For a Missionary Reform of the Church


Book Description

Thirty essays presented at a symposium that deals with reform of the church and reforms in the church, according to the vision of Pope Francis.




For a Missionary Reform of the Church


Book Description

Thirty essays presented at a symposium that deals with reform of the church and reforms in the church, according to the vision of Pope Francis. +




Evangelical Catholicism


Book Description

The Catholic Church is on the threshold of a bold new era in its two-thousand year history. As the curtain comes down on the Church defined by the 16th-century Counter-Reformation, the curtain is rising on the Evangelical Catholicism of the third millennium: a way of being Catholic that comes from over a century of Catholic reform; a mission-centered renewal honed by the Second Vatican Council and given compelling expression by Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. The Gospel-centered Evangelical Catholicism of the future will send all the people of the Church into mission territory every day -- a territory increasingly defined in the West by spiritual boredom and aggressive secularism. Confronting both these cultural challenges and the shadows cast by recent Catholic history, Evangelical Catholicism unapologetically proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the truth of the world. It also molds disciples who witness to faith, hope, and love by the quality of their lives and the nobility of their aspirations. Thus the Catholicism of the 21st century and beyond will be a culture-forming counterculture, offering all men and women of good will a deeply humane alternative to the soul-stifling self-absorption of postmodernity. Drawing on thirty years of experience throughout the Catholic world, from its humblest parishes to its highest levels of authority, George Weigel proposes a deepening of faith-based and mission-driven Catholic reform that touches every facet of Catholic life -- from the episcopate and the papacy to the priesthood and the consecrated life; from the renewal of the lay vocation in the world to the redefinition of the Church's engagement with public life; from the liturgy to the Church's intellectual life. Lay Catholics and clergy alike should welcome the challenge of this unique moment in the Church's history, Weigel urges. Mediocrity is not an option, and all Catholics, no matter what their station in life, are called to live the evangelical vocation into which they were baptized: without compromise, but with the joy, courage, and confidence that comes from living this side of the Resurrection.




Reform of the Ministry


Book Description

No one was more radically critical of the ministry and the inherited Church policy that surrounds it than Roland Allen (1868-1949), whose prophetic writings constantly challenge the whole mission of the Christian Church, and many of his most important essays are collected here along with contributions about him. After studying at Oxford, his clerical training was in Leeds. He went as a missionary to China for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG), where he stayed for twenty years.His experience convinced him that missionary methods needed changing, and that St Paul had more to offer than contemporary practice, and in particular that ministry should be centred in the laity. These ideas, unpopular at the time, have grown in importance, and Roland Allen's influence is now greater than at any time. In this volume, Paton, with the co-operation of Grubb and King, has written on the central concerns of Allen's life and how his witness gave rise to many fruitful enterprises in different parts of the world. Many new writings of Allen's are included in the volume, and Grubb tells the story of the Survey Application Trust which, for over half a century played a formative and pioneering part in the mission of the church. This title adds a lot of new information and throws fresh light on the modern history of many Christian enterprises, and extends current debate over the role of the laity.




Models of the Church


Book Description

There is today a dramatic reexamination of structure, authority, dogma -- indeed, every aspect of the life of the Church is held up to scrutiny. Welcoming this as a sign of vitality, Avery Dulles has carefully studied the writings of contemporary Protestant and Catholic ecclesiologists and sifted out six major approaches, or "models," through which the Church's character can be understood: as Institution, Mystical Communion, Sacrament, Herald, Servant, and, in a recent addition to the book, as Community of Disciples. A balanced theology, he concludes, must incorporate the major affirmations of each. "The method of models or types," observes Cardinal Dulles, "can have great value in helping people to get beyond the limitations of their own particular outlook and to enter into fruitful conversation with others... Such conversation is obviously essential if ecumenism is to get beyond its present impasses." This new edition includes a new Appendix and Preface by the author.




Missionary Strategies in the New World, 1610-1690


Book Description

The study is an intellectual and comparative history of French, Spanish, and English missions to the native peoples of America in the seventeenth century, c. 1610–1690. It shows that missions are ideal case studies to properly understand the relationship between religion and politics in early modern Catholic and Calvinist thought. The book aims to analyse the intellectual roots of fundamental ideas in Catholic and Calvinist missionary writings—among others idolatry, conversion, civility, and police—by examining the classical, Augustinian, neo-thomist, reformed Protestant, and contemporary European influences on their writings. Missionaries’ insistence on the necessity of reform, emphasising an experiential, practical vision of Christianity, led them to elaborate conversion strategies that encompassed not only religious, but also political and social changes. It was at the margins of empire that the essentials of Calvinist and Catholic soteriologies and political thought could be enacted and crystallised. By a careful analysis of these missiologies, the study thus argues that missionaries’ common strategies—habituation, segregation, social and political regulations—stem from a shared intellectual heritage, classical, humanist, and above all concerned with the Erasmian ideal of a reformation of manners.




Luther, Calvin and the Mission of the Church


Book Description

Document from the year 2017 in the subject Theology - Miscellaneous, Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary, language: English, abstract: On the 31st October 1517 Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses in which he criticised the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church. This date is considered the beginning of the Reformation. While the Protestant Reformers are widely praised for the rediscovery of the biblical gospel, they have come under fire regarding their views on mission. There are church historians and missiologists who argue that the Protestant Reformers were not interested in mission and, in fact, ignored the mission mandate which Christ had given to his Church. However, a closer study of Luther, Calvin, Bucer, and Melanchthon, shows that the critics miss both the Reformers’ commitment to practical mission work and their missiological contributions. The critics seem to overlook the fact that cities, such as Geneva and Wittenberg, in which the Reformers lived, studied and taught, served as hubs of a huge missionary enterprise. Thousands of preachers went out from these centres of the Reformation to spread the gospel all over Europe. Leading Scandinavian theologians, such as Mikael Agricola, Olaus Petri, or Hans Tausen, had all studied under Luther and Melanchthon in Wittenberg before they began their reform work in their home countries. Furthermore, with their re-discovery of the gospel of justification by faith alone, their emphasis on the personal character of faith in Christ, their radical re-interpretation of the priesthood, their recognition of God’s authorship of mission, their reminder that the witness to the gospel takes place in the midst of a spiritual battle, and their insistence that the Bible has to be available in common languages, the Protestant Reformers laid down important principles for the mission work of the church which are still valid today.




China's Reforming Churches


Book Description

This is a critical moment in the life of China’s reforming churches and the Presbyterian and Reformed mission to China. This book provides both a historical look at Presbyterianism in China and an assessment of the current state of affairs, orienting readers to church development needs and the basic outlines of Reformed Christianity in China today. While laying out the challenges and opportunities facing the church, the authors argue that assisting this reformation in China should be a central objective of the Presbyterian and Reformed mission to China in this generation. Table of Contents: Introduction: China, Church Development, and Presbyterianism - Bruce P. Baugus Part I—The History of Presbyterianism in China 1. A Brief History of the Western Presbyterian and Reformed Mission to China - Michael M. 2. Watson Hayes and the North China Theological Seminary - A. Donald MacLeod 3. A Brief History of the Korean Presbyterian Mission to China - Bruce P. Baugus & Sung-Il Steve Park Part II—Presbyterianism in China Today 4. In Their Own Words: Perceived Challenges of Christians in China - Brent Fulton 5. Why Chinese Churches Need Biblical Presbyterianism - Luke P. Y. Lu 6. “A Few Significant Ones:” A Conversation with Two of China’s Leading Reformers - Bruce P. Baugus Part III—Challenges & Opportunities for Presbyterianism in China 7. The Social Conditions of Ministry in China Today - G. Wright Doyle 8. China: a Tale of Two Churches? - Brent Fulton 9. Two Kingdoms in China: Reformed Ecclesiology and Social Ethics - David VanDrunen 10. From Dissension to Joy: Resources from Acts 15:1–35 for Global Presbyterianism - Guy Waters Part IV—Appropriating a Tradition 11. The Emergence of Legal Christian Publishing in China: An Opportunity for Reformed Christians - Phil Remmers 12. A Report on the State of Reformed Theological Education in China - Bruce P. Baugus 13. The Indigenization & Contextualization of the Reformed Faith in China - Paul Wang Conclusion: The Future of Presbyterianism in China - Bruce P. Baugus Appendices A. Robert Morrison’s Catechism - Introduced and Translated by Michael M. B. Shandong Student Protest and Appeal - Introduced by Bruce P. Baugus and Translated by Born




The Joy of the Gospel


Book Description

The perfect gift! A specially priced, beautifully designed hardcover edition of The Joy of the Gospel with a foreword by Robert Barron and an afterword by James Martin, SJ. “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus… In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.” – Pope Francis This special edition of Pope Francis's popular message of hope explores themes that are important for believers in the 21st century. Examining the many obstacles to faith and what can be done to overcome those hurdles, he emphasizes the importance of service to God and all his creation. Advocating for “the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned,” the Holy Father shows us how to respond to poverty and current economic challenges that affect us locally and globally. Ultimately, Pope Francis demonstrates how to develop a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ, “to recognize the traces of God’s Spirit in events great and small.” Profound in its insight, yet warm and accessible in its tone, The Joy of the Gospel is a call to action to live a life motivated by divine love and, in turn, to experience heaven on earth. Includes a foreword by Robert Barron, author of Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith and James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage




Dispatches from the Front


Book Description

China, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq . . . God is at work. Christians are testifying. The gospel is advancing. In this captivating travelogue, a veteran missions mobilizer leads readers to experience global Christianity, exploring the faith and lives of Christians living in some of the world's most perilous countries. The incredible accounts recorded here—stories that span the globe from the Balkans to Afghanistan—highlight the bold faith and sacrificial bravery of God's people. Ultimately, this book magnifies Christ's saving work in all the earth and encourages Christians to joyfully embrace their role in the gospel's unstoppable advance!