Mission in Historical Perspective (Part 1 of 2)
Cross-Currents Among Converts: The Post-Immigr. Utah Church and the Josephite / Brighamite Controversy
Ronald E. Bartholomew, Orem U. LDS
LDS (Mormon) immigrants arriving to Utah from Great Britain during the nineteenth century experienced a serious and somewhat unanticipated “culture shock” on multiple levels. Having only been exposed to the “first principles of the gospel,” they became disenchanted for various reasons when they arrived in Utah: their distaste for the leadership of Brigham Young, their disdain of polygamy, their longing for the doctrines of the early church, or for economic reasons. Subsequently, some found refuge in the more familiar and agreeable tenets of the “Josephite” movement (RLDS). I will show, using contemporary contextualization theory, that LDS short-term missionaries and their message were uniquely suited, on multiple theological levels, to the Victorian British context they were laboring in. However, as Tippet and others have argued, you cannot easily remove converts from their context without distorting meaning and losing functionality. The Brighamite/Josephite affair is an example of two fundamental aspects of missiology, namely theology and anthropology, in conflict: the theology was a call to come to Utah to help “build Zion,” whiles the concern for the individual in context, or anthropology, was generally ignored. This study will draw upon primary source documents—primarily personal and family histories and journals to provide social historicity.
William Carey’s Expectation for Evangelism
Andrew McFarland
William Carey’s perception of evangelism as a process which introduces God’s Kingdom, challenges our contemporary assumptions in three important ways. First, his evangelism demonstrated that discussing the Gospel with Indians in Bengali was far more fruitful than preaching to them in Bengali. Second, his evangelism acknowledged that if Indians were to taste, see, and expect God’s Kingdom, it needed to be radically different from the Indian context while also intimately connected with it. Third, his evangelism sought not only the transformation of lives but the transformation of India through the coming of God’s Kingdom. Therefore, Carey’s theology of evangelism was multifaceted as it sought to contextualize the Kingdom of God for the Indian context. Nevertheless, these conclusions were formed gradually by his missionary experiences. When he initially arrived in India in 1793, he assumed evangelistic preaching would be enough to convince Indians of the merits of Christianity. But after seven years, he could boast of no Indian conversions. In fact, to his surprise, his first Indian convert came through cross-cultural dialogue. Indeed, Carey eventually discovered that missionary success was not about static performance but dynamic contextualization.
Exploring and Contextualizing the Ancestral Rite in the Contemporary Korean Society: A Protestant Christian Perspective
Paul Mantae Kim. Bethesda University, Professor of Christian Missions
This study explores the Korean ancestral rite to draw on a relevant Protestant Christian engagement with it. This rite persists today and still holds an important place among Korean people. On the other hand, the Christian controversy over this traditional rite has continued over two hundred years in Korea. Korean Catholic churches today officially approve the ancestral rite, while the majority of Korean Protestant churches disapprove it as they offer a Christian form of memorial service. I note three major reasons why this study is necessary and important: (1) Korean Protestant Christians frequently clash with their unbelieving family members about the observance of the ancestral rite. (2) Korean Protestants recognize a need to go beyond current Christian memorial services and generate a better alternative. (3) It is essential to improve the public image of Protestantism in the Korean society. This paper begins with an introduction of the issue followed by the nature and motifs of the ancestral rite. I include the analysis of interviews with Korean respondents and my family experiences of the ancestral rite. Finally, I propose a relevant Protestant Christian practice of the rite, subsequently addressing a wider implication of this study for the enrichment of Korean Protestantism.
“We need to love Muslims” - The many factors influencing how American Christians relate to Muslims
MichalMeulenberg. Fuller Theological Seminary, PhD Candidate & Instructor in Training
American Christians are increasingly becoming aware of the need for education and training in how to relate to the Muslim community. To provide in this, more and more organizations, books and curricula are created that collectively seem to represent the wide variety of approaches and models of contextualization that have been a part of Muslim-Christian Relation for centuries. But what makes up these differences? How come one favors focusing on common ground between the two faiths as a starting point and others states there is none and other approaches should be used? This paper uses methods found in social psychology to uncover the factors influencing how American Christians write, speak and teach about what they think is the best way for American church members to explain their faith to Muslims.
Missio Dei, The Church and Boko Haram in Nigeria: A Critical reflection
Dr. Uma Onwunta, Presbyterian Church of Nigeria
This article explores the concept of the missio Dei as it affects the Christian missionary enterprise in Nigeria. It offers a brief overview of the theocentric understanding of mission as a holistic approach that does not dichotomize between humanity and creation but rather affirms the wholeness of existence in the African primal world view. Secondly, the implications of the missio Dei and the mission of the Church in the context of Nigeria’s ethno-religious diversity are explored. Thirdly, the blame game in which politicians recklessly trade provocative and inciting abuses and accusations amongst themselves while the Boko Haram insurgency is ravaging the nation with utmost impunity, is reviewed. And with the recent impossible demand by Boko Haram that the Nigerian President should resign if he fails to convert to Islam, the political character of their campaign is getting clearer to an otherwise shocked nation. And this also signifies the ultimate failure of the insurgency as people begin to know the differences between religion and politics even if their leaders pretend ignorance of that fact purely for their selfish ends. Finally, this essay advocates that the church should embody the ministry of Jesus by being part of the global coalition against Boko Haram and through a compassionate response to the needs of Boko Haram victims, show that good governance predicated on social justice and dialogue with citizens tolerating each other, not partisan politics, is the way to our collective survival as a people.