The Centrality of Christ in Contemporary Missions

Description

Is Jesus really the only way? What is unique about Christ and missions? How can a new understanding of Jesus Christ bridge the gap between modern positivism and post-modern relativism? Can we learn from the model of Jesus how to be more effective mission workers? This volume (Number 12) of the annual Evangelical Missiological Society series offers answers to these questions and more as it discusses the clear and relevant communication of the centrality of Jesus Christ.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Philosophie et théologie
• Growth
• Christian Church
• Christology

Informations

• Publié par: William Carey Publishing
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2005
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645080114
• Langue: English

Extrait

The CENTRALITY of
CHRIST
IN CONTEMPORARY MISSIONS

OTHER TITLES IN THE EMS SERIES:
No. 1 Scripture and Strategy: The Use of the Bible in Postmodern Church and Mission David J. Hesselgrave
No. 2 Christianity and the Religions: A Biblical Theology of World Religions Edward Rommen and Harold A. Netland, eds.
No. 3 Spiritual Power and Missions: Raising the Issues Edward Rommen, ed. (out of print)
No. 4 Missiology and the Social Sciences: Contributions, Cautions, and the Conclusions Edward Rommen and Gary Corwin, eds.
No. 5 The Holy Spirit and Mission Dynamics C. Douglas McConnell, ed.
No. 6 Reaching the Resistant: Barriers and Bridges for Mission J. Dudley Woodberry, ed.
No. 7 Teaching Them Obedience in All Things: Equipping for the Twenty-first Century Edward J. Elliston, ed.
No. 8 Working Together with God to Shape the New Millennium: Opportunities and Limitations Kenneth B. Mulholland and Gary Corwin, eds.
No. 9 Caring for the Harvest Force in the New Millennium Tom A. Steffen and F. Douglas Pennoyer, eds.
No. 10 Between Past and Future: Evangelical Mission Entering the Twenty-first Century Jonathan J. Bonk, ed.
No. 11 Christian Witness in Pluralistic Contexts in the Twenty-First Century Enoch Wan, ed.

The CENTRALITY of
CHRIST
IN CONTEMPORARY MISSIONS
Edited by Mike Barnett and Michael Pocock
Evangelical Missiological Society Series Number 12


Copyright © 2005 by Evangelical Missiological Society www.missiology.org/EMS
All rights reserved . No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording—without prior written permission of the publisher. The only exceptions are brief quotations in printed reviews.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
EMS Series No. 12
Published by William Carey Library 1605 E. Elizabeth Street Pasadena, California 91104 | www.missionbooks.org
William Carey Library is a ministry of Frontier Ventures Pasadena, CA | www.frontierventures.org
Digital eBook release Primalogue 2017 ISBN: 978-1-64508-011-4 (ePub)

To the One whom God has highly exalted, whose name is above all names, the Lord Jesus Christ Philippians 2:9, 11

Contents
Author Profiles
Foreword Michael Pocock
Introduction Mike Barnett
I. THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST
1. Is Jesus Christ Really the Only Way?
George Murray
2. The Uniqueness of Christ and Missions
Patrick Cate
3. Christ Centered Epistemology: An Alternative to Modern and Postmodern Epistemologies
Michael Pocock
4. The Relevance of Jesus as the Source of Salvation and Mission for the Twenty-First Century Global Context
William J. Larkin
II. CHRIST IN CONTEMPORARY MISSIONS
5. Mission and Jesus in a Globalizing World: Globalization and the Pluralistic Jesus
Harold Netland
6. Mission and Jesus in a Globalizing World: Mission as Retrieval
Harold Netland
7. Jesus and the Pagan West: Missiological Reflections on Evangelism in Re-enchanted Europe
Michael T. Cooper
8. WDJS—What Does Jesus Say . . . About Receptivity?
Cecil Stalnaker
III. MISSIOLOGICAL INSIGHTS
9. A Christocentric Understanding of Linguistic Diversity: Implications for Missions in a Pluralistic Era
Samuel Larsen
10. Leadership and Teams in Missions—Jesus Style
Mike Barnett
11. The Inescapable Christ: The Significance of E. Stanley Jones’ Christology for Twenty-first-Century Missiology
John Moldovan
12. How Do They Think? Understanding and Teaching Religious Belief Systems for Twenty-first-Century Missions
Norman Allison
End Notes

Author Profiles
Norman Allison served as a missionary with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in the Arab Middle East prior to teaching Anthropology in the School of World Missions at Toccoa Falls College, which he directed from 1976-2003. He studied at the American University of Beirut, and received the Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Georgia where he concentrated in Religious Belief Systems. He served as president of the EMS from 2001-2004.
Mike Barnett and his wife, Cindy, served twelve years with the IMB. He was a church planter in North America, has a business background and continues to work in international business development. He currently serves as the Elmer V. Thompson Professor of Missionary Church Planting at Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions. Mike earned a Ph.D. in Church History from Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He has published on leadership and teams and creative access platforms in missions and is currently vice president for the Southeast Region of EMS.
Patrick Cate and his wife, Mary Ann, served in Iran from 1974 to 1979 and Egypt from 1984 to 1989. Pat served as the new personnel director from 1980 to 1984 and later assumed the presidency of Christar in September of 1989. Pat has a Ph.D. in Islamics from Hartford Seminary
Michael T. Cooper served for thirteen years as a missionary in Central and Eastern Europe, and currently researches the revival of pre-Christian European religions in Western Europe and North America. He is assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Ministries at Trinity International University. He is published in Mission Studies, Christian Education Journal, Global Missiology and Common Ground Journal and has presented papers on Paganism at various academic venues.
William J. Larkin is Professor of New Testament and Greek at Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions. He received his Ph.D. in 1975 from University of Durham, England. He wrote Culture and Biblical Hermeneutics: Interpreting and Applying the Authoritative Word in a Relativistic Age (1988) and Acts for the IVP New Testament Commentary Series (1995). He co-edited Mission in the New Testament: An Evangelical Approach (1998). He has published numerous articles or essays on biblical-theological subjects related to missions. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and has taught in Zimbabwe, Portugal, Korea, and Germany.
Samuel Larsen is Academic Dean and Samuel Patterson Professor of Missions and Evangelism at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Jackson, Mississippi, where he has taught since 1998, after receiving his Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Trinity International University. Sam is also Vice President for International Doctoral Programs at RTS. His areas of special interest include globalization and intercultural education. He is a retired Navy Chaplain and also has a decade of service in Kenya and Australia, first under World Presbyterian Missions and later under Mission to the World. Sam and his wife, Louise, have three grown children and nine grandchildren.
John Moldovan is Assistant Dean for Evangelism and Missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also teaches from the George W. Bottoms Chair of Missions and directs the MA Missiology. He served as Associate Professor of Missions and Evangelism at the Criswell College in Dallas, Texas from 1989 to 2003. John endured harsh persecution in Romania and was forced into exile for his ministry by the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. His understanding of suffering offers a unique perspective on missions.
George W. Murray has been President of Columbia International University since January 2000. Previous to this he was the Executive Director of The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM). He and his wife, Annette, also served as missionary church planters in Italy for thirteen years. He received his D.Miss from Trinity International University.
Harold Netland is Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Intercultural Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has lived much of his life in Japan, teaching at Tokyo Christian University. Previous publications include Dissonant Voices: Religious Pluralism and the Question of Truth (Eerdmans, 1991) and Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith and Mission (InterVarsity, 2001).
Michael Pocock is Senior Professor of Missions and Chairman of the Department of World Missions and Intercultural Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He served for sixteen years with The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM), beginning in Venezuela and continuing in mobilization for the organization. He has served as President of EMS and is currently vice president for the South Central Region of EMS. Books include: Cultural Change and Your Church (Baker, 2002) and The Changing Face of World Missions (Baker, 2005).
Cecil Stalnaker serves with Greater Europe Mission and as Associate Professor of Missions and Evangelism at Tyndale Theological Seminary, located near Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Additionally, he is a visiting professor at the Theological Biblical Academy in Krapina, Croatia. He received his doctoral education from the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Heverlee/Leuven, Belgium. Prior to teaching at Tyndale he ministered with his wife and two children in French-speaking Belgium at the Institut Biblique Belge and in church planting.

Foreword
The Centrality of Christ in Contemporary Missions : Was there really any doubt? Jesus claimed he was indispensable for salvation saying: “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) That same Christ sent his disciples into the world by his own authority, calling on them to teach those who followed them to do everything he had commanded them to do. (Matt. 28: 18-20).
The Apostle Paul understood his own mission centered on the proclamation of Christ as the Son of God, even though he clearly understood the Trinitarian reality that God the Father, a