International Bulletin of Missionary Research 35, 2 (April 2011) on Lausanne

In addition to containing The Cape Town Commitment, the latest International Bulletin of Missionary Research (available here, via a free subscription) carries three articles on the Lausanne Movement:

Robert A. Hunt

The History of the Lausanne Movement, 1974–2010

C. René Padilla

The Future of the Lausanne Movement

Robert J. Schreiter

From the Lausanne Covenant to the Cape Town Commitment: A Theological Assessment

The below summaries are taken from Jonathan J. Bonk’s editorial...

‘The Manila Manifesto was the work of a task force chaired by John R.W. Stott, who, more than any other individual, was charged with ensuring that strategy-preoccupied American evangelicals were grounded in biblical and not mere folk theology – a continuing concern voiced by René Padilla in his article in this issue.’

‘Robert Hunt’s lead article skillfully traces the history of the Lausanne movement from its early beginnings, highlighting the social and theological milieus within which its principal animators – one an American, globe-trotting evangelist and the other a British evangelical Anglican respected for the no-nonsense exegesis of his biblical teaching and commentaries – lived and moved. Much could be said about the key role played by the century’s most widely recognized evangelist, Billy Graham. Without the vision, integrity, and charisma of this remarkably ecumenical yet resoundingly evangelical man, there would be no Lausanne movement. But no less significant was his modest confrere and friend John Stott, who tended to the movement’s theological and biblical foundations. Infusing the movement with a global, nonsectarian evangelical orientation, he ensured that it was more than simply a rubber stamp of American evangelicalism.’

‘For his article, Roman Catholic theologian Robert Schreiter enthusiastically accepted our challenge to tell readers whether – based on a comparative study of the Lausanne Covenant (1974), the Manila Manifesto (1989), and the Cape Town Commitment (2010) – there was evidence of theological movement in the Lausanne movement; and if so, what kind of movement it was. I think you will agree with the editors that his assessment as a sympathetic, well-informed outsider will serve as a basic template for constructive evaluation of the Lausanne movement for years to come.’