According to William Leach, religious communities that have come to North America have not been able to withstand the damaging influence of its consumer-oriented society which has subverted ecclesial customs, values, and practices. Rather than resisting, most of these groups have sought to integrate Christianity into the new culture. By doing so, they run the risk of marginalizing the church and fundamentally altering its teachings and practice. Of course, the real danger does not reside i...

Meanings, Methods, and ModelsContextualization: Meanings, Methods, and Models is a classic textbook that brings together the meanings, proposals, and tasks involved in contextualization. The authors trace its historical development, beginning with its roots in the Bible and early Church. They examine how cultural, linguistic, and theological elements influence the way the Gospel is communicated across different contexts. The book highlights how the Church ...

An Eastern Orthodox Perspective on ContextualizationThe mission of the Church is to introduce the person of Christ to individual human beings who by faith enter into communion with God. This does not involve adapting information to a particular context, but rather establishing the context prescribed by God for the presence of Christ wherever we happen to be among the peoples of the world. Contextualization, then, creates a new invitational core context which is hos...

If the divine liturgy really is as beautiful as we claim, wouldn't more people attend? Wouldn't the church grow? Driven by our desire for growth, we count, we analyze, we make charts, and we strategize, but often with few discernible results. That is probably the result of focusing on secondary aspects of church life. As we know, the very existence of a church is a gift of God's presence and not the result of any particular actions taken by human beings. For that reason, church is primaril...

Evangelism in the Late Modern WorldThe gospel is more than information about the death and resurrection of our Lord. It is an invitation to enter, by way of personal faith, into a relationship with the person referenced by our propositions. Our task as believers is to mediate saving communion with a personal being upon whose will our very existence is contingent. It is precisely this personal aspect of our message, the Gospel-as-Person, that is in conflict with the...

The Majesty and Greatness of GodUnprecedented opportunities and challenges await the Christian church as it approaches the 21st century. Just fifty years ago, we could not have dreamed how advanced technologies and the remarkable rise of non-Western missionaries would open doors for world evangelization. At the same time, the church finds itself increasingly troubled by internal and external pressures, resulting in a deep sense of insecurity about its mission in th...

Missiology and the Social Sciences: Contributions, Cautions, and ConclusionsMissiology draws from several sources. These include God’s revelation in Holy Scripture, historical creeds and theology, past and present missionary experiences, and various social sciences that help us to understand diverse cultural and religious dynamics. But how exactly do these sources relate to one another? How do we balance and prioritize the contributions of each?Missiolo...

Spiritual Power and Missions: Raising the IssuesThis third volume in the EMS series represents a conversation between five renowned missiologists who raise important questions about spiritual powers in missions. In chapter one, the authors examine specific ideas commonly found in missiological literature concerning spiritual warfare. They contend that several popular assumptions are based on animism and magic rather than biblical teaching.In chapter two, Ch...

Leading Voices from across Christian Traditions Discuss the Mission of the ChurchWhat is the mission of the church? Every seminarian and church leader must wrestle with that question. No matter what designation a church uses to describe itself, it must also think critically about why it exists and what it should be doing. In this book, five leading voices representing a range of Christian traditions engage in an enlightening conversation as they present and compare...

In an eloquent defense of Calvinist theology, author and professor Michael Horton invites us to explore the teachings of Calvinism—also commonly known as Reformed theology—by showing how it is biblical and Christ-centered, leading us to live our lives for the glory of God.The system of theology known as Calvinism has been immensely influential for the past five hundred years, but it's often encountered negatively as a fatalistic belief system that confines human fr...

After 2,000 years of flawed history, here at last is a magnificent new biography of Mary Magdalene that draws her out of the shadows of history and restores her to her rightful place of importance in Christianity.Throughout history, Mary Magdalene has been both revered and reviled, a woman who has taken on many forms—witch, whore, the incarnation of the eternal feminine, the devoted companion (and perhaps even the wife) of Jesus. In this brilliant new biography, Bruce Chilton, a re...

With the many models of worship available, choosing a style to worship God can be a bit overwhelming. Is it better to go with traditional or contemporary models? Christians may find themselves asking how early believers worshiped and whether they can provide insight into how we should praise God today.Rooted in historical models and patristic church studies, Ancient-Future Worship examines how early Christian worship models can be applied to the postmodern church. Pastors a...