Christianity Today Research Articles

An Evangelical is Anyone who Likes Billy Graham: Defining Evangelicalism with Carl Henry and Networks of Trust

AbstractThe founding editors of Christianity Today spent more than a year planning the launch of their magazine. Carl F. H. Henry, L. Nelson Bell, and J. Marcellus Kik believed Christianity Today could “plant the flag” for evangelicalism. To do that, though, the editors had to decide what evangelicalism was. They had to decide where the lines were, who was in and who was out, which issues mattered and which did not. One key criterion, they decided, was whether or not someone liked evangelist Billy Graham. Historian George Marsden later offered this as a tongue-in-cheek definition of evangelicalism. More seriously, religious historians have used David Bebbington's quadrilateral definition, which says the basis of evangelicalism is conversionism, biblicism, activism, and crucicentrism. This article argues that Bebbington's definition is ahistorical, vague, and deeply unhelpful. Marsden's joking definition, on the other hand, is quite useful, as it directs historians to attend to actual relationships, historical affinities, and real-world conversations. Based on new archival research, this article tells the story of the launch of evangelicalism's “flagship” magazine, shows how evangelicalism's lines were drawn in 1956, and makes the case that evangelicalism is best understood as a discourse community which is structured by its communication networks.

Unveiling Women's Agency in Early Christian Leadership, Reclaiming It in Korean Christianity Today

This paper aims to unveil women’s agency in ecclesiastical structure and so many Biblical and historical written records in Early Christianity, reclaiming it in Korean Christianity today. It explores women’s leadership issues through historical consciousness of Roman gender ideology impact on early Christian communities. During the formative period of early Christianity (1st - 5th century), women leaders were present, and carried out ministerial and leadership functions. Yet, accounts of Christian history have largely marginalized the presence and contributions of women, often directly reinforcing the suppression of women’s leadership in pastoral ministry through to the contemporary context. Even though early Christianity was grown in part by the contribution of so many women leaders’ commitment, the church intentionally omitted their participation and/or distorted their roles and images as it developed church structures in ways that have limited women’s leadership and authority, excluding women from ordination and some roles in church ministry. The invisibility of women’s leadership in the historical record can be understood through an examination of the socio-theological-philosophical contexts of gender ideology in Roman society. The dualistic gender hierarchy of the Roman gender ideological system strongly influenced and shaped the patriarchalization of the Christian church as the church began to be institutionalized in the early centuries of its development. Many early church fathers from the 2nd to 5th centuries who were uncomfortable with women’s leadership utilized their writings as a platform to oppress women in ministry. The controversy over the apostleship of Mary Magdalene is one of the exemplary cases illustrating how male leaders in early Christianity attempted to exclude women. Additionally, the church has developed its structure in ways to limit women’s authority, excluding women from ordination and roles in pastoral ministry. With this historical consciousness, it is important to recognize that this oppressive gender ideology continues to maintain the unequal treatment of women leaders in current Korean Christian ministry.

From the Margins to the Centre: Commercialisation of Religion - Threat or an Opportunity in Pentecostalism?

Allan H. Anderson has done extensive research about Pentecostalism as a global phenomenon, his work is well situated in the phenomenology of religion which is regarded as a useful conceptual framework in Pentecostal research. The study is conducted in the form of a comparative literature study and draws from literature on the phenomenon of Pentecostalism in the work of Allan H. Anderson to have a critical understanding of the prosperity gospel and how it impacts current conversations on the commercialisation of religion in Pentecostalism. The World Council of Churches (WCC) regards the emergence of strong Pentecostal and charismatic movements from different localities as one of the most noteworthy characteristics of world Christianity today – calling it a shift to the centre of gravity of Christianity. Due to the influence of the commercialising of religion on Pentecostalism, this centre is threatened but it can also be an opportunity for mission and transformation. The study illustrates how the commercialising of religion has become a part of Christianity, how it has been clothed and shipped by missionaries from the European and North American context into the Two-Thirds world. The vision of the early church is to be holy, while the vision of the early Pentecostal movement is to restore New Testament Christianity that can assist Pentecostals today to have a balanced view of the commercialisation of religion that embraces both individual and social holiness that is faithful witnesses of the mission Dei and bring transformation in society.

16세기 발타자르 후브마이어 뱁티즘 신학의 사회-윤리적 함의

The sixteenth-century Anabaptist movement was initiated with the awareness of “believers baptism” as of the authentic baptism revealed in the Bible along with the denial of infant baptism. Anabaptists were characterized by their determined choices to participate in “believers baptism” sometimes resulted in martydom. The methodological hermeneutics of this paper is to interpret Anabaptist baptism as a ritual of doing social ethics because it intentionally opposed established social, political and ecclesial practice. With the methodological hermeneutics, the aims of paper are focused on studying the 16<SUP>th</SUP> Anabaptist baptismal practices historically and theologically in terms of investigating the implications of Balthasar Hubmaier’s theology of baptism. This study will examine Hubmaier’s baptismal theology in social ethics’s perspectives of non-violent baptism, suffering “Blood baptism” and discipleship’s baptism. Afterwards, it is significant for us to attend about how the 16th Anabaptist baptism could be employed as to seek the implications for twenty-first century Christians. For Christians today, the implications of baptisms could be described as having two dimensions of them as follows: 1. formation of faith community in freedom-suffering-peace. 2. the confessor baptism based on the believer freedom.

Christian Missionaries’ Influences on Öhna Traditional Institution in Ikwerre: Negotiating the Insider/Outsider Perspectives

There is an increased awareness to retain some traditionalinstitutions of Africa. This is because substantially Africa has been maimed and dehumanized by the Christian missionaries andtheir protégés as one whose footmarks are not in the sands of time. This narrative fostered the illusionary views that Africa has no history, culture, no religion, and of course, no ethics. However, there arevital institutions and structures which sustained the African before the arrival of Europeans and literacy skills, among which is the Ohna traditional institution among the people of Ikwerre of the Northeastern Niger Delta. With the transformation of Christianity by the militant pneumatological type in Africa in the 21st Century, there seems to be a completeeffacement of traditional beliefs and practices. This work examines the story of Öhafrom the perspectives of the insider against the resurgence of Christianity today. Making use of historical research, and supplemented with ethnographic data, the paper avers that Öhna is alive and well despite the outside factors which tendto occlude it into obscurity. The paper is sanguine that what is needed is dialogue and mutual enrichment of both the Öhna and Christianity so that Christianity will find resonances with Ikwerre forms and metaphors and Ikwerre people will not suffer identity crisis or belongingness

Kajian Analisis Deskriptif Prinsip Spiritualitas Zakharia Sebagai Upaya Pembaharuan Formasi Rohani Kristen Masa Kini

This paper is a phenomenological descriptive analysis of the living conditions of Christians today. The author found several problems in the life of Christian spirituality today, namely: the failure of Christians to reflect on their spirituality by their religious positions, the emergence of an apathetic attitude to show a good spiritual life due to an experience of failure, a lack of practical implementation of the values ​​of spirituality that are understood, the life of spirituality. without obedience and the presence of a center of non-biblical spirituality in the Christian life. The writer observes this problem as a problem in building the spiritual formation of Christianity today. This problem the writer observed was also experienced by Zacharias, but the Bible provides the fact that Zacharias was able to overcome these problems. Thus this paper refers to the principle of Zacharias spirituality in answering this problem. Hopefully this article adds insight and provides answers to the lives of Christians today.

Surviving the “Sexplosion”: Christianity Today and Evangelical Sexual Ethics in the Long 1960s

This paper examines how the editors and contributors to Christianity Today (CT) called for an evangelical sexual ethics in the 1960s. Editors and contributors alike were concerned that the supposed sexual immorality on college campuses, the liberalization of obscenity laws, the approval and sale of the birth control, and secular sex education programs threatened the United States’ social health. They believed that evangelicals needed to learn how to talk about sex, and this belief resulted in the development of conservative Protestant sex manuals by the middle of the 1970s. Overall, talk about sex in the pages of CT demonstrates that evangelicals are neither anti-sex nor traditionalists. They instead forged a new sexual ethic in response to the historical events and developments of the 1960s.

Luke, Widows, Judges, and Stereotypes

Dickerson, assistant professor of NT at American Baptist College, inaugurates “Womanist Readings of Scripture” with this treatment of Luke 18:1–8. She is properly upset about the historic and recent atrocities against African Americans in the U.S. and sees the potential of Jesus’s parable for addressing our racism. She believes that Luke’s sole understanding of the passage is encapsulated in v. 1—to pray always and not lose heart—and this is clearly inadequate.Tracing a selective history of pre-20th-century interpretation, Dickerson finds that little other than prayer and perseverance are touted. Drawing more widely from contemporary interpretation, including online sermons, many of them African American, she remains dissatisfied, especially with the stereotyping of the woman as innocent victim and the judge as corrupt. She notes that the biblical background that Jesus’s audience knew well regularly demonstrated that widows would get justice, even if by creative means (comparing especially Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, and [from the apocrypha] Judith).In the longest, most unique and fascinating section, Dickerson next illustrates three iconic presentations of African American women in 20th-century film, television, and literature and considers their potential for viewing the widow in the parable along similar lines: (1) “Mammy,” the overweight, nonsexual, devoted childminder for the children of well-to-do whites; (2)—“Jezebel,” the seductive, promiscuous woman who brings down powerful men; and (3) “Sapphire,” who easily morphs into the angry black woman, yet nevertheless gets things accomplished with her tenacity. Dickerson then rewrites and expands the parable from the perspective of each of these three depictions of the persistent widow.A shorter chapter rounds out the volume with a comparison between the judge and three African-American male stereotypes. He can be “cool”—that is, dispassionate, letting nothing faze him; he can be the “Master-Pastor”—the autocratic leader who also often gives in to temptation; or he can be “foolish”—with the classic example being the buffoon in the routine “Here Come Duh Judge”. Again, possibilities for different interpretations for the parable based on each figure are teased out.In keeping with womanist interpretation as a non-totalizing, postmodern option, Dickerson never suggests that any one of her revamped interpretations is the right one, just that they are possibilities. She does, however, seem fairly convinced that what she dubs Luke’s interpretation is wrong. She criticizes my interpretation (The Parables of Jesus, 2nd ed. [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2012]) as perpetuating the stereotypes of widow and judge as innocent and corrupt, respectively. But she never asks how characters in either Jesus’s parables in general or Jewish parables elsewhere function. In fact, they do function as stock characters, but with key surprises that shatter the stereotype at some point. She rightly rejects much of the allegorizing of church history but, in opting for Jülicher’s corrective, has to find all of Luke’s meaning in v. 1, without mining vv. 6–8 for their rich, added complexities. She realizes the parable functions “from the light to the heavy” but fails to observe that Jesus’s “how much more” illustrations consistently function as “how different” as well.In short, I agree with Dickerson’s frustrations at how the parable has often been used, but I am less convinced that her approach(es) can actually get her to her very necessary call for activism and justice. Ironically, David Wells, in Christianity Today (November, 2 1979), already contextualized the parable for a black Chicago neighborhood, depicting prayer as “rebelling against the status quo.” And he used historical-grammatical exegesis.

Embodying Christ in a Culture: Challenge for Christians Today

Embodying Christ in a Culture: Challenge for Christians Today

“I Will Not Leave You Orphaned”

Abstract This article responds to a simple question: What are the distinctive contributions of Pentecostalism to the making of world Christianity? We cannot touch on every conceivable point in the discussion, and thus for our purposes I identify seven major interrelated areas that ought to stimulate our thoughts in reflecting on Pentecostalism as a global movement influencing world Christianity today. This article is devoted neither to global pentecostal statistical returns, as important as that may be, nor to the different types of pentecostal/charismatic movements in the world. Rather, I focus on the critical importance of the experience of the Holy Spirit as the religious core of this stream of Christianity and the practical ways in which the Spirit has inspired pentecostal activity in the world.

Book Review | Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump

In Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump, John Fea, professor of history at Messiah College, has written a fine and all too necessary book that helps explain how we have reached this moment when Christianity Today calls for the impeachment and removal of a sitting president while the broader evangelical church embraces the same leader. A thoughtful, gentle guide for the perplexed, Fea is writing directly (though not exclusively) to fellow “white evangelicals” who share his befuddlement at the overwhelming, fervid, and ongoing support their religious compatriots offer to Donald Trump.

#AmplifyWomen: the emergence of an evangelical feminist public on social media

ABSTRACT This study conceptualizes the Twitter response to a Christianity Today article that challenged the role of female Christian bloggers as authoritative figures and centered around the hashtag #AmplifyWomen, as an “affective public”. It employs the method of “hashtag ethnography” to investigate it. The article argues that this public points to the beginnings of a connective feminist movement in evangelicalism brought about by the affordances of digital media and makes two moves in service to this assertion. First, it explains that it is through a reliance on the tropes of postfeminism that Christian celebrity bloggers have achieved the level of charismatic authority that they have. And second it tracks how the affective public that emerged to defend them mobilized a tactical rhetoric to resist the dominant patriarchal structures of the traditionally conservative culture of white evangelicalism.

Catolicismo consumado. Lo que queda de Dios

El artículo aborda la relación entre la esencia y el destino del cristianismo; en particular, se centra en su carácter insoslayablemente católico y examina el sentido en el que puede afirmarse que la absoluta catolización (esto es: el cumplimiento del kerigma cristiano) es lo mismo que la nada. A tal efecto, problematiza la presunta diferencia entre fe y ateísmo, e introduce algunas consideraciones a propósito de cómo corresponde entender la vigencia del cristianismo en nuestra contemporaneidad. The paper addresses the relationship between the essence and destiny of Christianity. In particular, it focuses on its catholic nature and deals with the sense in which it can be affirmed that absolute catholization (i.e. the fulfillment of the kerigma) is the same as nothing. To this end, it problematizes the alleged difference between faith and atheism, and introduces some considerations about what is Christianity today.

The Giant and the Underdog

The story of David and Goliath is one of the most famous biblical stories. It had an impact on many branches of contemporary art. It is also an inevitable part of religious education and general education in all schools. Knowing the fact that the Church Fathers have an essential part in the lives of many Christians today (in the Orthodox Church, they were role models from the very beginning), it is interesting to see how did they, these original theologians, read and interpret the story of David and Goliath. Was it for them, in the time when the Bible was the most sacred book for all, important as it is for us today? Did people during the sports events of that time talk on the markets about the underdog who struck the giant? Additionally, if one looks at the ancient Greek and Hebrew text, one will find out that the Hebrew version, which was used as the source for most modern translations, is 40% longer than the Greek one. Could the works of the Fathers help us to determine which version of the story is the Holy Scripture for Christians today?

Mozaično uređenje hrama Svetog Save

The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the state representatives of the Republic of Serbia, with the brotherly aid of the Government of The Russian Federation and its Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchy are nearing the completion of the Temple of Saint Sava. The unique style and artistic concepts of Nikolay Mukhin is in complete harmony with the architecture of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the foremost example of Byzantine and Serbian medieval art. There are four representations in the great arch of each cupola of the Temple of Saint Sava, grouped according to meaning and history as presented in the Holy Testament, with the aim of faithfully depicting the earthly life of Christ and the Mother of God. The rich and original iconography of the mosaics and iconostases is awe-inspiring in their artistry for the over three hundred artists engaged in their execution. The conceptual knot of the interior: the dome, the space below, the pendentive and main arches, with their beautifully decorated altar space, have enriched Serbia and the world with one of the most imposing and magnificent monuments of Christianity today.

Култ свете Петке у народном хришћанству срба данас

В статье анализируется современный феномен народного культа святой Параскевы у сербов. Автор рассмотрела различные аспекты народного христианства и, в частности, факторы, которые повлияли на восприятие тех или иных природных и культурных объектов, связанных с именем святой Параскевы как священных мест. Исследовательница отметила, что в сербской традиции параллельно с каноническими рассказами о жизни святой Параскевы получили распространение народные рассказы о ней, легенды, предания и даже песни. Эти фольклорные тексты повлияли на формирование нового образа святой, который сильно отличается от принятого Церковью жития. Согласно народному мнению святой Параскевы является защитницей людей и просителем за них перед Богом. Она помогает тем, кто имеет проблемы со зрением и страдает от головных болей, а также бесплодным женщинам. Особое внимание в работе уделяется преемственности культа. Раньше основная функция, приписываемая святой, была связана с поведенческими нормативами, которые регулировали работу в пятницу. В настоящее время данная функция в значительной степени ослаблена. Доминирующей сейчас стала функция помощи и исполнения желаний. На примере записанных нарративов/текстов и наблюдаемого поведения в «святых местах», посвященных св. Параскеве, рассматриваются новые элементы ее почитания и народных представлений (внешний вид и приписываемые ей функции) об этой святой. The paper analyzes contemporary phenomenon in the folk cult of saint Paraskeva among the Serbs. Special attention is paid to the issue of the continuity of the cult. Examples of recorded narratives and observed behavior at "sacred sites" dedicated to saint Paraskeva, display new elements of the cult and popular depictions (appearance and attributed functions) of this saint.

Justice, Dignity, and Reward: Nurturing Relationships in the Gig Economy

Justice, Dignity, and Reward: Nurturing Relationships in the Gig Economy Calum Samuelson1 Introduction The Bible has a great deal to say about workers and work, but, due to considerable cultural and economic differences, it can be difficult to apply biblical wisdom to the complex landscape of modern work. The gig economy in particular presents many opportunities and obstacles to modern workers and employers, but its novel and evolving characteristics greatly complicate responses built upon comprehensive data. Thus, whilst acknowledging the importance of insights from fields such as law and economics, this essay takes a biblical approach in order to consider some of the underlying theological factors at play within the gig economy. By doing this, it is hoped that both workers and employers will be better equipped to parse and distinguish between the purported and actual advantages of the gig economy. Workers in the Bible can be divided into three basic groups: 1) professionals, the self-employed and those who owned property, 2) permanent workers (mainly relatives and servants)2 , 3) temporary workers (such as the disenfranchised and foreigners).3 This hierarchy of workers fundamentally created relationships of unequal power. Masters who owned land had more power and discretion than the permanent servants in their households, and both of these had more power than the temporary workers who often lacked both material resources and social capital (perhaps because of misfortune or disaster).4 The biblical corpus implicitly recognises that some asymmetry is inevitable in relationships between human beings and, on that basis, provides guidance for acceptable behaviour in whatever socio-economic position people may find themselves. Thus, all workers are endowed with some measure of positional power, and nowhere in Scripture are the obligations of this endowment made clearer than in the domestic codes given by Paul in the New Testament.5 Paul’s exhortation to both masters and servants to treat each other ‘in the same way’6 due to their shared status as ‘servants of Christ’7 was truly revolutionary in the time of the early Church. Studies • volume 108 • number 432 432 Calum Samuelson Positional power is, of course, closely related to the idea of agency. The Book of Judges 6:15 illustrates a five-fold hierarchy of agency: ‘But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family’.8 This single verse conveys agency at the national level (Israel), tribal level (Manasseh), clan level, family level and the individual level (Gideon himself). Each level was respected and responsible for actions and behaviour within that level. This means that Israel was responsible for things as a nation that Gideon was not necessarily responsible for; Gideon could not be a ‘light to the nations’ by himself. Crucially, the divisions of positional power exist within and across the hierarchies of agency (the role of chief always entails high positional power, but the individual who relinquishes that position does not). The biblical hierarchy of agency is shifted in the New Testament, but still articulates a stratified vision involving the Church, geographic assemblies of the Church (ekklesia),9 ethnic groups,10 families11 and households,12 and individuals. Jesus teaches about bearing fruit at the individual level, but there is also the fuller and mysterious sense in which groups of people can bear fruit collectively; the Spirit of God who produces the fruit does not dwell in isolated individuals but rather in assemblies of God’s people.13 This means that separate agents can become a single agent together in Christ even though their positional powers are different; the master and the servant are both essential members of the Body of Christ! These truths have significant implications for work in general and for the gig economy in particular. An increasing number of participants in the gig economy are temporary workers who are kept at arm’s length from the company for which they work. Giggers occupy roles of low positional power that must be mediated by large, international platforms such as Upwork. However, it is precisely in this context that many giggers hope to obtain or initially feel an increased sense of their agency as individuals. For Christians today, freelancers...

Attending to the Well-Being and Wholistic Education of Students

A recent issue of Christianity Today that featured Christian higher education contained an article titled “The Power of the Christian Quad” that made a powerful case for the distinctive educational...

Narrative Framing of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in British Religious News

This paper examines how religious news organizations in the UK covered the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe. Using narrative framing theory, this paper examines all coverage from 2015 and 2016 published in bbc Religion (a part of bbc News), The Muslim News, and Christian Today to examine shared and disparate narratives regarding Syrian refugees migrating to the UK. Four major frames emerged from our analysis of the media coverage in religious and mainstream publications: a humanizing frame, saviour frame, dehumanizing frame, and, redemption frame. The publications differed in their use of these frames as well as the use of sources, news values, and tone of coverage. We discuss each of these frames as well as the implications of the differing coverage.

Icons in the Lived Experience of American Orthodox Christians

Abstract This article explores how American Orthodox Christians today use and interpret icons in the course of their everyday devotional lives. Drawing upon ethnographic data collected through participant observation and interviews with parishioners of an Orthodox Church in Mississippi in 2015, I highlight the ways that diverse and multiple media within a wider American context of “buffet-style” spiritual appropriation affect informant considerations of and interactions with icons. Fundamental to this article is the tension between informants’ experiences with icons as the conveyance of divine “presence” and the concerns they express over the extent to which American commodification and mass-media cultures threaten the status and sacrality of images in Orthodox devotional practice.