Theological News On-Line

The Future of Evangelical Theology in Francophone Africa

A conference on "The future of Evangelical Theology in Francophone Africa" will be held at Bangui Evangelical School of Theology, Central African Republic 18-21 May, 2009 featuring as key speakers Dr Tite Tienou, Dr Henri Blocher, Dr Solomon Andria, Dr Isaac Zokoue and Dr Kamana.

The aim of the conference is to look at the theological work done in the last thirty years and then prepare the way for new efforts in the light of the current situation of the African society. An announcement for the conference said, "Thirty years ago, Dr Byang Kato published his book Theological Pitfalls in Africa. In the same period, Dr Tite Tienou published his Tâche théologique en Afrique (Theological Task in Africa). These two publications were the starting point for a theological reflection within the young evangelical association which was created, the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA). Thirty years later, the time has come to know whether the interest in theological thinking has disappeared. At the time of the creation of AEA and the publication of the above-mentioned books, the African continent was driven by theological thoughts imported from the West, namely Europe and America. Nowadays, Africa has its theologians, its specialists in different fields of theology. More than this, the continent is going to be, in the next decade or so, the 'stronghold' of Christianity in the world. As some historians have pointed out, Africa will determine the future of Christianity for the two or three coming centuries. Is Francophone Africa ready to assume such an historic role?

There will be three stages to the conference: open discussion, round table for exchange and further development of ideas, and workshops where participants will be able to meet according to their interest groups. It is hoped that the conference will be an occasion for exchanges among theologians, but also an opportunity to create a common perspective for the beginning of deep evangelical reflection on the continent.

The conference is open to all who are interested in African Evangelical Theology. But for reasons of efficiency, the number of participants is limited to 35 to 40 people. Pastors, teachers, missionaries, leaders of Christian organizations, and students are welcome.

For further information about fees and registration, contact administration@fateb.net

Renewal of Indian Christianity: Dalit Perspectives

The Central and Eastern European Institute for Mission Studies which is part of Károli Gaspar Reformed University (CIMS/KMTI)has announced a short course on the Renewal of Indian Christianity: Dalit Perspectives to be held 21-26 Feb, 2009.

CIMS, which is directed by Dr. Anne-Marie Kool who is also Professor of Missiology, offers an open forum for study and discussion and deepening knowledge on mission related issues. Both undergraduate and postgraduate students, laity and pastors, aware of the immense challenges of God’s Church in post-modern times are invited to contribute to the discussions and to invest time in learning from firsthand experiences of the non-Western world. The course will be led by Prof. Dr. Daniel Jeyaraj, Professor of World Christianity and Director of the Andrew F. Walls Center for the Study of African and Asian Christianity of Liverpool Hope University. Getting insight in the Renewal of Indian Christianity, especially in the Dalit perspectives is of great relevance for Central and Eastern Europe for dealing with minorities like the Roma people.

Earlier the Dalits were known as the depressed classes, backward classes, the untouchables and the Harijans (“Children of the God-
Vsihnu”). The people, marginalized and exploited, as they are, chose to call themselves the Dalits (the crushed people). They constitute about one fifth of the Indian population (i.e. about 250 million people). Some Dalits became Muslims and others turned to Buddhism. Christian faith has also attracted a large number of Dalits. After all, the Indian Church consists of more than 80% of Dalits. The liberating
power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has left an indelible mark among them. The course will enable participants to have an in-depth understanding of the Dalits in general and Christian Dalits in particular.

The course offers an analytical overview of the history of Christianity in India from the perspective of those people who were oppressed from dominant religious and cultural groups. The course aims to provide students with an introduction to Hinduism, the Indian social stratification system, and the history of Christianity in India. It will also cover an in-depth understanding of the conversion of the Dalits, and Dalit Theology. This foundation will facilitate the ability to see parallels with the experiences of other peoples, e.g. Roma and insight into the correlation between interreligious dialogue and witness in the Indian context.

For further information, contact cims@kre.hu

Evangelical Theology of Suffering, Persecution and Martyrdom

A conference will be held in Tübingen, Germany, late in 2009 to develop and an evangelical theology of suffering, persecution and martyrdom for the global church in mission. It is part of a study process being sponsored by the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission and other interested parties, and is convened by Dr Christof Sauer (International Institute for Religious Freedom IIRF and Dr Richard Howell (Asia Evangelical Alliance). The IIRF will organize the consultation with about 20 expert participants and some observers.

The convenors said, "The purpose of the project is to come to a common understanding among evangelical scholars who have written on the topic in various contexts." They explained that a well-founded evangelical theology would have "the potential to counterbalance detrimental prosperity theologies and to complement the views of other theological traditions." It is planned to issue a statement, journal articles and a compendium. The statement, to be known as "The Tübingen call on suffering, persecution and martyrdom for Christ", will have the potential to raise the attention for the issue and could provide a theological benchmark for future dealing with the topic. Articles in various journals will provide contextualized examples of such theologies, and the consultation compendium will serve as a textbook for theological education on the topic. The focus of the project will be systematic theology and mission theology with a particular emphasis on a theology of the cross in mission.

The organisers request interested readers to pray that this study process and consultation may serve the global church in mission by laying solid foundations for a theology of suffering, persecution and martyrdom for Christ, and to inform the conveners about experts from your context who have written on scholarly level on the issue. Help with sponsorship of the project is also invited.

For more information, contact Dr Christof Sauer, Convener International Institute for Religious Freedom P O Box 535, Edgemead 7407 Cape Town, South Africa Email: christof@iirf.eu  Phone: +27-21-558 7744 Mobile: +27-83 788 2103 Fax: +27-21-559 7745

ATA Consultation on Globalization and Religious Pluralism in Asia

The Asia Theological Association will sponsor a consultation on 21-24 July 2009 at the Seminari Alkitab Asia Tenggara (SAAT), Malang, Indonesia to focus on "Our Christian Response to Globalization and Religious Pluralism in Asia." The faculty of theological institutions; pastors and members of mission agencies; lay leaders of churches; and businessmen and women are invited to contribute knowledge and experiences to help train leaders of the new churches for the 21st century.

Topics to be covered include the impact of globalisation on humanity and community, the challenge of religious pluralism, the evangelical world view for the restructuring of Asian societies and cultures, and the Church as Christ's appointed agent of transformation. There will also be a special interest in training leaders for the 21st century. All participants are encouraged to prepare brief case studies to accompany the various topics. The papers and findings of the conference will be published by ATA in a form that can be used by seminaries, Bible schools, churches and community organisations.

For more information, contact Dr. Theresa R. Lua theresarlua@hotmail.com or ataasia2004@yahoo.com

Theological Education in Nepal

Association for Theological Education in Nepal (ATEN)Dr Ramesh Khatry has recently been appointed Executive Director of the for a further five year term. In operation since 1993, ATEN consists of 28 members (Bible schools, colleges and church groups) and aims to attract Christians who are either involved in the teaching/preaching ministry or are students attending various Bible colleges around Kathmandu. Using its library facilities in central Kathmandu, people are invited to live in the ATEN hostel for study and writing purposes. A major project for ATEN is the attempt to establish the first university recognised Bachelor of Divinity program. After previous unsuccessful attempts, the new venture will be a five year integrated BD for students with high school and two years of college under Serampore University from June, 2012. Advanced training of staff is in process which will be helpful in this project. Although there are more than 58 Bible colleges or schools in the country, there is no recognized degree program available. A report from ATEN states, "ATEN will help a willing member Bible college/school to start the BD course. If a member Bible college for some reason cannot manage BD, ATEN will start the course in its own premises.

Dr Khatry also serves as national coordinator for Nepal Prayer Movement and a teacher for Forgiveness and Reconciliation Seminar in which ATEN partners with United Mission to Nepal (UMN). He is also contributing to the South Asia Bible Commentary series writing volumes on Romans and Revelation.

ATEN recently became a Global Member of the WEA Theological Commission. For more information about ATEN, contact info@aten.org.np or write ATEN, G.P.O. Box 4368, Kathmandu, Nepal

Review-Bible Software: BibleWorks v 8.00

BibleWorks V 8 has been released, representing a significant advance on previous versions (see Evangelical Review of Theology April 2004 (28:2), 178-181 for a review of v 6.00), increasing its already strong claim to being the best such package. However, at US $350 it is priced well beyond the reach of many, making a "Lite" version (providing basic Bible searching and translations in the major biblical and other languages for students and others on a budget) a good idea for the producers to consider. It installs easily from DVD or multiple CDs, the user interface is simple and more intuitive, there are extensive help modules, and the program is highly configurable. It features almost 200 Bible translations (including many which are obscure) in nearly 40 languages and numerous original Biblical language texts and reference works. However, it is still weak on other reference works with long out-of-date dictionaries (which are actually likely to be misleading) and only Tischendorf's NT critical apparatus.

It includes a number of standard lexicons and grammars but BDAG and Blass-DeBrunner (and a number of others) must be purchased, either as extras to be unlocked by payment of a fee or as optional modules, at prices ranging up to $200. Some of the useful new features include improved analysis tools and text export, additional Bibles, reference works and text diagramming, a facility to manage external resources, and text-to-speech.

There are several features to make the Bible easily accessible at the popular level, such as readings from Daily Light, and other non-academic resources of only limited importance in a package of this kind, but its speed and flexibility of searching in the Biblical languages, with ease of access to lexical information and ability to compare and contrast other sections of the Bible and many other translations makes BibleWorks ideal for the student, professor and preacher. For more information, www.bibleworks.com

Verbum: Evangelicals-Good News People

No 14: Jan 2009
By Joel Edwards, International Director, Micah Challenge jnpe2015@googlemail.com

The word 'Evangelical' has a very bad press. So no wonder many evangelicals are desperately looking for alternatives. But after twenty years in evangelical leadership it seems to me that this is only half of the story. I am keen to write about an agenda for change in which evangelicals can recover the idea of evangelicalism as Good News.

I have discussed with over thirty senior church leaders across the world what they feel about an agenda which presents Christ credibly, rehabilitates evangelicalism as Good News and challenges evangelical witness to become a long term movement for spiritual and cultural change.

Opinions varied: Tony Campolo said the word was beyond redemption: he was substituting 'Red Letter Christians'. Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, thought it provides a rallying point for 'a certain type of Christian' and Bishop Tom Wright said it was 'one of the greatest words in the world.'

Understandably for a lot of people, 'evangelical' is another name for a moral myopia which carps on about abortion and homosexuals and never talks about poverty or exclusion. 'Evangelical' has become an American export which makes God a Republican mascot. But if people are going to think differently about evangelicals, the only people who will be able to get them to change their minds will be evangelicals themselves!

I am not talking about a mindless and unquestioning veneration of the word 'evangelical'. There will be no shrines built to an adjective! But my contention is that we can recover the idea. At least two surveys in 2005 made it clear that most people are still opened to be convinced. Words can change their meaning. Once upon a time the word 'gay' meant 'happy'! The WEA alone claims to represent 420 million evangelicals in over 130 nations. If all these people wanted it to happen then 'evangelical' could mean 'good news'. If we are to accomplish this there are some important challenges for all evangelicals-including those on the 'theological right' as much as those on the centre and left.

What we are about is a great deal more than a name. It's the Name. We must present Christ credibly. And in doing so we are faced with many serious challenges. There is a secular vendetta against the idea of God in the public square. In the constellation of gods Christ is now one among many. A credible response to our culture does not mean neutralising his Lordship. In a liberal democracy we should be free to say that 'Jesus Christ is Lord'. The claim that Jesus is God is the enduring strength of orthodox Christian faith. But his Lordship is not a truncheon with which to beat other people. Our task is not to pull down Mohammed, Krishna or Guru Nanak: it is to lift up Jesus.

A credible response should be prepared to undomesticate the Christ whom evangelicals have held captive by our myopic and fearful subcultures. I am not convinced that Jesus would be publicly identifiable with our moral agenda. I think He would be identified more quickly with Make Poverty History than any demonstration about sexual orientation. He belongs on the pavement but we have chained Him in our pulpits and locked Him in our pews.

Evangelicals are known to be activists, and with good reason. But there is no substitute for long term thinking. An evangelical agenda for change must develop a kind of biblical tenacity which is in for the long haul. Not even our passion for revival should detract us from our long term agenda for change. And we do this both by proclamation and by acts of kindness. The old dichotomy between words and works is dying. As Alistair McGrath told me, 'The social gospel got one thing right and everything else wrong.'

An evangelical church which takes its ministry of mercy seriously will have less concern about the idea of 'public benefit' central to our understanding of Christian citizenship is a radical commitment to serve other people not just to protect our own interests, power or influence.

So it turns out that an agenda for change begins-not in the world at large-but in our hearts and minds.

For further reading:

Joel Edwards, An Agenda for Change: a global call for spiritual and social transformation (Zondervan, 2008)

Verbum: Welcome to Verbum-a page of thoughtful comment and insight giving perspectives and overviews of topical issues. It appears in both our print and electronic versions. Reproduction and wider circulation is encouraged. Please acknowledge as "Verbum: WEA Theological News On-Line Jan 2009" Contributions from readers of ideas and articles (700 words max.) are warmly welcomed.

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