Theology and Mission in World Christianity

In this study, N.T. Wright’s exceptional work on the resurrection is shown to form the centre of his eschatology and mission theology. Wright’s emphasis on the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection for the gospel’s missional encounter with the West is highlighted. By drawing out the significance of the resurrection for Wright’s eschatological narrative, the author sets the stage for Wright’s mission theology, focusing on the church, evangelism, political theology, and eschatological ethics. Wright’s emphasis on doing history is explained in terms of the theological conviction that, since God acted in history, historical study has become a sphere of missional engagement.

There is something wrong with us and the world we find ourselves in. In the Christian tradition, the concept of God's salvation describes the divine intervention to overcome this brokenness. However, such language might easily be misunderstood in the increasingly secular West. To make the reality of the doctrine of salvation understandable, relevant, and attractive for Europeans in the West, we might begin to think of it more in terms of relationship, well-being, and wholeness. Using a Biblical term, salvation is about the Shalom of the Reign of God. This volume explores the lived salvation practices of faith communities and missions, and their conceptualisations in the West: how is the good life perceived and practiced?

Contributors are Clive Marsh, Jan Martijn Abrahamse, Dejan Aždajić, K. Francis Adebayo, Philip Bartholomä, Janel Kragt Bakker, Nigel Rooms, Karen Zwijze-Koning, Hans Schaeffer, Berdine van den Toren-Lekkerkerker, Jack Barentsen, Chris James, Sake Stoppels, Annemieke de Jonge, Bert Roor, Evelien van Duffelen, Harvey Kwiyani, James Butler, Kathy Ross, Ross Lockhart, and Stefan Paas.

Transforming Work offers a radical re-orientation of the nature and future of work and implications for mission. In conversation with David Bosch’s Transforming Mission and other global and ecumenical voices, 21 leaders offer their vision for transforming the world of work and revisioning work to offer a transforming gift to the world. Writing from biblical and historical perspectives, with case studies and cultural exegesis, they explore work and leisure, ethics and economics, technologies and Artificial Intelligence. It is time to discern where God is transforming work in our cities and farms, shops and classrooms, politics and agencies.   

Existing scholarship on World Christianities tends to privilege the local and the regional. In addition to offering an explanation for this tendency, the editors and contributors of this volume also offer a new perspective. An Introduction, Afterword and case-studies argue for the importance of transregional connections in the study of Christianity worldwide. Returning to an older post-war conception of ‘World Christianity’ as an international, ecumenical fellowship, the present volume aims to highlight the universalist, globalising aspirations of many Christians worldwide. While we do not neglect the importance of the local, our aim is to give due weight to the significant transregional networks and exchanges that have constituted Christian communities, both historically and in the present day.

Contributors are: J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Naures Atto, Joel Cabrita, Pedro Feitoza, David C. Kirkpatrick, Chandra Mallampalli, David Maxwell, Dorottya Nagy, Peter C. Phan, Andrew Preston, Joel Robbins, Chloe Starr, Charlotte Walker-Said, Emma Wild-Wood.

Ecclesial Recognition proffers a framework for churches to accept the legitimacy and authenticity of each other as the Church in the dialogical process towards fuller communion. Typically, ‘recognition’ and its reception investigate theologically the sufficiency of creeds as ecumenical statements of unity, the agreeability of essential sacramentality of the church, and the recognition of its ministries as the churches’ witness of the gospel. This monograph conceives ecclesial recognition as an intersubjective dynamics of inclusion and exclusion amid identity formation and consensus development, with insights from Hegelian philosophy, group social psychology, and the Frankfurt School Axel Honneth’s political theory. The viability of this interdisciplinary approach is demonstrated from the French Dominican Yves Congar’s oeuvre, with implications for intra-Communion and inter-Church relations.

"Dr Lim examines philosophical recognition theory, group social psychology and political recognition theory to analyse the non-theological impasses confronting the whole ecumenical movement." - Rev Dr Trevor Hoggard, Director English-speaking Ministries, Methodist Church of New Zealand.

"Lim masterfully argues for the viability of an interdisciplinary approach to ecumenical recognition within communities, among churches, and in their common pastoral mission.” - Fr. and Professor Radu Bordeianu, Duquesne University, and Orthodox theologian, Representative of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh, and Assistant Priest of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Pittsburgh.

“This book makes an important contribution to ecumenical ecclesiology.” - Rev. Dr and Professor Sandra Beardsall, St Andrew’s College, Canada and United Church of Canada Ordained Minister.

“I find Dr. Lim's work a solid and necessary contribution to ecumenical work around the world.” - Rev. Dr. and Professor Dominick D. Hanckle, Regent University, and priest of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches.

“With penetrating analysis and creative suggestions, this monograph takes the talk about ecumenical recognition in a new level.” - Professor Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, University of Helsinki.

The experience of displacement is shared by people who work internationally. The capacity to be displaced is a necessary strength and skill for people working across cultures, particularly for missionaries. In order to deal with the stressful nature of displacement people need to be resilient, resilience makes people flourish in adverse circumstances. This volume presents a specific type of resilience, namely “resilience nourished by inner sources.” Cultivating inner resilience draws on all the facets of a person’s interior life: thoughts and memories, hopes and desires, beliefs and convictions, concerns and emotions. The notion of inner strength and resilience from within is developed using many examples from missionaries and development workers as well as case studies from all over the world.

In Cultural and Theological Reflections on the Japanese Quest for Divinity, John J. Keane offers an explanation of Japanese divinity (kami 神) using sociology, anthropology, linguistics, literature and history. He presents an overview of how the Japanese have sought to love and serve their kami - a quest that rivals the interest that the West gives to God. The principles of interreligious dialogue are applied to the meaning of kami and a plea is made for a dialogue that respectfully accepts differences between the cultures and the theologies of Eastern and Western thought. Important cultural themes are discussed as a part of this quest, such as the emperors of Japan and the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The work also challenges the understanding of kami as highlighted by Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Endo Shusaku.

This volume offers a careful analysis of the contextual Christology of T. C. Chao, one of the most important Chinese theologians and Chinese church leaders in the first half of twentieth century. At the core of Chao’s Christology is the encounter between Christianity and the Chinese people, in particular the Chinese Christians. In response to the rapid social changes in China between 1910-1950, he attempted to develop a relevant theology by focusing on the characteristics of Christianity and, at the same time, aiming to understand Christianity within its Chinese context.

Migration has become a major concern. The increase in migration in the 20th and 21st centuries has social, political and economic implications, but also effectuates change in the religious landscape, in religious beliefs and practices and in the way people understand themselves, each other and the world around them. In Religion, Migration and Identity scholars from various disciplines explore issues related to identity and religion, that people - individually and communally -, encounter when affected by migration dynamics. The volume foregrounds methodology in its exploration of the juxtaposition of religion, migration and identity and addresses questions which originate in various geographical locations, demonstrates new modes of interconnectedness, and thus aims to contribute to the ongoing academic discussions on mission, theology and the Christian tradition in general, in a worldwide perspective.

Mission and Money; Christian Mission in the Context of Global Inequalities offers academic discussion about the mission of the Church in the context of contemporary economic inequalities globally, challenging the reader to reconsider mission in the light of existing poverty, and investigating how economic structures could be challenged in the light of ethical and spiritual considerations. The book includes contributions on the subjects of poverty and inequality from the theologians, economists and anthropologists who gave keynote presentations at the European Missiological Conference (IAMS Europe) that took place in April 2014 in Helsinki, Finland. This conference was a major step forward in terms of discussion between missiologists and economists on global economic structures and their influence on human dignity.

Contributors are: Mari-Anna Auvinen-Pöntinen, Stephen B. Bevans, Jonathan J. Bonk, Ulrich Duchrow, Jonas Adelin Jørgensen, Vesa Kanniainen, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Tinyiko Sam Maluleke, Gerrie Ter Haar, Evi Voulgaraki-Pissina, Mika Vähäkangas, Felix Wilfred.