Theos Report on Recovering from the Riots

The latest report from Theos has just been published:

Hannah Rich, Disunited Kingdom? Local Churches and the Riots of Summer 2024 (London: Theos, 2024).

Here’s a quick summary:

‘In Summer 2024, the most extensive outbreak of riots across England in over a decade took place, driven by anti-immigrant sentiment, civil unrest and online misinformation in the wake of the murder of three girls in Southport.

‘The local church played an important role in the response to the riots, both immediately and over the longer term in rebuilding communities. This report explores how local churches in places where riots occurred were well-placed to respond by: (a) leveraging their strong community networks in order to work with other faith and activism groups; (b) maintaining a trusted presence in the community even when the riots threatened the buildings; (c) holding institutional relationships with local police and being conduits for information; and (d) using their convening power to draw the community together for vigils and moments of much-needed reflection.

‘There are lessons to learn from these experiences, about the causes of the riots, the emergency response and what preventative measures might be developed going forward. There is a willingness from local churches to engage in the deep listening required to heal communities fractured by the riots, addressing the sense of disenfranchisement and material challenges, as well as correcting misinformation. We offer recommendations to national and local policymakers as well as to churches in how all might work together to improve cohesion and rebuild communities.’

A summary blog of the report can be found here.

A pdf of the full report is available here.

Christopher Ash on Luke 1–2

Every month, The Good Book Company make available digital versions of one of their books at no charge. This month (December 2024) it’s Repeat the Sounding Joy: A Daily Advent Devotional on Luke 1–2, by Christopher Ash, which is available in exchange for an email address here.

Visions of Justice and Hope

The One People Commission of the Evangelical Alliance UK have published a short report on race and justice.

From the website:

‘The One People Commission and South Asian Forum are proud to release Visions of Justice and Hope, a vital new resource exploring a pressing question of our time: What does it mean to be human and a Person of Colour? Inspired by the Evangelical Alliance’s report on race, this resource offers an insightful, guided journey into racial justice, experiences of racism within the church, and practical steps for fostering healing and meaningful dialogue.’

More information is available here, and the report can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Christian History Magazine on Global Outpouring

The latest issue of Christian History Magazine is devoted to ‘Global Outpouring: Revival Movements of the Modern Era’.

From the blurb:

‘The last issue of the Christian History three part series on revival. As we learned in CH #149 and #151, God has used revivals to awaken His people throughout history when they fervently seek Him in prayer and repentance. We see in this final issue how the Second Great Awakening continued to spur missions worldwide, how meetings on Azusa Street led to the Pentecostal movement as we know it today, and how revivals are not limited to one region or people but occur globally.’

The whole magazine is available as a 11.6 MB pdf here.

Theos Report on Assisted Dying

The latest report from Theos has just been published:

Andrew Grey, The Meaning of Dignity: What’s Beneath the Assisted Dying Debate? (London: Theos, 2024).

As it happens, this is a revision of a report first published in 2018, now revised and reissued in the light of the publication of the Assisted Dying Bill earlier this month.

Here is the blurb:

‘The question of assisted dying is never far away and is now back somewhere near the top of the political agenda. It’s a serious and sensitive debate, about which well-meaning people can disagree profoundly.

‘Much of that disagreement can be traced to conflicting ideas about the meaning of human “dignity”. “Dignity” is used in two subtly different ways – one to do with autonomy and choice, the other with care and relationships – and how we understand the term shapes how we think people should be treated at the end of life.

‘This essay, by Andrew Grey, a fully revised and extended version of Theos’ 2018 report on Dignity in Dying, explores both meanings of “dignity” and argues that the idea of “dignity-through-care” gives a better account of what it means to be human.

‘More pressingly, it also argues that if dignity is understood as personal autonomy expressed through choice, society no longer has any deep reason to deny an individual their choice to die, even if they are not in a terminal condition, not in unbearable pain, or indeed not even in physical ill-health.’

A pdf of the full report is available here.

Evangelical Review of Theology 48, 4 (November 2024)

The latest Evangelical Review of Theology is now online and available in its entirety as a pdf here.

Introduction

Joseph W. Handley, Jr.

Reflections on the Fourth Lausanne Congress

Ruth Houser

Creating Life in Glass: A Biblical and Ethical Examination of IVF

A recent US court decision and political debates have highlighted both the popularity of and the ethical uncertainties surrounding in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a means of achieving pregnancy. This article provides an overview of IVF and a disciplined scientific and theological analysis of how Christians should approach the practice.

Thomas Paul Schirrmacher

Lessons from the Olympic Ceremony Controversy

The 2024 Paris Olympics created considerable controversy at its opening ceremony with a scene that observers interpreted as mocking Christianity. The World Evangelical Alliance responded promptly with a measured, respectful statement, commenting that ‘Disrespect, even if unintended, has been felt.’ Now, with three months of distance, one of global Christianity’s most prominent voices on human rights offers this analysis to help us respond persuasively to similar situations in the future and to demolish arguments that artistic licence justifies such performances.

Richard Howell

Reclaiming the Imago Dei and Epistemology of Love

This article explains two Christian doctrines – the believe [sic] that all humans are made in the image of God and that true knowledge of God is achieved through love – and their articulation by Irenaeus, Athanasius and modern writers. It demonstrates these doctrines’ centrality in God’s redemptive and transformative mission, and especially in challenging discriminatory social structures in India’s caste system and in church practices.

Jonathan Corrado

Six Sigma Soteriology: Applying Business Methodology to Christian Apologetics

This article is an exercise in gospel contextualization, not for a particular cultural group but for people working in the business sector. It applies ‘root cause analysis’, a well-known tool in business quality development, to answer the question of why Christ had to die. In this way, it offers both solid biblical interpretation and a creative approach to apologetics.

Andrew Messmer

The Real Presence of Christ in the Church: A Central Theme in Casiodoro de Reina’s Confession of Faith

Casiodoro de Reina, a 16th-century Spanish Reformation scholar, wrote a confession of faith, influential in its time but largely forgotten today, that uniquely unites Christian doctrine and practice in terms of obedience to Christ’s triple office as prophet, priest and king. This article presents Reina, his confession and its continuing relevance today.

Jim Reiher

Barnabas and Paul: What Galatians and Acts Tell Us

Scholars have long struggled with how to relate the passages in Galatians and Acts regarding Paul’s visits to Jerusalem. This article argues that Acts 9 and Galatians 2 (not Galatians 1 as is usually assumed) describe the same visit and considers practical applications that can be derived from this historical reflection, as well as spotlighting Barnabas’s key role in the early church’s mission.

Joshua Jo Wah Yen

Perspectives on the Problem of Evil

‘If God is good, why did he let this happen?’ is one of the most common challenges to faith. Although the book of Job suggests that we will not receive a complete answer in this life, philosophers have made various attempts to reconcile the existence of God and the evils we experience. This paper summarizes main approaches in readable fashion and evaluates their usefulness in Christian apologetics.

Bruce Barron

On the Unlikely Trajectory of US Evangelical Politics

Book Reviews

Insights Journal 10, 1 (2024)

‘The InSights Journal seeks to enhance the global discourse on contextual theology and theological education by featuring non-Western perspectives and practices.’

The latest issue is online here, with a pdf available here.

Evelyn Reynolds

Tradition, Transformation, and Theological Tension: Insights from the Majority World

Benno van den Toren

Integral Salvation and Integrated Theology: African Contributions to Global Theology

Touching on the 50-year history of the Faculté de Théologie Evangélique de Bangui (FATEB, also known in English as the Bangui Evangelical School of Theology) in the Central African Republic, this article explores the gifts that theology in Africa offers to Christianity worldwide, specifically to the North Atlantic. The African concept of holistic salvation and the integrated nature of theological inquiry in Africa provide two examples. This discussion is grounded in the wider search for a new catholicity in which contextually rooted theologies enrich the church worldwide.

Verena Schafroth

Male Spaces: Female Faculty in Theological Education in Africa

Women in theological education and leadership require much perseverance and firm grounding in their calling as they contribute to the growth of the kingdom of God in Africa. Denominational and theological issues regarding the spiritual authority of women to teach often carry over into theological institutions. While overt bias is easy to spot (for example, a woman is being told she is not allowed to teach biblical subjects), subtle and unconscious bias are harder to identify while being just as ‘effective’: in discouraging women from full participation in theological education. This article relays quantitative as well as qualitative research findings regarding the challenges female faculty in theological education face across Africa. Statistical figures from 51 African theological seminaries and Christian universities are presented showing that women constitute only 22.8% of faculty in theological departments. Female faculty discuss their balancing act of managing family and faculty responsibilities while confronting cultural and societal role expectations. Additionally, as women are often excluded from male informal networks, there is a need for more networking opportunities. This relates both to mentoring and publishing so that female faculty can grow their leadership skills as well as make the female voice heard in theological publishing. Overall, this article presents a call for purposeful action by theological institutions to engage with their female faculty in open discussion to ensure true equity and representation.

Mwawi N. Chilongozi

Theological Education for Women in the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian

In the first years of its existence, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) only allowed men to study theology for ministry. It took four decades before women were allowed to go for theological training, and the first women who went for theological training were not allowed to be ordained as church ministers. It took another two decades for women to be allowed to be ordained as ministers of Word and Sacrament. In the current dispensation, some women are now doing theological education for ministry and ordination while others are studying theology to work in academia. However, women who study theology in the CCAP remain in a minority and still face challenges in theological education.

Seung Hyun Kim

Humankind as Agent of the End: Eschatology in the Korean Church, 1960s to 1980s

The anticipation of Christ’s imminent return provided comfort to Korean Christians during Japanese colonial rule, particularly as many resisted Shinto shrine worship. However, the Korean War brought a theological shift, as the war was seen as an apocalyptic event that redirected hope from the second coming to survival in a divided nation. From 1960 to 1980, as Korea focused on economic growth, the Korean church similarly shifted its focus from premillennialism and eschatological hope to building the Kingdom of God in the present world through human effort. This paper argues that the identity of the principal agent of the kingdom vacillated between God and people as eschatological perspectives adapted to historical and cultural changes.

Ruhama Gezahegn Worku

Reason, Knowledge, and Prayer: The Philosophy of Ze’ra Ya’aqob

This article examines Ze’ra Ya’aqob’s Hatata, a work that integrates reason, faith, and ethics within the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition. It highlights Ze’ra Ya’aqob’s critique of blind tradition and his emphasis on lebona (reason) as a divine tool for discerning truth. The article addresses debates about his originality while underscoring the significance of his contributions to both Ethiopian and global philosophy.