This volume is a way of marking an important milestone in the relatively short story of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS). The papers here, have been, exclusively, sourced from Transformation, a quarterly journal of OCMS, and seek to provide a tripartite view of Christianity's engagement with cultures by focusing on the question: How is Christian thinking being formed or reformed through its interaction with the varied contexts it encounters?...

With a history of racial violence and in recent years, low-level ethnic tensions, the themes of peaceful coexistence and social harmony are recurring ones in the discourse of Malaysian society. In such a context, this book looks at the role of the church as a reconciling agent, arguing that a reconciling presence within a divided society necessitates an ethos of peacemaking. Such an ethos is created and sustained when Christians understand that their...

Christian mission takes place in a world with increasing interreligious tensions, including violence and persecution. Politics, economics, religion, ethnicity and other factors play a role in these tensions. Christians too are involved in such conflicts, sometimes as those who are persecuted and sometimes as those participating in violence. 'Freedom of religion and belief' is a core value in the UN Human Rights Declaration. At the same time it is...

This book addresses the causes and the consequences of culture change in Ethiopia, from Haile Selassie to the present, based on thorough academic research. Although the book is written from an evangelical perspective, it invites Ethiopians from all religious, ideological, and ethnic backgrounds to reflect on their past, analyze their present and to engage in unity with diversity to face the future. It also appeals to the conscience of global and regional...

The question you will naturally ask at the outset is, What is the new Evangelism?" Now that is a question that I cannot answer. I do not know what the new Evangelism is, and it is because I do not know that I write this paper. I write because I ought to know, and am trying to know. Many here, and all the most earnest minds of our Church, are anxiously asking this question, and each who has once asked it feels it to be one of the chief objects of his...

Children are hungry and homeless. Christians around the world care and send finances to organizations that provide care for such children. The local churches do their part. This is what we believe; this is what we expect. But, do the organizations and churches always succeed in their efforts? Are Christian organizations more effective than other organizations in helping children? What if local churches do not help ,as much as, they could because they...

Mission cannot ignore its engagement with power. Christian mission is unavoidably located within matrices of power structures: religion, culture, colonial power, economics, and gender. It is not only in the missionary movement largely emanating from the West that Christian mission is linked to structure and power. The Christian communities of today also present significant images, practices, expressions, and sometimes exploitations of power. This...

Joseph Butler was an English bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher. He was born in Wantage in the English county of Berkshire. He is known, among other things, for his critique of Thomas Hobbes's egoism and John Locke's theory of personal identity. During his life and after his death, Butler influenced many philosophers, including David Hume, Thomas Reid, and Adam Smith. CONTENTS: Introduction Selected Bibliography Five Sermons: The Preface...

In The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going, Ryan P. Burge details a comprehensive picture of an increasingly, significant group-Americans who say they have no religious affiliation. The growth of the nones in American society has been dramatic. In 1972, just 5 percent of Americans claimed "no religion" on the General Social Survey. In 2018, that number rose to 23.7 percent, making the nones, as numerous, as both evangelical...

You don't need to memorize evangelical formulas or answers. You just have to be willing to ask questions. There was something different about the way Jesus communicated with the lost: He didn't force answers upon people; He asked questions. So why don't we? Campus ministry veteran Randy Newman has been using a questioning style of evangelism for years. In this thought-provoking book, he provides practical insights to help Christians engage others...