Contextualizing Theology in the South Pacific

Contextualizing Theology in the South Pacific
Author: Randall G. Prior
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2019-07-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532658591

This book engages with a widespread contemporary dilemma--how do we do theology in a context where the cultures of the people are oral and not literate? The nations of the South Pacific, from their missionary beginnings, inherited an approach to theology that was dominated by Western cultural categories. The global movement of contextualization began to impact upon Pacific churches in the 1960s, and challenged this inherited approach. Significant changes have resulted, but the dilemma has remained. The dominant approach is still one that is defined by and better suited to literate cultures. The consequence is that theology remains an alien enterprise, distant from the life of the local churches, and distant from the hearts and minds of the indigenous people. In facing the dilemma, this book exposes the fundamental differences between primary oral cultures and primary literate cultures, and identifies the key factors that lie at the heart of the theological problem. By addressing each of these in turn, the author then paves the way ahead. He offers a methodology for theology that is rooted within the oral cultural context of the South Pacific . . . and potentially in any context where oral cultures are the norm. The consequences for theology and for theological education are profound.

Living for Shalom

Living for Shalom
Author: Jeanette Woods
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2021-08-31
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1666715387

Ross Langmead will be remembered as one of Australia’s leading missiologists, having established his credentials as a young man in founding Westgate Baptist Community after writing a report on the struggling churches in the west of Melbourne. His distinguished academic and teaching career led him to join the faculty at Whitley College until his death in 2013. He will also be remembered for his seventies folk group, Daddy’s Friends, and the songs of love and justice he wrote over forty-five years that are still sung today. This biography starts with his missionary family upbringing and traces the influences that shaped his passion for sharing Jesus with the urban poor. He was a key player in the radical discipleship movement in Australia; his understanding of incarnational mission was that Christians need to be the people of God just where they are. Above all, he lived simply that others might simply live, his passion extending to ecomissiology and support for the unemployed, indigenous, and refugees. He would want this book to inspire readers to make a difference in the world.

My God, My Land

My God, My Land
Author: Jacqueline Ryle
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351916157

Examining the multifaceted nature of Christianity in Fiji, My God, My Land reveals the deeply complex and often paradoxical dynamics and tensions between processes of change and continuity as they unfold in representations and practices of Christianity and tradition in people's everyday lives. The book draws on extensive, multi-sited fieldwork in different denominations to explore how shared values and cultural belonging are employed to strengthen relations. As such My God, My Land will be of interest to anthropologists of Oceania as well as scholars and students researching into social and cultural change, ritual, religion, Christianity, enculturation and contextual theology.

Catholic Schools and the Future of the Church

Catholic Schools and the Future of the Church
Author: Kathleen Engebretson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2014-02-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1623560829

During the first decade of the 21st century the Catholic Church in the developed world has faced a decline in its moral authority, increasing accusations of irrelevance to a secular age, and a steep and steady decline in commitment among successive generations from the 1960s on. Despite this Catholic schools have multiplied and grown in popularity and educational achievement. The book sets out a programme for the contribution of Catholic schools to the future of the Church, covering such topics as the religious education curriculum in its cognitive and affective aspects, the sacramental life of the school, selection of staff, the issue of staff and Catholic witness and many other topics. Engebretson argues that Catholic schools are a powerful key to the future of the Church and shows how, within their diversity, Catholic schools can be ecclesial communities, which have at their heart the building up of the Church.

In-Between God

In-Between God
Author: Stephen Pickard
Publisher: ATF Press
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2011-12-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1921817119

In-Between God explores three important areas for contemporary Christianity: theology, community and discipleship. Part One inquires into the rhythms of faith as it interacts with themes of uncertainty and doubt, the nature of theological discourse, the task of systematic theology, evangelism and the various ways in which theology is done. Part Two discusses the importance of place in relation to the church, and themes of innovation, undecideability and new forms of monastic community. Part Three addresses themes in discipleship: simplicity, mysticism, the passions and pilgrimage. A red thread connecting these essays is the character of the triune God who is the energy and life in between all things.

Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples
Author: Carole M. Cusack
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 232
Release: 1998-11-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780304701551

This book is a study of the process of conversion among the Germanic peoples from the third to eleventh centuries. The intention is twofold: firstly, to examine previous scholarship on conversion and to develop a model of conversion appropriate to the Germanic peoples; and secondly, to produce a comparative study of six Germanic conversions. Chapter 1 reviews the existing models of conversion developed by scholars in a number of fields, principally psychology, anthropology and religious studies, and develops an alternative model. Chapters 2-7 are case studies which apply this model to the conversions of the Goths, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, continental Saxons, Scandinavians and Icelanders. The final chapter presents in summary form the insights from the case studies.

Global Youth Ministry

Global Youth Ministry
Author: Terry Linhart
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2011
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310670373

In the first textbook of its kind, "Global Youth Ministry" brings together some of the foremost voices in international youth leadership to focus on the theological, theoretical, sociocultural, and historical issues that shape ministry to youth in contexts around the world.

Christianity Reborn

Christianity Reborn
Author: Donald M. Lewis
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2004
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780802824837

Christianity Reborn provides the first transnational in-depth analysis of the global expansion of evangelical Protestantism during the past century. While the growth of evangelical Christianity in the non-Western world has already been documented, the significance of this book lies in its scholarly treatment of that phenomenon. Written by prominent historians of religion, these chapters explore the expansion of evangelical (including charismatic) Christianity in non-English-speaking lands, with special reference to dynamic indigenous responses. The range of locations covered includes western and southern Africa, eastern and southern Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. The concluding essay provides a sociological account of evangelicalism's success, highlighting its ability to create a multiplicity of faith communities suited to very different ethnic, racial, and geographical regions. At a time of great interest in the growth of Christianity in the non-Western world, this volume makes an important contribution to our understanding of what may be another turning point in the historical development of evangelical faith. Contributors: Marthinus L. Daneel Allan K. Davidson Paul Freston Robert Eric Frykenberg Jehu J. Hanciles Philip Yuen-sang Leung Donald M. Lewis David Martin Mark A. Noll Brian Stanley W. R. Ward