Theological News On-Line

Issue 39    Aug 2005	'Promoting Biblical Truth by Networking Theologians'

Published by Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance

Editor: David Parker dparker@pacific.net.au
email distribution: Dr.Paul C. Murdoch Murdoch@ead.de

Welcome to WEA Theological News On-Line - this is the on-line version of our printed quarterly, WEA Theological News (ISSN 0260-3705). WEA TN On-Line is issued approximately six-weekly. The content of the printed and on-line versions overlap but are not identical. We also publish Evangelical Review of Theology. For more information, visit our website http://www.worldevangelical.org/tcpubs.html#ert 

We welcome news reports on theological matters for both versions - they can cover theological institutions, conferences, publications, faculty, trends and developments, etc. of interest to evangelical theologians around the world.

For more information on the work of the Theological Commission, contact the Executive Chair, Dr Rolf Hille r.hille@bengelhaus.de 

In this issue:

•  Verbum - new feature from the WEA TC - on Postmodernity and the Gospel
•  TC Plans for Annual Strategy Meeting and Joint Consultation on 
   'The Task of Evangelical Theology for the Church of the 21st Century'
•  John Stott - Lausanne Hon. Chair
•  Operation World Update
•  Regent University to launch new degree in strategic foresight
•  World Mission Conference - Athens

Verbum

Welcome to this new feature from the World Evangelical Alliance Theological Commission. It appears in the print and on-line versions of WEA Theological News as a feature page of comment and insight giving perspectives and overviews of topical issues to stimulate thought and responses. Then it is circulated through the TC Forum and to other e-mail lists. Reproduction and wider circulation is encouraged. Please acknowledge as "Verbum: WEA Theological News July 2005" Contributions from readers of ideas and articles (750 words) are warmly welcomed.

Modernity, Postmodernity, and the Gospel

by James Danaher, PhD, Professor and Head of Department of Philosophy, Nyack College, Nyack, NY

We are told that we live in a postmodern age, but what exactly is meant by postmodern? Many seem to think that postmodern refers to some set of beliefs that offer an alternative to modernity. In fact, there is no consensus concerning a postmodern alternative, and its only unifying feature is a general rejection of modernity and the principles upon which it was founded. Modernity refers to the modern period of the 17th and 18th centuries which is often dubbed, The Enlightenment. The cornerstone of the Enlightenment was a belief in a new and enlightened form of science. This science maintained that not only was the world orderly, but that such an order was governed by mathematically precise laws that could be detected by the new science. Such a precise and certain understanding of the world, in time, became the great metanarrative and model for all right thinking. The Enlightenment vision was that as this new science acquired more and more knowledge it would eventual bring us to utopia.

Of course, from the start, the Enlightenment had its critics. What brought about the end of Enlightenment science as the great metanarrative, however, was not the criticism of poets and philosophers, but rather the history of the 20th century. After 300 years of putting our faith in scientific progress, the 20th century turned out not to be the utopia that the Enlightenment had promised. Quite the contrary, it witnessed over 100 million people killed in wars, and 35,000 to 40,000 thousand children dying each day from the effects of hunger and malnutrition. By the end of the 20th century the very existence of the planet was being threatened, and science did not seem able to do anything about it. The Enlightenment had failed to deliver what it had promised, and something else was obviously needed. This presents a great opportunity for the Gospel.

Not only are people searching for answers today in a way that they hadn't when science had all the answers, but, with the end of modernity, we no longer believe that knowledge must be objective and precise after the model of mathematics. Thus, room has been made for the kind of knowledge of which the Gospel speaks. A Christian understanding of God will always be based in a personal relationship with the risen Christ, and never the kind of objective and precise understanding that modernity insisted constituted real knowledge. The Christian God could never be discovered through the methods of science, but he is faithful to reveal himself to those who humbly seek him.

Of course, Enlightenment science did give us a technology that we might not want to be without, but it was not capable of leading us to the kind of truth and meaning that lies at the base of the Christian life. It certainly was not an appropriate model for intimately knowing a personal God, for modernity told us that we should rid ourselves of all bias in order to discover an objective truth untainted by our prejudice. The Gospel, however, tells us that we are to bring the prejudice of faith to every circumstance. Modernity provided us with a method that gave us a confidence in our certain and precise understanding, but the Gospel leads us to an understanding founded upon a divine beauty that we behold in humble awe. The truth of modernity was something we could get a hold of, but the truth of the Gospel is something that gets a hold of us.

Fortunately, we now know that the scientific reasoning that modernity insisted upon is not the universal form of right reason it had claimed to be but merely represents one form of reason. With that understanding, we are now free to pursue forms of rationality more compatible with a Gospel that is personal and mysteriously beautiful rather than objective and mathematically precise.

Contrary to what some have led us to believe, a postmodern world is not one in which all order, meaning, and truth is lost. Rather, all that is lost is the kind of order, meaning, and truth that modernity had insisted upon. The good news of the postmodern Gospel is that, with the end of modernity, we now have an ever greater opportunity to order our lives, not based upon an understanding of some universal, objective truth, but rather upon an intimate understanding of a truth that is personal indeed, a truth that is a person (John 14:6).

For further reading:

• Merold Westphal, Overcoming Onto-Theology: Toward a Postmodern Christian Faith (Fordham University Press, 2001)
• James Danaher, Eyes That Can See, Ears That Can Hear: Perceiving Jesus in a Postmodern Context (forthcoming)

TC Plans for Annual Meeting and Joint-Consultation in Seoul, Korea

Planning is underway for the 2005 annual planning and strategy meeting of the WEA Theological Commission. It will be held in Seoul, South Korea, Sept 27-30 in conjunction with a consultation of the Korea Evangelical Theological Society (KETS). General Secretary of KETS, Dr Jae Sung Kim is in charge of local arrangements which will include visits by TC members to local seminaries for lecturing and fellowship. TC members will also present papers to the joint TC-KETS Consultation to be held Sept 30 and Oct 1. The theme for the Consultation is 'The Task of Evangelical Theology for the Church of the 21st Century.'

An important item on the agenda of the Commission will be its program and future in the light of the revisioning of the World Evangelical Alliance at the recent Orlando summit. Other items will include the revision of the statement of faith, task force and consultation programs, dialogues and publications. Filling of membership vacancies and development of relationships with other organisations will also be on the agenda.

John Stott Becomes Lausanne Honorary Chair

Rev. Dr. John R. W. Stott has been named Honorary Chair of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (Lausanne). Dr. Stott is regarded by many as one of the most significant leaders in the evangelical movement. An article in TIME magazine in April named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In making the announcement of Dr. Stott's new connection with Lausanne, Rev. S. Douglas Birdsall, Executive Chair of Lausanne, said in many ways the name John Stott is synonymous with Lausanne because of the key role he has played in the development of the movement. Birdsall added that as an exemplary churchman, scholar and preacher committed to the full counsel of God, Dr. Stott has "a heart and a vision for the world. Thus, he models the catchwords of Lausanne - the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world."

Dr. Stott's life-long service to Christ and to the work of the church provides a valuable model for emerging leaders and established leaders around the world to live a life that is, according to Birdsall, "consistent with the gospel we proclaim." Birdsall added that Dr. Stott's involvement with Lausanne will also "provide inspiration for Christian leaders worldwide as they come together to address the task of global evangelization through a revitalized Lausanne movement."

Dr. Stott has been involved with Lausanne in various leadership roles since the beginning of the movement. At the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization, Dr. Stott served as chair of the drafting committee for the Lausanne Covenant and was one of the Covenant's principal writers. From 1974-81 Dr. Stott chaired the Lausanne Theology and Education Group.

LCWE June 2005 ENewsletter

Operation World Update

Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC) has commissioned Jason Mandryk to write the next edition of Operation World, the definitive prayer guide to the nations, peoples and cities of the world. Jason was co-author with Patrick Johnstone of the 2001 edition, for which an interim update is now being printed. Jason and his team of researchers, working at the WEC International headquarters in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, expect the next completely new edition to be published in 2008/9.

Cumulatively, in all of its editions, over 2 million copies of Operation World have been printed in 10 languages. The 2001 edition was produced on CD-ROM as well as in book form, and the entire book has been published in portions on www.operationworld.org. One of the great values of Operation World is that it provides a unique survey monitoring the global missionary movement and the growth (and in some cases, decline) of the global church.

Those who represent a ministry, denomination or network whose inclusion is warranted in Operation World, are invited to contact the editorial team at info@operationworld.org or visit www.operationworld.org, where information can be submitted through online or downloadable forms. Also, check out: operationworld.blogspot.com.

LCWE June 2005 ENewsletter (adapted)

Regent University to launch new degree in strategic foresight

Regent University 's School of Leadership Studies (SLS) has announced that it will launch a new online master's degree in strategic foresight in the fall 2006. The Master of Arts in Strategic Foresight (MSF) expands the school's online master and doctoral degree offerings and allows professionals the opportunity to study the future in the context of organizational decision-making, while maintaining full-time employment. The MSF can be completed in 24 to 36 months.

Designed for consultants as well as managers of strategy, human resources/training, research and development and marketing, the MSF degree will equip students with the ability to position their leadership on the cutting edge of change. The MSF degree includes courses in leadership, futures studies, social change, systems thinking, forecasting, scenario development and organizational strategy. "Strategic Foresight teaches students both the art and science of organizational decision-making in uncertain and dynamic contexts," stated Dr. Bruce Winston, SLS dean. "It shouldn't be confused with an MBA. An MBA will teach you to get the numbers right, while an MSF will teach you to get the strategy right."

The School of Leadership Studies (SLS) is one of eight graduate schools within Regent University, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Offering fully-accredited master's and doctoral degrees in a flexible online format, SLS provides rigorous, yet innovative academic programs that can accommodate even the busiest professionals. For more information, visit www.regent.edu/leadership.

World Mission Conference held in Athens

Tensions between Orthodox and Non-Orthodox churches surfaced during the first ecumenical World Mission Conference in Athens, Greece, May 9-16. Conservative members of the Greek Orthodox Church protested at the entrance to the conference centre against what they perceive as proselytism (sheep stealing) by Protestant missionaries. They described Protestants and Anglicans as 'heretics' and demanded that conference participants leave the country. They also displayed posters saying 'Orthodoxy or death'.

The conference with 500 participants was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), which represents 347 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches. The WEA Theological Commission was represented by Dr George Vandervelde, convenor of the Ecumencial Issues Task Force. It is the first time that an ecumenical world mission conference was held in an Orthodox country. Almost ten million of the 10.5 million inhabitants of Greece are affiliated with the Orthodox Church. Approximately 65,000 are Roman Catholics and 50,000 Protestants.

In his address to the mission conference the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, said his church had gladly extended the invitation 'despite bitter experiences in the past with aggressive missionary activities and hostile actions against our people.'

The conference also aimed at integrating the growing Charismatic and Pentecostal movement into the ecumenical movement. So far, many evangelicals have been skeptical of liberal theological and ethical tendencies within the WCC. The WCC's general secretary Samuel Kobia urged traditional churches not to ignore the Pentecostal and Charismatic contributions to world mission any longer.

(based on a news report from Idea)

WEA Theological News On-line

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