Bible and Mission

  With the postmodern turn in the university have come various new methodologies.   These need to be understood as a shift from the dominance of the sciences during Modernity to the dominance of the social sciences during Postmodernity.   The Enlightenment opposed reason to belief and science to faith.   Christians could relate somewhat well to the university in Modernity by affirming the correspondence between truth and fact.   Now, in this postmodern turn, various challenges arise from a belief that truth is locally constructed, relative, and merely functional (political).   Aspects of postmodern presuppositions are evident in the following methodologies.   Research from a Christian tradition finds many points of conflict with these new approaches.   Critical Theory uses theories of social Marxism to understand and work to overcome social structures that oppress (or are believed to oppress) vulnerable and disenfranchised groups.   CT i...

  ‘You’ve Been Served’   [A description of the context for this satirical play on the Church of England is provided in the Afterword.]   Knock-knock….   Knock-knock….   Knock-knock…. ‘Maybe I’ll just peek in the window to see if anyone is here.’ ‘Of course someone is here.   This is Lambeth Palace.   Someone is always here.’ Knock-knock….   (door is eventually opened by a person holding and stroking a Yorkshire Terrier) ‘Yes?’ ‘Afternoon, Mum.   We’d like to speak with Mr. Canterbury, please.   Oh!   Ah, No offense.   I was just confused by the dress.   Would you be Mr. Canterbury, then, Sir?’ ‘This is not a dress.   I’m wearing a robe.’ ‘Right.   Very good, Sir.   Harold here likes to dress up, too!’ ‘Oi, knock it off, mate!’ ‘Just a little joke with my friend, Harold.   As it happens, Sir, I have some document here and just need your signature that you have received it. ...

  Readings in Missions Bible and Mission Bauckham, Richard.   Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World .  Carlisle: Paternoster Press and Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2003.  Pp. 126. Goheen, Michael.   A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story .  Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2011.  ISBN-10: 0801031419.  Pp. 256.  (Available on Kindle.) Grams, Rollin.   New Testament Mission Theology . In progress.   [Sections available by request.] Payne, J. D.   Theology of Mission: A Concise Biblical Theology .   Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022.   Pp. 192. Mission History Green, Michael.   Evangelism in the Early Church .   Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970, 2003. Neill, Stephen, and Owen Chadwick.   A History of Christian Missions .  Penguin, 1991.  Pp. 466. Smither, Edward L.   Christian Mission: A Concise, Glo...

  Introduction This study of the arrogant in the church in Corinth provides a Biblical precedent for what might be the next step for orthodox Christians in the Anglican and Methodist Churches in our day.  It also applies to other denominations that have already divided between the revisionists promoting sin and the orthodox who have, by and large, left to form new denominations.  Having spoken the truth in love over many years, Paul’s response to the arrogant faction in Corinth provides an example of good practice for believers concerned to follow God. We live at a momentous time, not unlike the days of division of the Church in the 11 th and 16 th centuries, but with much more at stake.  Already in the first days of the Church, however, certain issues showed themselves that illustrated both what types of issues would divide the Church and how believers ought to handle them.  Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is one of the Biblical texts that gives us...

  Introduction A great challenge facing the Church in the world lies in theological education.   Just what does this mean?   Some phrase this in equally general terms as ‘leadership training,’ which is, sadly, a step in the wrong direction as it removes the word ‘theological’ and it conceives of ministry as ‘leadership.’   Others conceive of theological education as an education in ‘religion,’ that is, a faith-less education in academia that is unrelated to the Church.   Still others mean by ‘theological education’ an action oriented education in ‘social justice’ or ‘public theology’ that has little to do with the interpretation of sacred texts or with the history of the interpreting community.   Relatedly, some understand ‘theological education’ as contemporary and contextual studies that are phenomenological, pragmatic, and grounded in the social sciences.   This approach may or may not engage with the canonically authoritative Scriptures or the Ch...