Tuesday 27 April 2021

Evangelical Review of Theology 45, 2 (May 2021)


The latest Evangelical Review of Theology, published by The World Evangelical Alliance, is now online and available in its entirety as a pdf here.


Introduction: Why We Need Theological Education


Thomas Schirrmacher

Sharing the DNA of Christianity

This article is excerpted and lightly edited from the message Thomas Schirrmacher delivered on his inauguration as Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance on 27 February 2021.


Manfred Waldemar Kohl

Re-Forma: Solving a Key Issue in Global Training of Pastors and Church Leaders

An estimated two million evangelical pastors and church leaders worldwide lack formal theological training. Even if seminaries and Bible institutes had the capacity to educate them, few would have the time or resources to engage in full-time study. This article presents the solution offered by Re-Forma, an initiative affiliated with the World Evangelical Alliance.


Richard E. Seed

Cognitive Contextualization in Theological Education: A Theoretical Framework

One inescapable reality of our connected and globalized world is the diversity and plurality of the human situation into which the Word of God speaks. This diversity arises from the living matrix within which each individual is nurtured and is evidenced in the learning and cognitive structures used to build understanding. This article investigates ways to deal with these realities and create cognitively contextualized theological education.


Perry Shaw

Moving from Critical to Constructive Thinking

The author, based on his 30 years of experience in cross-cultural education and on biblical interpretation, warns that an over-emphasis on critical thinking can foster sub-Christian understandings of such concepts as autonomy and tolerance. He proposes an approach more typical of collectivist societies, in which students balance their development of a critical voice with respect for accumulated community wisdom.


Walter Riggans

Can We Not Mourn with Those Who Mourn?

The book of Psalms is full of laments, but our church services today are overwhelmingly dominated by praise songs. Why the difference? This article examines the problem, calls for a song selection that opens its arms to the suffering, and offers some powerful, positive modern examples.


Hannes Wiher

Holistic Mission in Biblical and Theological Perspective

For the last 50 years, one of the most important discussions in global evangelicalism has concerned the idea of holistic mission, which proposes the integration of verbal evangelism and social engagement within Christian mission. This article, excerpted from a longer study to be published in the WEA World of Theology Series, examines how key terms such as ‘evangelism’ and ‘mission’ are understood in the Bible and in contemporary missiological debates. The author argues for a nuanced holism that recognizes the Bible’s overarching concern for our eternal destiny and its endorsement of a wide range of verbal and non-verbal ways to express that concern.


Daniel Kirkpatrick

Reconciling God’s Justice and His Sovereignty in the Process of Salvation: Towards a Mediating View Between Causative Faith and Reprobation

How can we consider God just if he has decided in advance that some people will not be saved? That is one of the foremost problems in apologetics. This article reviews the range of answers given in church history and proposes a solution.


Geoffrey Butler

Luther’s Peculiar Doctrine of the Imago Dei

Martin Luther believed that through Adam’s fall, humanity lost the image of God, which is restored only through justification by faith. That doctrine would imply that non-Christians do not have the image of God in them. This paper analyses Luther’s argument and proposes a mediating position: all humans retain the divine image, but only justification can restore the divine likeness.

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