missional ecclesiology, Joon-Sik Park reflects on two prominent twentieth-century theologians - H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962) and John Howard Yoder (1927-1997) - and integrates the insights of their respective traditions. Although ecclesiology was a major concern to both Niebuhr and Yoder, their views on the nature and calling of the church were distinct. Whereas Niebuhr (a theologian in the Evangelical and Reformed tradition) was concerned with defining the church in relation to a universal community, Yoder (standing within the Mennonite tradition) was interested in representing the church as an alternative community. Although Niebuhr was reluctant to distinguish the church sharply from the world, Yoder stressed the distinctiveness of the church from the world and considered the Christian faith a decisive difference between believing and unbelieving communities. Seeking to construct an integral missional ecclesiology, Joon-Sik Park carefully engages Niebuhr and Yoder and proposes a critical synthesis of their strengths. He holds in creative tension the contradistinctive ecclesiologies of Niebuhr and Yoder by means of Lesslie Newbigin's logic of election, providing a way to overcome an impasse between the two theologians.

Download or read book Mission Partnership in Creative Tension written by Samuel Cueva and published by Langham Monographs. This book was released on 2015-04-14 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Samuel Cueva has refined his concept of ‘partnership in mission’ by advocating the use of reciprocal contextual collaboration in this important contribution to scholarly reflection on contemporary missiology. Referencing historical, theological and functional aspects of how mission has been carried out, as well as analyzing it’s impact on the evangelical movement, the author identifies that mission always develops with positive and negative tensions. Emphasizing an understanding of current missions which include traditional, networking and emergent models, and how they can be combined, interconnected and interchanged, the author proposes a fresh model that ensures the suitability for every mission context.

Download or read book Ecclesial Futures Volume 1 Issue 2 written by Nigel Rooms and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-12-24 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecclesial Futures publishes original research and theological reflection on the development and transformation of local Christian communities and the systems that support them as they join in the mission of God in the world. We understand local Christian communities broadly to include traditional "parish" churches and independent local churches, religious communities and congregations, new church plants, so-called "fresh expressions" of church, "emergent" churches, and "new monastic" communities. We are an international and ecumenical journal with an interdisciplinary understanding of our approach to theological research and reflection; the core disciplines being theology, missiology, and ecclesiology. Other social science and theological disciplines may be helpful in supporting the holistic nature of any research, e.g., anthropology and ethnography, sociology, statistical research, biblical studies, leadership studies, and adult learning. The journal fills an important reflective space between the academy and on-the-ground practice within the field of mission studies, ecclesiology, and the so-called "missional church." This opportunity for engagement has emerged in the last twenty or so years from a turn to the local (and the local church) and, in the western world at least, from the demise of Christendom and a rapidly changing world--which also affects the church globally. The audience for the journal is truly global wherever the local church and the systems that support them exists. We expect to generate interest from readers in church judicatory bodies, theological seminaries, university theology departments, and in local churches from all God's people and the leaders amongst them.

Download or read book Hauerwas the Peacemaker written by Nathan Scot Hosler and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “War has been abolished in Christ” is a strong claim by theologian Stanley Hauerwas. Wars, however, continue to rage, and historic numbers of people are displaced globally. Despite critics’ assessments that Hauerwas contributes to Christians disengaging, his work provides certain tools for the work of peacebuilding. In this work, Hauerwas’s contribution to peacemaking as a part of his ecclesiology and broader theological/ethical work will be assessed. Hauerwas’s peacemaking within his work stands within the context of ecclesiology and related themes of witness and Christology. The possibilities of his work on peacemaking to extend to peacebuilding practice and foreign policy formation are explored, and a critique is leveled regarding his engagement with racial justice. Additionally, certain practices of reading in theology and training in this language are extrapolated to engage the task of policy formation and analysis in contexts where religion is an active factor. This study concludes that Hauerwas’s theological ethics of peacemaking makes a valuable contribution, but must be extended into specific practices.

Download or read book Principalities and Powers written by Jamie Pitts and published by Lutterworth Press. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Principalities and Powers is an ambitious analysis of John Howard Yoder's complex sociological theory. Jamie Pitts' work transcends ideological boundaries, which have perplexed the many writers who have approached the legacy of John Howard Yoder after his death in 1997. Although there is much disagreement, a broad consensus is forming that his theology was, on the one hand, focused on the social and political meaning of the New Testament accounts of Jesus Christ and, on the other hand, sociologically reductive, hermeneutically tendentious and ecclesiologically ambiguous. Principalities and Powers proposes a revision of Yoder's theology that maintains its broadly sociological emphasis but corrects for its apparent methodological, political and metaphysical problems. Specifically, adjustments are made to his social theory to open it to spiritual reality, to hone its analytical approach, and to clarify its political import. To do so his preferred framework for social criticism, the theology of the principalities and powers, is examined in the context of his wider work and its critics, and then synthesized with concepts from Pierre Bourdieu's influential reflexive sociology.

Download or read book Churches in the mirror written by Kobus Schoeman and published by UJ Press. This book was released on 2020-01-01 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecclesiology is the study of the church and has two focal points; the one is the historical and doctrinal perspective on the church, and the other is the church as situated in a local context in the sense of the local practices of actual congregations. The ecclesiology or, more correctly, the ecclesiologies of this volume mainly focuses on the second aspect, i.e., understanding the local congregation or parish as a community of believers. A congregation may firstly be described by posing a theological question: What is the local missional church or congregation all about? This question may be answered from different perspectives, but it remains essential to answer it from a theological perspective. The first five chapters in this book focus mainly on a theological understanding of the congregation. This is done from different disciplines within the study field of theology. Congregations are, secondly, social realities and should be described and analysed through an analytical or empirical lens, or, to answer the question attached to the first empirical-descriptive task of practical theology, “What is going on?”. The remaining chapters use a quantitative and qualitative lens and give an empirical analysis of the congregation. The intention is to critically reflect on the church and congregations’ ecclesiology from a theological and analytical perspective with an emphasis on the South African context. It wants to map markers for the development of contemporary ecclesiologies, and the different chapters are meant as mirrors to look in and reflect on the theological and contextual relevance of denominations and congregations in South Africa.

Download or read book The Church s Book written by Brad East and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2022-04-26 with total page 495 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What role do varied understandings of the church play in the doctrine and interpretation of Scripture? In The Church’s Book, Brad East explores recent accounts of the Bible and its exegesis in modern theology and traces the differences made by divergent, and sometimes opposed, theological accounts of the church. Surveying first the work of Karl Barth, then that of John Webster, Robert Jenson, and John Howard Yoder (following an excursus on interpreting Yoder’s work in light of his abuse), East delineates the distinct understandings of Scripture embedded in the different traditions that these notable scholars represent. In doing so, he offers new insight into the current impasse between Christians in their understandings of Scripture—one determined far less by hermeneutical approaches than by ecclesiological disagreements. East’s study is especially significant amid the current prominence of the theological interpretation of Scripture, which broadly assumes that the Bible ought to be read in a way that foregrounds confessional convictions and interests. As East discusses in the introduction to his book, that approach to Scripture cannot be separated from questions of ecclesiology—in other words, how we interpret the Bible theologically is dependent upon the context in which we interpret it.

Download or read book Mission Theology 1948 1975 Years of Worldwide Creative Tension written by Rodger Bassham and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2002-08-19 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume seeks to be both fair and comprehensive. Its critical insights do not prevent the endorsement of an ecumenical latitude consistent with our biblical faith. It was written for those who are determined to listen and learn from all whom God has manifestly received and called to holistic mission in today's world." --Arthur Glasser, Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary Bassham's comprehensive study of developments in mission theology between 1948 and 1975 is the most thorough and reliable work available on the subject. The book is invaluable for an understanding of the crucial issues in world mission during this turbulent period." --Gerald Anderson, Director, Overseas Ministries Study Center Bassham has written what ought to become the standard textbook for those seeking to acquire a comprehensive long-range perspective on developments in missiology in recent decades. Delightfully clear and simple without being simplistic, the book shows the remarkable convergence of the main streams of missiological thinking..." --Al Krass, Editor, The Other Side

Download or read book Cross Cultural Missional Partnership written by Joshua Bowman and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-03-28 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cross-cultural partnerships in today's global environment are both challenging and necessary. Misunderstanding and miscommunication often lead to conflict between culturally diverse groups. Christians must understand and evaluate their own culture, the culture of others, and the text of Scripture itself, while remaining faithful to Scripture and relevant to culture. Unmediated tensions combined with relational isolation lead to a myriad of problems. This study proposes cross-cultural missional partnership as a relationship that mediates these tensions, thereby encouraging mutual, faithful engagement in the mission of God. Cross-cultural tensions may never disappear, but within a healthy partnership, partners can assist one another in understanding and responding faithfully to Scripture. Partners help one another more faithfully interpret and apply Scripture, leading to obedience to God's will and engagement in God's mission within unique and diverse contexts.

Download or read book Missa Est written by Eugene R. Schlesinger and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The twenty-first-century church cannot afford to neglect mission. When church and culture no longer share a common outlook, the only way forward is mission. Pope Francis recognizes this in his call for a missionary conversion of the church. Responding to this invitation, is a constructive work in ecclesiology addressing the relationship between liturgy and mission in the church's life. It advances a notion of the church grounded in both liturgy and mission, where neither is subordinated to nor collapsed into the other. The church's liturgical rites disclose and enact the church's identity as a missionary community. Close examination of the sources at the heart of traditional communion ecclesiology: Trinitarian theology, the sacraments of initiation, and eucharistic theology, yields an ecclesiology in which the church is constituted by both liturgy and mission. These are two distinct ways of participating in the triune life of God, which is revealed in the paschal mystery. The church's pilgrimage to God's kingdom takes it through the world in mission. The church, as the body of Christ, is given away to God and to the world, for the world's salvation. The result is a contemporary restatement of traditional ecclesiology, transposed into a missional key.

Download or read book Youth Ministry as Mission written by Brian Hull and published by Kregel Publications. This book was released on 2022-06-21 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is ministering to youth like being a cross-cultural missionary? You'd better believe it. The parallels between ministry within youth culture and global missions have long been touted by youth ministry experts, yet few resources exist to help youth workers benefit practically from the insights of missiologists. In Youth Ministry as Mission, Brian Hull and Patrick Mays fill this gap with an introduction to missiology, missions practice, and missionary witness tailored especially for a youth ministry context. Youth ministers will discover missiological language that describes realities they face regularly and activities of cross-cultural missionaries that translate well into leaders within youth ministries. Hull and Mays address issues such as: • Understanding the relationship of the incarnation to ministering in youth culture • Translating stories and practicing storytelling as preparation for witnessing • Teaching for witness in a multi-religious context Youth Ministry as Mission will be a valuable guide for college and seminary students as well as a breath of fresh air to those already working in youth ministry. "Hull and Mays show us how missiology can help us see a way forward in youth ministry, humbly discovering the mission of God right where we are--where we, too, have been sent to become living translations of the gospel for young people." --Brad M. Griffin, senior director, Fuller Youth Institute; author of 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager "With deferential scholarly humility, Hull and Mays have written a book that insists on integration over invention." --Dr. Dave Rahn, coauthor of Disrupting Teens with Joy

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology written by Gerald R. McDermott and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-12 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume surveys the state of the discipline on topics of greatest importance to evangelical theology. The authors critically assess the state of the question, from both classical and evangelical traditions, and propose a future direction for evangelical thinking on the subject.--[Résumé de l'éditeur].

Download or read book Looking in the Other Direction written by Teun van der Leer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-09-22 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this study, Teun van der Leer tells the story of the Believers’ Church Tradition, a tradition, mainly rooted in the so-called Radical Reformation, which prefers to be called a movement, or rather a renewal movement. Its name is a program, a vision, and a way of being church. Based on extensive source research, this book describes and analyzes the defining characteristics of this so-called “third type of church” and investigates its ecumenical value. With an extensive description of its nature of faith, the church, hermeneutical discernment, and mission, this book colors a movement within the church landscape that has never been mapped in such detail before. As such, the book provides an in-depth introduction to this ecumenically important but still a bit underexposed movement and makes a substantial contribution to the ecumenical ecclesiological debate about the church and its future.

Download or read book Prophetic Dialogue Reflections on Christian Mission Today written by Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2011 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this volume, Fathers Bevans and Schroeder address a primary challenge faced by Christians missioners today: How can they bring the Christian tradition to interact respectfully and effectively with members of other cultures and traditions from around the globe and still be prophetic?"--Publisher website

Download or read book An Interweaving Ecclesiology written by Mark Scanlan and published by SCM Press. This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is church? What spaces does church occupy? Can ecclesial space exist beyond the boundaries of church? In An Interweaving Ecclesiology Mark Scanlan offers a fresh vision of Christian community as constructed for and by participants as potential ecclesial spaces combine to create an experience which we call “church”. Drawing in particular on research into the dynamic between youth groups and the churches within which they operate, Scanlan brings us a distinct approach to the church in mission that can nuance and develop the tired and sometimes flawed thinking around Fresh Expressions and pioneer ministry. Combining deep ecclesiology with a practical approach, this book will be useful to students and scholars of pioneer and youth ministry and those with a wider interest in how churches operate.

Download or read book A Missiology of the Road written by J Kevin Livingston and published by James Clarke & Company. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Bosch (1929-1992) was one of the foremost mission theologians of the twentieth century; a prolific scholar, committed church leader and active participant in the global conciliar and evangelical mission movements. His distinctive role in the South African church's struggle against apartheid is less well known, however. After reviewing Bosch's background and exploring key themes in his understanding of mission and evangelism, Livingston explores Bosch's legacy from the perspective of the missionary nature of the church. The church is God's kingdom community, acting as a witness to and instrument of the coming reign of God. The church is God's alternative community, simultaneously set apart from the world but also existing for the sake of the world, exemplifying the radical implications of Christ's new community. It is also God's reconciled and reconciling community, serving as a sign and embodiment of God's love in Christ. For those acquainted with Bosch only as the author of his magisterial Transforming Mission, A Missiology of the Road shows how Bosch integrated his theology and practice in a faithful, contextually relevant way within South Africa and the global church.

Download or read book Becoming a Missionary Church written by Michael W. Goheen and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a historical assessment and balanced critique of contemporary church movements, especially in light of missional ecclesiology. An expert on Lesslie Newbigin and an expert on contemporary church models show how Newbigin's ideas have been developed and contextualized in three popular contemporary church movements: missional, emergent, and center church. In addition, the authors explain that some of Newbigin's insights have been neglected and need to be retrieved for the present day. This book calls for the recovery of the missionary nature of the church and commends church practices applicable to any congregation.