Christian Witness Research Articles

Un enseignement biblique avec les arts plastiques en milieu catholique

This research in practical theology examines the impact of biblical teaching offered since 1998 to youth aged 5 to 14 using artwork to create a personal Bible. Volunteers initiated this activity in a Catholic church in Quebec City in response to the deconfessionalization of schools, hoping to offer a biblical culture to young people. The research method includes a detailed description of this “religious practice” with data collection, a critical correlation with the Bible and Church Tradition, and a reinvestment of the practice. During the period 2005-2022, the practice called “Bible illustrée” (Illustrated Bible) reached 144 youth, mostly from Quebec but also from African and Latin American immigrant communities. In 2022, 26 people completed a questionnaire on their motivation to participate, artistic creativity, and contemporary Christian witness. A critical correlation showed that Illustrated Bible is an activity that allows participants to reflect on relationships with others, God and existence, a reflection often taboo in a secular society. The all-volunteer support has contributed to the sustainability of a joyful, reflective, and creative community. The concept of Illustrated Bible could be integrated into other places (parishes, camps, etc.) and would benefit from a future guidebook for its dissemination.

Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness. By Darrell L. Whiteman

Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness. By Darrell L. Whiteman

Practical theology case study of transforming lives of the poor in the Amalinda Forest Community, East London

How can the problem of poverty be addressed by those concerned about the transformational development of the poor in South Africa? The church, as a community of faith and the bearer of the Christian witness cannot be left behind when responding to this question. This article reflects on a practical theological intervention where a church moved beyond its walls to help those in need. The active role played by the church in addressing this problem and the response of the community will be brought to light. However, this is a challenge that does not affect a local church only: research findings undergird the transformative engagement of the entire church community and calls for local social and political institutions to form a multipurpose partnership to deal with poverty in affected communities.

Christian Witness and Proclamation through Migration

People are constantly on the move, more so now than ever before. Crossing international borders is defi-nitely a major characteristic of our present era. No countries or regions are immune from this worldwide migration phenomenon, certainly not Asia. Statistics indicate that Christian immigrants are the largest population on the move, totaling 49 percent of all inter-national migrants on the planet. When Christian immigrants travel, they take their religion with them, or more personally, their God literally migrates with them. If every Christian migrant is a potential mission-ary, migration then could have enormous prospects and opportunities for evangelism – a commu-nicative act that involves the transmission of beliefs, ideas, or messages regarding their religious worldview. Thus, the aim of this essay is to examine the impact of and contribution to Christian witness and proclamation through today’s global phenomenon of migration. Migrants are indeed a precious gift of the Church, especially Asian Christian migrants, who normally bring their faith with them and bear witness of the Christian faith wherever they are. The effects of their plight and emigration not only alter the demo-graphic landscape and the image of Christianity, but also enhance the theology and spirituality of its host country. Keywords: migration, Christian migrants, Asian migrants, witness, proclamation

Churches Facing War: Ecumenical Deadlocks and Ecclesiological Challenges

Abstract The war in Ukraine has generated a debate both within the orthodox church and on an inter-Christian level regarding the religious legitimation of military conflicts. The inability of inter-Orthodox and ecumenical bodies to formulate a common stance in the face of war has raised questions about the current methodology employed by ecumenical assemblies. Some have suggested exhausting the instruments of dialogue, while others have proposed expelling churches with a pro-war profile from ecumenical organisations. This article aims to demonstrate how this problem also arises from the politicisation of ecumenical assemblies, which detracts them from the ecclesiological principle that should guide Christian witness.

Book review: Ross A. Lockhart, Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil: Coworkers with God in the Land of Hiking, Hipsters, and Hand-Crafted Lattes

Book review: Ross A. Lockhart, <i>Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil: Coworkers with God in the Land of Hiking, Hipsters, and Hand-Crafted Lattes</i>

Gathered by the Word: Latin Pentecostal Migrant Congregations in the Nordic Countries

Abstract Migration from Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries has produced over two hundred Evangelical/Pentecostal congregations in the Nordic region during the early twenty-first century. These churches attract people of diverse backgrounds, demanding ongoing negotiations to keep their distinctive existence. I argue that their existence is owed to shared interpretative practices of the Bible and migration experiences, shaping each other, and forming interpretive communities. Based on an ethnographic investigation, five significant themes characterize Latin congregations in the Nordics as interpretive communities, 1) family worship, 2) incubating churches, 3) intercultural families, 4) transnational connection, and 5) hermeneutics of prophecy. These close-knit, connected, and family-like congregations represent a form of migrant self-theologizing for a Christian witness in a pluralistic Nordic region.

“Koinonia” in Reformed Theology

This presentation is an edited and revised version of the presentation given at the Ecumenical International Conference "Active Participation in Community", Pannonhalma Archabbey, 21 October 2022. The theme of the conference was synodality − accordingly, this paper aims to present the basic features of Reformed ecclesiology. It highlights the fact that adapting different forms of communion from a secular context is not a viable solution for the church, even though it remains a challenge for the church today in almost all countries. Instead, the ecclesiological and practical implications of koinonia must be considered. According to Reformed theology and Confessions of faith, the ministries, services and governance of the church derive from the koinonia with Christ and with one another. Participation in this communion requires a concrete form of ecclesial and social service; it is concretized by participation in the threefold office of Christ (royal, priestly and prophetic). Last but not least, sharing in the threefold office of Christ has an as yet unexploited ecumenical potential for the common witness of Christians.

The “Angel of Light at Work”: An Assessment of the Christian Mission in the Southern Hemisphere

Today, it is commonplace to hear that Africa is the hope of Christianity. Using the Ignatian image of “the angel of light”, this paper proposes to qualify this belief. I will show that this belief is verified quantitively. However, the lack of authentic Christian witness makes the above assertion problematic. My analysis will focus on the tradition of the églises de réveil (awakening churches) in Francophone Africa, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This contemporary tradition is a hybrid Christian movement that combines Evangelical and Pentecostal attitudes. I will develop my analysis in three steps. First, I will discuss the nature of églises de réveil. Second, I will describe the modus operandi of these awakening churches. My discussion will indicate how this modus operandi works in urban and rural areas. Lastly, I will propose one perspective for authentic Christian growth. I will argue that a Christian mission needs to be radically Christocentric. This radical Christocentrism revolves around two major axes, namely a sign of contradiction vis-à-vis the world and a radical witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Three little movements in modern “mission”

René Padilla’s invitation to evangelicals worldwide, to take up integral mission, in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and the South African invitation to embrace “transforming mission” in cross-cultural ministries closely associated with the work of David Bosch and Klippies Kritzinger, were clarion calls to the global church, to turn back to the source of “mission,” which is Jesus, forming in his followers a new eschatological identity that empowers us to be witnesses who embody Christ’s good news of reconciliation. Among all who took up this invitation to realize an incarnational and contextual gospel, were evangelists in South Africa’s Students’ Christian Association, who created the SCA Cross-Cultural Missions’ Programme, or SCAMP, in 1979. This article is the first of three, which draw on a repository of memories catalogued through the discipline of oral history research; the writer’s own experience of training and teaching in the SCAMP programme; long-time friendships with many SCAMP people of the 1980s; a wide range of gathered archival primary sources; and published missiology and historiography, to construct a preliminary history of SCAMP during the 1980s at the zenith of the apartheid era. The narrative will be periodized into three distinct historical sequences, each of which may offer learnings for the contemporary church in its current understandings of “mission,” for a more incarnational, prophetic, and deeply empathic embodiment of Christian witness.

A word about . . . The freedom loophole and the baptist takeover of the world: Jeremiah 34:8-22 and Galatians 5:1,13-16a

What happens when the fundamental “baptist”1 interpretation of freedom, once thought to be a radical notion, becomes largely mainstreamed and included in the constitutions of most Western democracies? What happens when, in relation to the church and the state, free-church baptist polity largely dictates the worldview of most, if not all, other Christian traditions, even if it has not yet influenced the very doctrinal and theological structures of those mainstream denominations? What happens when the four “fragile freedoms” of baptist life (soul freedom, Bible freedom, church freedom and religious freedom) are undermined by fellow-baptists and others who decry such freedom as too radical, “a figment of some infidel’s imagination,” or an ungodly paean to a “woke” culture gone mad? This article addresses those questions in the context of two “emancipation proclamations” in Scripture, that of the prophet Jeremiah (34:8-9) to King Zedekiah and of Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians (5:1,13-16a). Still other historical moments of the “baptist” faith-heritage underscore such biblical liberties further undoing any notion that being “woke” in the current cultural and political setting is a new concept at all. Indeed, it is this very old, already “woke,” biblical “baptist” worldview that holds out the greatest promise for Christian witness in the twenty-first century and beyond.

Towards Unity in Baptism: Exploring the Current State and Future Possibilities of Ecumenical Recognition

This study discusses the current state of ecumenical discussions on the mutual recognition of baptism and the possibilities for progress. Baptism is considered the basic sacrament of unity in Christianity, yet mutual baptismal confession is still not a reality among all Christian Churches and communities. This research also tries to answer questions about the lack of faith in infant baptism and the differences in understanding of the sacrament, especially in the relationship between Orthodox and Protestants. The method used in this study is a systematic analysis of the most relevant ecumenical theological sources of baptism. Understanding the relationship between baptism and faith is the main focus of this study, including an understanding of the ontological and epistemological dimensions of faith and being a Christian from a theological perspective. The results of the analysis are also integrated into the framework of Christian life in general and ecclesiology. One of the important findings in this study is the seventh canon of the second ecumenical council in Constantinople in 381 which states that any baptism performed with water and in the name of the Trinity should be considered a valid Christian baptism. Although the recognition of baptism does not directly entail full ecclesiastical union or eucharistic intercommunion, it does provide hope and encouragement to work harder in promoting common Christian witness and ministry. This research is also relevant in resolving the dilemma between infant baptism and the baptism of believers. In conclusion, the study proposes possible paths to take this discussion forward, in the hope of achieving a wider mutual recognition of baptism among different Churches and Christian communities.

Christian Social Ethics in A Multicultural Society

Christian social ethics mean the unfolding of the basic Christian witness into the multiple dimensions of human existence. This paper proceeds in five steps. First it recalls the basic witness Christians are called to give: that God is with us, that we may trust God and that we give witness to God's love thru our love. Second, it is stressed that by love is not meant an emotion, but an attitude and action: respect for a person, including her rights, care and responsibility for her well being, refusal to give room to hatred, jealousy and arrogance. Third this Christian love has to be unfolded thru the whole expanse of human existence, the cultural, political, social and economic dimensions. Humankind faces five serious challenges. The fourth section asks what specific challenges Indonesia faces and what is demanded of us. The paper ends, fifth, by suggesting four concrete areas where every follower of Jesus could make her or his witness become real.

Book Review: Calling on the Prophets in Christian Witness to Muslims

Book Review: Calling on the Prophets in Christian Witness to Muslims

Towards a missiology of marriage and sexuality: A review of Timothy Tennent’s theology of the body

Missiologists have written little in response to many of our modern world’s newly emergent and influential sexual lifeways, ideologies, surrogacy practices, and family formations. The 2020 book written by missiologist Timothy Tennent For the Body: Recovering a Theology of Gender, Sexuality, and the Human Body represents an exception. Thus, it merits sustained attention from other missiologists wishing to consider such realities. This article reviews Tennent’s exposition of a “theology of the body,” focusing on his arguments regarding marriage and celibacy as missional icons of the gospel, and explores the relevance of the book’s topic for missiology. It commends Tennent for addressing an important and timely topic that ought to be addressed by missiologists. It suggests that Tennent might have more fully achieved his laudable goal of framing a suitable argument for the public square had he interacted more with anthropology, not just theology, and had he explicitly interacted with the writings of professional missiologists on fundamental missiological principles. The article proposes that missiology, despite its relative silence till now, has discipline-specific strengths for engaging contemporary challenges related to sex and marriage and Christian witness. It encourages missiologists to direct our future missiological conversations, research, writing, and curricular development accordingly.

Witnesses to the Living God: Three Paradigms for Approaching the Politics of Nouvelle Théologie*

Witnesses to the Living God: Three Paradigms for Approaching the Politics of <i>Nouvelle Théologie</i>*

Renewing Christian Witness in Europe—A Proposal

The transmission of the Christian faith is severely broken in many western European countries. This does not bode well for the future of Christianity in these regions. In the face of this situation, Christians might be tempted either to “retreat” from the world and foster sectarian communities or to more or less completely “merge” with contemporary society. Both of these options are erroneous and amount to a distortion of what a genuine Christian witness might look like in the coming decades. The present essay attempts to draw some of the contours of what such a Christian witness may look like.

A Prophet to the Peoples: Introduction

The essays that comprise this book—commissioned from theologians from around the world—are guided by three purposes: First, to honor the extraordinary life and the prophetic Christian witness of Dr. Paul Farmer, and second, and perhaps most significantly, to acknowledge and describe the influence and impact that his scholarly work and on-the-ground praxis have had on the field of theological ethics in general and on each of the contributors individually. As will be evident, Dr. Farmer’s life, witness, and work have influenced our thinking, sometimes called into question our long-held assumptions about the moral life and the role of the theologian, and in turn, impacted our scholarly production and teaching. Beyond this, we believe, thirdly, that it holds important insights for the work of theological ethics going forward.

Theology, Witness, and Spirituality in a Post-Secularized Historical Context

Religion and spirituality are seen to be making a comeback since the 1990s and increasingly thereafter in the European context. However, traditional forms of Christianity are diminishing, while other types of religion take the lead. An increasing number of voices are being raised among Christians, calling for a re-evangelization of society. Nevertheless, there is some skepticism about such activism against the backdrop of plurality, human rights, and freedom, regarding not only issues of political correctness but also considering the question of efficacy. While spirituality abounds, even among conscientious Orthodox Christians, there is still a need for theology. Even among Orthodox Christians, spirituality is mainly linked with a withdrawal from the world, history, and the political, often taking a ritualistic character expressed in religious acts of pietism through habits and customs. This is unfair to the historical and liberating physiognomy of the Orthodox Christian faith, as it does not differ much from other types of new age religious movements. In order to foster Christian witness amidst the desert of post-modern cities, one must rediscover theology. Theology, centered around the Gospel and the patristic tradition, can contribute vital missing elements and does justice to the Incarnation of pre-eternal Logos, to the Resurrection, and to the fulfillment of life. Unless Christians grow in their understanding of theology and the world around us, there will be only mirages of spirituality that take the place of a spirituality derived from faith and its incisiveness and meaningfulness for life today.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from a Romanian Orthodox Perspective: A Historical and Missiological Analysis of Common Prayer

Every year, the member Churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) are called to actively participate in the meetings organized in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. From my perspective, these moments are an extraordinary opportunity to share in the richness of the Orthodox tradition, which means an act of confession and authentic witness. In the first part, I will present critically the canonical synthesis of the Orthodox, the concept of “Ecumenical Eucharist” and of Lima Liturgy, followed by the recommendations of the Special Commission for Orthodox participation in the WCC regarding confessional and interconfessional common prayer. Then, this article will make a historical presentation of the week of prayer. It is very important to know how this initiative started and how it was accepted at the beginning and over the years. At least in Romania, where we have an Orthodox majority, this week has become a controversial issue produced by those who are against ecumenical dialogue. A special attention is for the actual practice approved by the Romanian Patriarchate. Finally, the article will present the statements of the new Orthodox documents and it will end with some conclusions about this moment of common Christian witness.