Russian Baptist Mission Theology in Historical and Contemporary Perspective

Russian Baptist Mission Theology in Historical and Contemporary Perspective
Author: Andrey Kravtsev
Publisher: Langham Publishing
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2019-10-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1783687487

Since the disintegration of the USSR many Russian Baptists have actively engaged in evangelism, church planting, and acts of social service. This book is a response to the need to critically evaluate the effectiveness of past mission efforts and their undergirding theology. In this detailed study, Dr Andrey Kravtsev combines historical and qualitative studies to outline the understanding of mission developed by Russian Baptists during the Soviet era when they were almost completely isolated from global missiological developments. First, Kravtsev identifies four key missiological concepts and uses them to analyze the history of mission theology in global evangelical mission movements and the Russian Baptists. He then interviewed thirty leaders from the Russian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists to find their view of these concepts, and their convictions of the need to reconsider traditional missiological views. From his findings, Dr Kravtsev suggests five themes for facilitating the transition of Russian Baptist mission theology from the late-Soviet model of eschatological escapism, to a holistic, missional evangelicalism. This book places evangelical mission in contemporary Russian socio-political and ideological contexts and provides an important contribution for leading churches to a renewed missionary encounter with culture.

Mission from the Perspective of the Other

Mission from the Perspective of the Other
Author: Tim Noble
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2018-08-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532650507

Christian mission involves God, the missionary, and the other, the recipient of mission. This book argues for the centrality of this other in the practice of mission. The other as child of God is presented, not as an empty vessel waiting to be filled, but as the one who draws near to the missionary. Both are sent by God, and together they enter into the journey towards God. Drawing on Scripture, contemporary missiology, and phenomenology, the book argues for the importance of this often neglected other and demonstrates through historical case studies involving Saint Ignatius of Loyola, William Carey, and Saint Innocent of Alaska that the recognition of the gift of the other has always been present in Christian mission and can continue to inspire.

Handbook of Theological Education in World Christianity

Handbook of Theological Education in World Christianity
Author: Dietrich Werner
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 803
Release: 2010-11-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1608991032

The Handbook of Theological Education in World Christianity is the first attempt to map and analyze developments in theological education on a global scale. This volume, with contributions from 98 leaders in theological education from around the world, provides a comprehensive introduction to the major themes and contexts in the international discourse on theological education, surveys of the issues and challenges faced in different regions, and introductory essays on the developments in the major denominational families in World Christianity. The editors are Dietrich Werner, World Council of Churches, Geneva; David Esterline, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago; Namsoon Kang, Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth; and Joshva Raja, Queen's Foundation, Birmingham.

The Development of Russian Evangelical Spirituality

The Development of Russian Evangelical Spirituality
Author: Gregory L. Nichols
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2011-11-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1630879630

Today, many evangelicals in the Russian-speaking world emphasize sanctification as a distinctive mark of their Christian faith. This is a unique characteristic, particularly in the European context. Their historic tapestry has been woven from a number of threads that originated in the second half of the nineteenth century. Missionary efforts of the German Baptists, a revival sparked by a British evangelist, and a pietistic awakening among the Mennonites in the South converged to form a tapestry that displays Protestant, Baptist, and Anabaptist heritage. Ivan Kargel uniquely participated in the formation and ministry of each of these threads. His life spans from Tsarist Russia to the Soviet Union. Kargel refused to adhere to a systematic view of theology. Instead, he urged believers to go to Scripture and draw from the riches of a life united with Christ. Kargel's influence today is keenly felt across the Russian-speaking evangelical world as they seek to identify the roots of their spiritual identity. This book examines the influences on Ivan Kargel and offers insights into how his life and work are expressed in the tapestry of Russian evangelical spirituality.

Context and Contextuality

Context and Contextuality
Author: Vyacheslav Tsvirinko
Publisher: Langham Publishing
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2018-01-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 178368397X

Since 1988, hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians have migrated to the United States of America from former Soviet Union countries, establishing many Russian-speaking immigrant congregations across the country. This study analyzes how these immigrant churches function in their new cultural, social, and religious context. Dr Vyacheslav Tsvirinko, a Russian who lived in the USA for over twenty-five years, examines the holism, authenticity and contextuality of the mission work done by churches in the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association (PCSBA) in America. He defines authentic mission in light of three major Christian groups – the World Council of Churches, the Lausanne Movement, and Anabaptists – and uncovers startling insights on how PCSBA churches engage in mission, both back in their homeland and in the USA. The findings and conclusions of this work are invaluable to diasporic Christian communities who wish to address their authenticity in the way they do mission, both internationally and in their local context, creating a path to more fruitful gospel and kingdom work.

Ministries of Compassion among Russian Evangelicals, 1905-1929

Ministries of Compassion among Russian Evangelicals, 1905-1929
Author: Mary Raber
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2016-05-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498280706

The present study fills a gap in the study of the evangelical movement in Russia by presenting a comprehensive picture of their compassionate ministry during their longest stretch of relative freedom before the 1980s. Better known for their energetic preaching and literature work, Russian evangelicals also gave attention to compassionate ministry, although it was never extensive because of their marginal status. They established assistance funds, organized charitable institutions, practiced urban rescue ministry, participated in the Russian temperance movement, and established economic communities. Each area is distinct, yet all were supported by the same set of theological convictions. The Russian evangelicals were convinced that their witness should consist of good works as well as words, and that the gospel had the power to undo human suffering. While intentionally cultivating an attitude of concern for the needs of others, they taught that compassion was the concern of all members of the community, regardless of economic status or age. In their publications evangelicals devoted a good deal of teaching to the proper Christian attitude toward money and giving. They drew on Western models, but also their indigenous sectarian roots.

Modern Church History

Modern Church History
Author: Tim Grass
Publisher: SCM Press
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2008-03-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0334040620

This is the SCM Core Text: "Modern Church History" provides an introduction to global Christianity from 1700 to the mid 20th C. The book aims to help students understand the processes, movements and individuals who have contributed to making the contemporary Christian landscape the shape it is in the 21st century. Theologically it takes a wide and inclusive approach to provide a balanced survey of Christianity in all its forms - Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox. Geographically it focuses on the Christian church in the UK, continental Europe and North America, and examines in each location the social movements, campaigns and campaigners, scientific and political challenges that have shaped the Christian Church throughout the period.Beginning with the reaction to Lutherism, it charts the rise of Pietism in Europe throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the influence of John Wesley and the Methodists, in the UK and the 'Great Awakening' in North America. The early chapters summarize the developments within the Christian Church in the UK, with detailed coverage of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish situations, throughout the 19th Century. This is followed by a summary of the various schools of thought to have developed through the 20th C, including the church's reaction to the 2 world wars in Europe, fundamentalism in the USA. The book also provides specific coverage of the religious situation in North America throughout the modern period covering the development of separate black churches, the 'New Evangelicalism'. It is suitable for level two as well as introductory courses in modern church history or courses concerned with religion, culture and society in the 18th - 20th centuries

Rethinking Missio Dei among Evangelical Churches in an Eastern European Orthodox Context

Rethinking Missio Dei among Evangelical Churches in an Eastern European Orthodox Context
Author: Vladimir Ubeivolc
Publisher: Langham Publishing
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2016-09-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1783681268

Following a paradigm shift in his own personal understanding of mission, Vladimir Ubeivolc proposes the adoption of mission principles based on missio Dei to meet the social and spiritual needs of people in Moldova. Biblically grounded and insightful, the lessons to be learned from this book apply far beyond Eastern Europe. Dr Ubeivolc uses his knowledge from six years of research, twenty years of pastoral ministry and a lifetime of experience to summarize the landscape of the Moldovan Evangelical and Orthodox churches and their historical approaches to mission. His evaluation emphasizes the need for a biblical foundation to mission for Eastern European Evangelical churches. This book’s message is a timely, scholarly reminder of the need to pursue holistic mission if the church of Jesus Christ is to be an authentic and effective vessel to bring transformation to people’s lives and society.

A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology

A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology
Author: Thomas N. Finger
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 610
Release: 2010-02-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780830878901

In this comprehensive volume Thomas N. Finger takes on the formidable task of making explicit the often implicit theology of the Anabaptist movement and then presenting, for the sake of the welfare of the whole contemporary Christian church, his own constructive theology. In the first part Finger tells the story of the development of Anabaptist thought, helping the reader grasp both the unifying and diverse elements in that theological tradition. In the second and third parts Finger considers in more detail the major themes essential to Anabaptist theology, first considering the historic views and then presenting his own constructive effort. Within the Anabaptist perspective Finger offers a theology that highlights the three dimensions of its salvific center: the communal, the personal and the missional. The themes taken up in the final part form what Finger identifies as the convictional framework of that center; namely, Christology, anthropology and eschatology. This book is a landmark contribution of Anabaptist theology for the whole church in biblical, historical and contemporary context.

Calvinism for a Secular Age

Calvinism for a Secular Age
Author: Jessica R. Joustra
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2022-02-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1514001470

Pastor, politician, and Dutch Neo-Calvinist theologian Abraham Kuyper's lectures on the role of Christian faith in politics, science, and art have become a touchstone of contemporary Reformed theology. Revisiting these lectures, Jessica and Robert Joustra bring together theologians, historians, scientists, and others to consider Kuyper's ongoing importance and complex legacy for today.