Witness, the church, and faithful cultural engagement
There is a tension for the church between cultural engagement and maintaining faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is important that the church both acknowledges and wrestles with this tension. As the church exists in the world, it must continue to discern what faithful participation w...
| Published in: | Missiology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
[2019]
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| In: |
Missiology
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| RelBib Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture RH Evangelization; Christian media RJ Mission; missiology TK Recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
Justice
B M.M. Thomas B Church B Fellowship B Witness B Lesslie Newbigin B World B Culture B faithful |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | There is a tension for the church between cultural engagement and maintaining faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is important that the church both acknowledges and wrestles with this tension. As the church exists in the world, it must continue to discern what faithful participation within culture looks like. It also must consider the question of identity-that is, in what ways cultural engagement is core to who the church is called to be. To state it in a different way, if engagement with the world is central to the church's participation in the mission of God, then it must discern how to do so in a way that is faithful to that mission. M.M. Thomas and Lesslie Newbigin were two important twentieth-century voices in the development of mission theology and a missional understanding of the church. In their dialogue entitled "Baptism, the Church, and Koinonia," Thomas and Newbigin look to shape a more constructive understanding of the church's calling and identity as it seeks clarity in how to engage with culture and remain faithful to its gospel witness. The church has always found itself in the world, a world which God loves in Jesus Christ. Any congregation which seeks to be faithful to the gospel must consider what it means to be Jesus' witness in the world. This article will consider the cultural witness and identity of the church in light of the Thomas-Newbigin discussion, while also drawing from the wider work of both authors. |
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| ISSN: | 2051-3623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Missiology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0091829619828129 |