Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity by Lamin Sanneh

Lamin Sanneh was born in Gambia and later immigrated to the United States. Educated on four continents, he is currently Professor of History and World Christianity at Yale University, where he also heads the Council on African Studies. He is an editor-at-large of The Christian Century, an ecumenical magazine, is a contributing editor of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research and co-editor of the forthcoming The Changing Face of Christianity. He also wrote Faith and Power: Christianity and Islam in “Secular” Britain with Lesslie Newbigin and Jenny Taylor.

Sanneh’s overarching assertion with Disciples of All Nations is that Christianity is an interpreted religion whose message must be translated rather than transmitted between cultures in order to truly take root in the hearts of the people. He demonstrates this by tracing the progression of Christianity through history, pointing out the times when Christian mission has been successful and when it has failed. Sanneh avers that the difference between the two lies in the attempt to translate the Christian message and Scriptures into the heart language, and therefore the cultural worldview, of those to whom the missionary comes.

Sanneh begins his argument by looking at the book of Acts in the New Testament, comparing the early Church’s expectations of Jewish Christians with the expectations of Gentile Christians. He describes how Greek Christians were empowered to practice Christianity in their own, different way rather than having to practice it exactly like the Jewish Christians and he attributes this empowerment to the inclusive actions of the early Church combined with Paul’s ability to translate the core message of Christianity from the Jewish culture to the Greek culture. It seems to me that this is where the original founders of Seventh Day Adventism went wrong. They were trying to transmit the exact practices of early Jewish Christians into their culture rather than translating them. But it also seems to me that Seventh Day Adventism has become its own culture, in a way, which mirrors Jewish culture to a large extent, and so it would not make sense, from a cultural standpoint, for SDAs to reject their practices now without having to also reject their native culture in some way.

Sanneh continues with a discussion of the Church, and then Christendom, up into the Middle Ages, particularly stopping to focus on the spread of Christianity in the British Isles and Iceland. He expresses how the Church Fathers had been “pagan for a purpose (42),” that is, they had deliberately used pagan holidays, symbolism and ideas in order to help them translate the message of Christianity into a form that was culturally understandable to those they were trying to reach. He then begins pointing out areas in which early Christianity did not survive as well, most notable in Northern Africa, asserting that in many of these places, the form of Christianity had been transmitted but that the Scriptures and message had not been translated into the heart language of the people. Thus, with the coming of Islam, thousands of Christians converted. Christianity is, then, dependent not upon practicing the exact right liturgy or conduct (as in legalism), but upon the heart’s understanding of Jesus’ love, which missionaries would do well to remember today.

Jumping forward to the era of colonial expansion, Sanneh further demonstrates his idea of cultural translation through the histories of Latin America and Africa. He shows that there really was no real indigenous attraction to Christianity, the religion of their oppressors, until it was translated into the indigenous culture (via the vision of the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Guadalupe). He again demonstrates this aversion to mission due to its attachment to colonization (and thus, transmission of simply the form of Christianity) in Africa with the coming of Catholicism via the Portuguese. However, in this case, the expression of Catholicism eventually died out because no indigenous translation occurred. It was somewhat surprising to me, however, to hear that certain African Catholics of this time chose to be martyred alongside their Portuguese rulers rather than deny their faith in the face of Muslim conquest, a reminder of the prevenient grace of God (in which God is already at work before, despite and through us).

The eventual actualization of African Christianity is then discussed through the use of two opposing models: that of David Livingstone (who advocated for the indigenous people), and that of Cecil Rhodes (founder of the highly discriminatory nation of Rhodesia). While Livingstone lifted the Africans up, Rhodes subjugated them. It was Livingstone that truly made an impact, valuing the Africans enough to take the time to attempt to translate the actual message of the gospel to them in their own culture rather than simply forcing them to practice the shape of Christianity. While it can also be argued in the two cases of Latin America and Africa that Christianity did not spread through the indigenous cultures while it was forced upon them by their colonial rulers, I think Sanneh is correct in his argument concerning linguistic and cultural translation because translation was the catalyst for Christianity when it DID spread naturally into the indigenous cultures.

Following, Sanneh describes the indigenous spread of Christianity throughout Africa. The catalyst for this, unsurprisingly, was the translation of the Scriptures into the native tongues of Africa by Holiness missionaries. The African experience, which knew much of the suffering of body and spirit, resonated with the gospel news of sin and grace; but in order to do so, the message had to be translated into the world view of the African cultures, rather than be simply imposed upon them by outsiders. Thus, translation was empowerment. Indeed, valuing the translated language (and thus the culture and people) is inherent within the act of translation. It is seeing value in the people and trusting them to be able to communicate with God. It also implicitly trusts God to be able to reach these people through their own culture, rather than through an imposed culture or language.

Sanneh then describes the charismatic renewal movements of West Africa and the impact of William Wade Harris, who taught that “salvation-without-strings was the antidote to conversion by civilization (201), but that what mattered more than the thought that the some Europeans were the Africans’ oppressors was the thought that God was their friend. This liberation from the control of European “civilization” brought with it freedom for Africans to interpret the Christian message in their own culture. Again, Christianity is not imposed through transmission, but reinterpreted (translated) in the light of a new culture and in this way, Christianity is to some degree inherently syncretistic, yet retains its essence and will always critique the culture it is being understood by.

Book Review #5

Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger

Eddie Gibbs is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Emerging Churches at the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary and is also Professor of Church Growth there. His book ChurchNext has won a book award from Christianity Today. He has served in ministry in England, Chile and the United States. Ryan Bolger is assistant professor of church in contemporary culture at the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is also the academic director of the Master of Arts in global leadership there. Emerging Churches is the result of Bolger’s PhD research with Gibbs on a distinctively postmodern style of church emerging throughout the United States and United Kingdom.

The main premise of Gibbs’ and Bolger’s book is that this new style of doing and viewing church arises out of their members’ desire to be missional communities while also seeking to be faithful followers of Jesus within their postmodern contexts. They begin by explaining the shift that has been occurring within Western cultures from modernity to “postmodernity” and towards a “network society” as well as the church’s increasing occupation of a place on the margins of society. Reflecting on my experiences as a study abroad student in Scotland, a time in which I had yet to learn the terms “post-Christendom” and “postmodern,” these ideas have actually helped to decipher some of the thoughts expressed to me by my non-Christian friends there about the Church. These experiences also allow me a greater understanding of why emerging churches have responded to the culture and shaped themselves in the ways they have, as Bolger and Gibbs go on to summarize in the next chapter. They briefly follow the gradual development of emerging churches, evaluate three core unifying foci (identifying with the life of Jesus, transforming secular space, and living as a community) as well as six common practices (welcoming the stranger, serving with generosity, participating as producers, creating as created beings, leading as a body, and taking part in spiritual activities).

In their chapter on emerging church’s identification with Jesus, Gibbs and Bolger explain that these churches look to Jesus as the one who initiated the work of the Kingdom of God and view their purpose as pointing to this kingdom in both its “already” and “not yet” state through their communal practices. They are concerned with bringing heaven to earth, which is a trend that I agree with and have seen and helped to implement within my own Nazarene tradition. I find the idea of the gospel as a holistic way of life to be a far more challenging pursuit than that of striving to fill a church’s pews with bodies. This holism is continued within emerging churchs’ endeavour to transform “secular” space. To them, there is no such thing as secular space, but all areas of life are infused with the spiritual. This is something I offhand agree with, but struggle to find the meaning of, especially in regards to the realms of science and politics. Science, which uses methodological materialism within its pursuit of knowledge, is somewhat less hard for me to reconcile because my interactions with my professors as a biology major in undergrad, have allowed me to learn how to draw spiritual implications from discoveries in the natural world (such as drawing the idea of the interconnectedness of all Creation from the idea of common descent). Politics I find to be a confusing realm to begin with and while I agree with the idea of a separation between church and state, I often wonder how involved Christians should be in politics, how a Christian politician could justify their choice in voting according to their personal beliefs or according to the will of their constituency (if the two come in conflict) and to what extent voting according to one’s own personal religious convictions is imposing one’s personal beliefs upon another.

The third focus Bolger and Gibbs describe is living in community, which is something I have felt led to be doing for a while now. Modernity’s focus on the individual created an archipelago society, with each person an island. Humans were created to live in community (another spiritual implication one can draw from the theory of evolution: its occurrence in populations/communities rather than individuals), but I have rarely experienced what that means. Emerging churches practice welcoming the stranger, or as my Mennonite friend Kate has expressed to me about her own tradition: those outside of us are us and we are incomplete without them, therefore we seek them out and welcome them because if we didn’t, we would be incomplete. This is related to the second practice Gibbs and Bolger describe: serving with generosity. Rather than donating money to and developing social programs within their churches, emerging congregations focus on a socially engaged way of life, serving through their vocations and with their time rather than through church-administered programs, seeking to bring wholeness and become “good news people before proclaiming the Good News message (145).” I believe that this shift is a necessary correction to the agenda-minded evangelism of modernity. Rather than valuing a person for the influence we could have over their spiritual life, Christians should value that person for themselves. Our agenda must be lavishing the love of Christ on those around us. If they allow us the privilege and opportunity of speaking truth into their spiritual life, that is wonderful, but that only comes through valuing the person (rather than the body on the pew) and being present with them for their own sake. Otherwise, we are merely selling a product.

Emerging churches practice participation within their churches through production. That is, rather than sitting and consuming the sermon and worship as performed for them by the preacher and worship leader and moving to a different church when they feel that they are no longer personally “getting anything out of” the service, emerging church members take responsibility for the services themselves. The worship becomes an expression of who they are as a people and is their own gift to God. Often, all ages are included (for example, a seven-year-old hosting a dancing circle). I find emerging-style worship particularly attractive as it allows participants to express their full being to God, rather than having the worship dictated to them by a worship leader who strictly worships through music, and their own particular style of music at that. Similarly, emerging churches support creativity and the arts within their services and worship, with members worshipping by giving out of their own creative instincts. I find this idea similar to Catholic theology and its idea of humans as co-creators with God, which has been a particular influence on my own life (another implication from evolution: God created/is creating a world that can create itself and that can partner with Him in creation).

Emerging churches’ leadership structure is generally one of democracy (rather than some form of republican policy as seen in most denominational polities). Consequently they tend to be fewer than 40 people. Although I like small churches, I am not altogether keen on churches that are that small. Thus, I prefer a more republican polity which allows for a slightly larger community to form and can allow for a structured partnership (reflecting the influence modernity has had upon me) with other congregations, because some structure often does need to be in place as extreme democracy tends towards chaos.

Gibbs and Bolger wrap up their study by describing the pull that emerging churches have often found towards ancient spiritual practices, especially those practiced in ancient Celtic churches. They are find these practices (such as candle burning, lectio divina or praying the hours) attractive not because they are ancient or mystical but because they incorporate a spiritual rhythm into daily life. Interestingly, I found these same practices attractive long, long before I had heard of emerging churches or postmodernity, possibly reflecting my own position as a product of my generation (an idea that would take too long to do justice to in this “brief” review).

Quick Reflectifrom Class on 11/30/09

On Monday we discussed Anabaptism as a case study of Free Churches. It was very interesting because I have always found Mennonites and the Amish fascinating but never found the time to look into their histories much. But discussing their rejection of infant baptism as a political statement has helped me realize how many of the traditions within Reformation traditions that I reject are actually rejections of an older tradition that I would also reject.

Quick Reflection on Class on 11/18/09

Today we talked about the New Monastic movement and began discussing Lutheranism. New Monasticism is a form of Christianity that I resonate with and have been considering for a while now. The emphasis on hospitality as a lifestyle is something that I find very attractive but I have not been personally exposed to very much in my life. I am also somewhat afraid of commitment. Consequently, I have been a bit hesitant to delve to deeply - outside of reading about and discussing it - into it in my own personal faith journey. I have a bit of the wanderlust, so making a commitment to a community is a bit frightening to me, but I also acknowledge the amazing things that are achieved only through long-term commitment to a single community. It's a tension I'm dealing with and working out.

Quick Reflection from Class on 11/16/09

Last class we finished up Catholicism and the opening of Japan after World War II and how missionaries focused on education there, but the culture does not find ultimate and spiritual truth there, so it was sort of botched. He also talked about blowing snot bubbles out of his nose.

Church and Mission: Book Review #4

God’s Missionary People by Charles Van Engen

Charles Van Engen was raised in Chiapas, Mexico, where his parents were missionaries, and later returned as a missionary there himself. He is currently Arthur F. Glasser Professor of Biblical Theology of Mission in the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. As such, his writing focuses heavily on missiology and other titles by him include Mission on the Way, You Are My Witnesses, God So Loves the City (co-editor), and The Growth of the True Church.

Van Engen’s thesis is that, “as local congregations are built up to reach out in mission to the world, they will become in fact what they already are by faith: God’s missionary people (17).” He shapes his argument into three parts: an explanation of the church as being God’s missionary people, a new vision for the church as such, and a discussion of how local churches can go about becoming more mission-focused.

Van Engen begins by first sharing two somewhat paradoxical, yet upon reflection true, viewpoints of the local church, explaining first that it is through living out its missionary nature that the local church becomes the Church and that local congregations are in mission through being part of the universal Church (33), and then the idea that the church is already that which it is becoming and must continually change, reform, and improve (41). In order to supply a biblical foundation for his ideas, Van Engen turns to the book of Ephesians, in which Paul views the critical character of the church within the world as being one of unity continual growth and renewal in mission, which bolstered my own preexisting leanings towards ecumenism. Furthering this, he traces the missional quality of the church throughout its history as it expresses the four qualities attributed to it in the Nicene Creed (one, holy, catholic, apostolic) in action (a reminder to me personally that we as Christians are called to live these qualities and not just talk about them).He then concentrates on what the church, as a missional entity, should be concerned with addressing in its continually changing mode of expression: being for the world, identification with the oppressed, mission, proclamation witness, and yearning for numerical growth (74), which reminds me that all of these qualities, not just those on which I tend to focus, are necessary.

The practical and present side of the discussion is then visited beginning with a look at the purpose of the local church, which Van Engen describes as community through koinonia (loving each other), kerygma (proclaiming Jesus as Lord), diakonia (service to the needy), and marturia (witness to the Resurrection) - once again re-emphasizing action rather than discussion to me, which I struggle with to some extent. He then expands upon this, relating these to the larger perspective of the Church as the beginning of the coming of the Kingdom of God, and even further as the body of Christ in the world, enacting Christ’s roles of priest, king and prophet, which I thought fit handily with my new appreciation for the Orthodox ecclesiological idea of the Church as being an icon of the Trinity (enacting Christ’s three roles, the Spirit’s bringing the Kingdom, and the Father’s sending out of “little Christs,” the literal translation of “Christians”).

In the final section of Van Engen’s book, he expounds upon the, “process by which missionary congregations get a vision of their mission in their various contexts (133).” He explains that, ultimately, it is the laity that enacts ministry and mission and that the purpose of the clergy is actually to aid them in doing so, rather than being the ministers, an idea I have been toying with for a while. He then expands upon this view of leadership by describing the biblical idea of the servant leader, which was actually a refreshing section for me since I resonated with the idea of true servanthood that Van Engen puts forth for a term that has almost become a shibboleth in the Church world. He concludes with a discussion of the necessity of, “culturally-appropriate and contextually-equivalent (180)” administration in helping the church to become missional, explaining that evaluation is crucial in order to become truly mission-minded, which I saw as an admonishment to me to be far more thankful for those with the gift of administration (which I most certainly do not have), since they are absolutely vital in helping me to minister.

Overall, I found this to be a refreshing read that supplemented my previous readings nicely in that it discusses why the church changes, rather than how the church has changed or is changing. In that way, it would build a good foundation for those beginning ecclesiological studies.

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection from 11/11/09

We attended Fuller's annual Missiology Lecture instead of class in order to hear Bishop Graham Cray speak on the Fresh Expressions movement that has been rejuvenating the Anglican church. It was very interesting and I ended up staying for most of the panel that was held afterward. I agree with the idea that churches should not be restricted to certain geographic areas. We live in a network society and it only makes sense that people will learn of Christ through someone in one of their networks rather than through the church down the street, which they most likely will have no connection to or desire to connect with. I also agree, however, with the criticism expressed at the panel that we cannot simply get rid of a geographic focus. Both need to be present. Simply having a focus on particular networks creates insular pockets of homogeneity that separate people rather than bringing them together. Geographic foci bring differing people together who would otherwise have no reason to mix. In my opinion, the health of a church can be determined to a large extent in its diversity: in age, in gender, in race, in culture, and in likes and dislikes. This diversity is provided by bringing differing networks together, which can be accomplished through a complementary continuation of the geographic model (that is, a local church in the area facilitating). However, the geographic model cannot be allowed to become so rigid that people of one geographic area must go to a particular parish, as has been the case in the past.

Quick Reflection from Class on 11/9/09

We took a time out today to talk about our upcoming speaker (Bishop Graham Cray from the Church of England) and what has been going on in the Church of England over the past decade or so. It was really interesting to me because I have a good friend in Britain who is Anglican and I plan to discuss this in depth with him and hear what his experiences have been. We both are passionate about the connections between science and Christianity and how Christians do not have to choose between the two. It seems to me that much of the root of post-Christendom comes from the perception that science, especially evolution, is diametrically oppposed to religion. So I really want to hear Jason's opinions on this.

church and Mission: Quick Reflection from Class on 11/4/09

Last class we started discussing the Roman Catholic Church. I went to a Catholic high school, so I'm rather excited to discuss this more. We talked a bit about how monsticism was a societal critique, but we really didn't talk much about it and I would really like to get more in depth about monastic traditions like the Jesuits, Fransicans, Dominicans and Benedictine's, their emphases on things like serving the poor or education and how we can learn from them and implement their ideas in new ways in our context.

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection from Class on 11/2/09

This past class we continued our discussion of Eastern Orthodoxy, mostly watching a film about its history. We also discussed other types of Orthodoxy such as the Patriarchates in Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem as well as the Ethiopian church. It was all very interesting to me since I had no idea that there were other types of Orthodoxy besides Greek and Russian. I had known about the Coptic, Indian and Ethiopian churches, however the rest were new to me and I intend to research them more as I have time.

Church and Mission Book Review #3

Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement by Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori

Donald E. Miller is Professor of Religion and Executive Director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. His major area of interest is sociology of religion and has written on subjects as varied as the Armenian genocide, homeless families, and the spiritual struggles of the post-boomer generation. Tetsunao Yamamori is president emeritus of Food for the Hungry International, a non-governmental organization committed to ending poverty, and has written extensively on serving the poor and the transformation of mission in the past few decades.

Global Pentecostalism is the joint product of four years of travel and extensive research by both Miller and Yamamori and focuses on fast-growing, self-supported, indigenous movements in the developing world that have “active social programs addressing needs in their community (6).” Their thesis is that many of the most inventive and ground-breaking of these social programs are being conceived of and implemented by expanding Pentecostal congregations (6). It begins by discussing the decline of mainline Western denominations, the replacement of established religious traditions, practices and worship with charismatic forms, and analyzes why the Pentecostal movement has grown so rapidly in such a short period of time. Five different types of Pentecostalism are identified (classical Pentecostalism, non-Western indigenous Pentecostal churches, independent Neo-Pentecostal churches, the charismatic renewal movement, and proto-charismatic Christians) as well as four different emphases found throughout these different expressions (a non-sectarian progressive element, the Prosperity Gospel, routinized Pentecostalism, and a “holistic” gospel that the authors term “Progressive Pentecostalism”) (30). It is on this last emphasis that the study focuses.

Yamamori and Miller begin their examination by discussing the motivations and beliefs of progressive Pentecostals, which can be summed as transformation through holistic ministry (that is, ministering to both physical and spiritual needs) before diving into narrative descriptions of actual on-the-ground ministries. In this, they first address Pentecostal ministries to children and youths and then ministries aimed towards transforming society at large. This is followed by a discussion of how Pentecostal worship influences their ministry, followed by the link between Pentecostal and upward social mobility. The organic organizational style of many Progressive Pentecostal churches, drawing from the Apostle Paul’s idea of one body with many members, and the ways in which it influences the enactment of mission and ministry is also analyzed before concluding with a section on the possible future of the movement.

Yamamori and Miller give an excellent overview of the differing movements within Pentecostalism today which is an essential read for anyone studying the state and growth of the global Church today. Their combination of narrative and analysis creates an engaging, yet scholarly study that will be an enjoyable read for both curious laymen and ecclesiological theologians. The book will, no doubt, change the perceptions of non-Pentecostal Christians towards the Pentecostal movement in the same ways that it changed those of the authors, shaping them towards a more ecumenical spirit and a greater appreciation of the vibrant and growing faith of millions of both Western and non-Western Christians.

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection from Class on 10/28/09

We began to discuss Eastern Orthodox theology and the iconoclast movement up through the sacking of Constantinople in the 4th Crusade. We also briefly discussed and dialogued about the Christianization of pagan holidays and practices and the two sides to that debate. Personally, I think that Christianity needs to be rooted in the culture itself, drawing out what can point to truth and Jesus and critiquing that which is counter to the gospel message. In this way, Christianity is not transplanting a foreign culture but is transforming the native culture from within. I understand the objection to this, since changing the name or focus of a holiday or practice does not change the hearts of the people and can lead to the secularization of Christianity (e.g. Christmas and Easter), however, this is possible with any Christian symbol, practice, holiday or idea since it is never the thing itself that matters but how and if you allow it to transform you. Humans can and will secularize anything.

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection from Class on 10/21/09

This class we discussed Constantine, probably one of my least favourite figures in history because of how institutionalized he made the Church. The Church became a part and tool of the Empire, lost much of its sense of mission, and began internal persecutions (that is, began persecuting heretics - which while heresy needs to be confronted, persecution is not in line with God's mission).

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection from Class on 10/19/09

In Monday's class we finished up discussing the characteristics of church in the first century and began discussing some of the cultural and historical context of the second century (mainly talking about Pliny the Younger and the spurts of persecution faced by Christians). One martyr, a young woman named Perpetua, insisted upon her own death at a time in which Christians were not actively being persecuted in North Africa (where she was), which made me wonder a bit about why. What were her purposes in this? No one seemed to want to execute her (as she herself admitted in her diary), yet she insisted. But if no one really wanted to kill her, how much of a martyr is she really? Why would she give her life when no one was seeking to take it? To my Western, utilitarian mind I see little purpose in it. I suppose it was to make a statement, but it just seems so bizarre to me to seek further persecution than that which you face.

Church and Mission Book Review #2

An Introduction to Ecclesiology by Veli-Matti Karkkainen

Veli-Matti Karkkainen teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary as associate professor of systematic theology who has written several books focusing on topics such as pneumatology and Christology as well as comparing and contrasting the theologies of major religions and Christian denominations.

In an Introduction to Ecclesiology Karkkainen seeks to “chart the waters of ecclesiology,” providing “an orientation for navigation (12).” Basically, he seeks to review the views of the major branches of Christianity as to what the church is and what constitutes the church and how those views play out in the present world. He does so by dividing the structure of his work into three sections.

Karkkainen’s first section addresses the official theologies of branches such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, Reformed churches, Free churches (such as Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches), Pentecostal churches, and that of the ecumenical movement. In Eastern Orthodox theology, he explains, the church is viewed as the icon of the Trinity. Roman Catholic theology, rather, views the church as the pilgrim people of God. Lutherans and Reformed churches view it very similarly as the communion of saints and as a covenant between humans and the divine, respectively. Free churches differ from their historical predecessors in their emphasis on the priesthood of all believers and consequently believe the church to be the fellowship of believers. Likewise, Pentecostals (despite their lack of a fully constructed theology of the church) experience the church as a fellowship of persons in the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally, Karkkainen ends with the view of the ecumenical movement of the church as a sharing of the reality of communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, Karkkainen briefly discusses the ecclesiological viewpoints of a well-known theologian from each of these traditions (Orthodox theologian John Zizioulas, Catholic Hans Kung, Lutheran Wolfhart Pannenburg, Reformist Jurgen Moltmann, Pentecostal Miroslav Volf, Baptist James McClendon Jr., and Anglican Lesslie Newbigin) and how they see the enactment of their views in the present world.

In his final section, Karkkainen examines contextual ecclesiologies (that is, those of specific contexts that are not necessarily specific to a particular branch or denomination of Christianity). He discusses the views of the non-church movement in Asia, which rejects the institutional church altogether, and then goes on to the liberation theology of Latin America and its views of the church as being birthed from the community and the living out of inclusive community life (183). Subsequently, Karkkainen examines feminist theology, which focuses mainly on equality in power, authority and ministry, and African Independent churches, with their uniquely African stress on the communal aspects of the church. The former Shepherding Movement, which emphasized the need for personal one-on-one discipleship and the role of the pastor as a shepherd, is explained as well as the world church movement and its enactment of the church as a sacramental ministry, bringing the world closer to the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. Karkkainen concludes by discussing the post-modern church, which believes itself to be “another city (223)” whose purpose is to be an “alternative community ready to challenge prevailing assumptions (223)” about ways of living.

Altogether, Karkkainen’s orderly presentation is comprehensive enough to satisfy the demands of any knowledgeable theologian, yet simple enough for any layperson to understand and enjoy. Additionally, he looks beyond the narrow focus of denominational systematic theologies, their current praxis, or even how inter-denominational dialogue has affected them, but also discusses ecclesiologies that cross denominational lines and are more connected to the specific context of the church and its particular individuals. As such, Karkkainen presents a truly inclusive and in depth look at the traditional and forming theologies of the church in our time.

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection from class on 10/14/09

I think the most interesting part of class for me last Wednesday was the quick discussion of Sabbath observance by the early Christians and how they both went to the temple to observe Sabbath on Saturdays as well as met together on the first day of the week to remember Christ's death. They continued to do this until the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, at which time the Jews really sought to expel the "Jesus" sect. The Church started to become largely Gentile and due to Paul's writings (which emphasized the Gentiles' not needing to conform to the Law), Saturday observances slowly gave way to worship solely on Sunday. This led to some great conversation with a couple of Seventh Day Adventists I know at my weekly Bible study about whether or not the Sabbath should be observed on Saturday, if that necessitates legalism and how it does not need to.

Church and Mission: Quick Refection from class on 10/12/09

We briefly reviewed the ways that Jesus' initial movement practiced their religion and then moved on to the practices, organization and views of the early Church. It struck me for the first time just how fearful the Christians must have been after Stephen's martyrdom. It also struck me how awkward that first meeting between Peter and Paul must have been, with Paul not only being highly suspect but also everything that Peter was not (that is, educated, Roman, well-to-do) and how much humility they both needed to have to accept each other in the way that they did. It gave me a new appreciation for them both.

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection from Class on 10/7/09

We watched sections of The Search for Jesus with Peter Jennings. It was pretty interesting, especially the sections that talked about how political Jesus was. Didn't learn too much new. They talked about the implications of "turning the other cheek," and I was hoping they'd also cover the implications of "going the extra mile" or include something I hadn't yet heard about, but they didn't. It was interesting none the less.

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection #3

Woke up sick today, don't know if I'm going to make it to class, but here's my reflection/attendance marker for last class:

We discussed whether or not Jesus felt that He was starting His own church. Resounding answer was "no, He was starting a Jewish reform movement." Interesting stuff. We also did some leccio divina in Luke (the sending out of the 72), but I didn't really glean much from it besides some confusion and a desire to do some exegesis on it, which probably won't happen given the amount of reading I have to do.

Church and Mission: Quick Reflection on Class #2

So we spent a good portion of class in small groups discussing our own traditions within Christianity (as much of a mixture as they may be), discussing them in terms of how they view the nature of church, the leadership and organizational structure, the practices, liturgy, community, interactions, etc. It was very interesting since I have only ever thought of the differences between denominations in terms of theology. I have already discovered myself applying this kind of thinking in my present church shopping. I attended a highly liturgical Lutheran church this morning (and due to my experiences with Catholicism, I have a fondness for liturgy) and while I loved the theology presented in the lyrics and recited prayers, I felt a rigidness to the structure that I have never encountered before and I have realized that I am actually more Pentecostal than I have previously thought.

Church and Mission: Book Review #1

The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle

Phyllis Tickle is a lay minister in the Episcopal Church whose work as the founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly has given her the opportunity to engage with a wealth of perspectives as she examines the direction in which Christianity is currently moving and the events, ideas and developments that have occasioned and shaped this movement.

Tickle’s thesis is quite broad in scope, covering not only the particular transformations and alterations occurring, but also including an examination of the three major revolutions within the history of the Church. She argues that “about every five hundred years, the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity. . . become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur,” (16) and that this occurrence results in the emergence of a “more vital form of Christianity,” the reconstitution of “the organized expression of Christianity. . . into a more pure and less ossified expression of its former self,” and the spread of the faith “into new geographic and demographic areas” (17).

Using the analogy of a mooring tether, she explains that religion, as a social construct, ties society to a greater sense of purpose, that it is shaped by culture, place and time and that when the culture’s world view changes dramatically, so too will its religion. What will ensue is the examination of three threads within this cord: spirituality, which Tickle defines as the internal experiences and values of the individual or group; corporeality, the particular physical embodiments of spirituality; and morality, the application and praxis of spirituality. The Great Reformation is briefly reviewed in order to exemplify this analysis.

Tickle contends that the overarching questions facing society at present, as initially provoked by both Michael Faraday’s hypothesis that light and matter are the vibration and intersection, respectively, of energy fields and Joseph Campbell’s broadcast series The Power of Myth, are what constitutes humanness/human consciousness and how each religion relates to the others. Beginning with the theory of relativity and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, she then traces the development of Christianity’s still coalescing answers to these questions and sketches the changing shape of Christianity’s range of beliefs over the past forty years from a quadrilateral to a more cruciform image and finally into what is becoming a “gathering centre.” In conclusion, emergent Christianity’s belief as to where spiritual authority resides is explained a related to network theory, stating that this emergence is the “formulation of a working answer to the question of what exactly a human being is,” (161) as both a single creature and as part of a group within creation.

Tickle’s explanation of emerging Christianity is masterful, thorough and extraordinarily helpful for anyone interested in learning how and why this ascending form of Christianity has come to be. It is an easy, engaging and entirely non-threatening read, and as such I would particularly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves lost and confused within a changing culture or who might view emergent Christianity as merely a passing fad or heresy. The Great Emergence is indeed the same as its subject matter: a conversation of what exactly this new, yet not so new, kind of Christianity is.

Church and Mission in a Global Context

Our first lecture was very introductory, but a small tidbit stuck out to me. I thought it was interesting to hear the analysis of seeker churches as being the return of the baby boomers to the church "building" (for the sake of the theological education of their children - i.e. Sunday School) while maintaining their rejection of "institutionalized" church (e.g. denominational organization). I had definitely associated seeker churches with the modern mentality (with emphasis on the personal rather than the communal experience and especially as regards to sermon and worship style), however it had not occurred to me to analyze where the seeker church had come from, taking into consideration how recent yet pervasive it has become.

One Year Later...

So, after a year off from this blog, I am now starting seminary at Fuller in Pasadena. I will be using this blog as a tool for reflection on my experiences in seminary and probably most often as a fulfillment of my attendance requirement for my global ecclesiology class (read: history of the church in a global context), writing short reflections on each lecture.

Hopefully those of you who read this will enjoy it. :)