The September–October 2023 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by Frontier Ventures, contains a number of articles devoted to the theme of ‘Arts, Worship, and Mission in Today’s Church’.
Here is the issue blurb, which sets the scene:
‘Western hymns and worship songs are not the only valid forms of worship. Not only does worship not have to be Western, it doesn't have to be in song! Jesus is worthy of worship expressed in every style and every form. The ethnodoxology movement seeks to enable Christ followers in every nation, tribe, and language (and culture!) to worship God through multiple culturally relevant art forms. Ethnodoxology encourages worship that helps connect the worshiper's heart to God, resulting in forms that seem natural rather than foreign and that catalyze Disciple Making Movements.’
The issue is available here, from where individual articles can be downloaded, and the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.
Every month, The Good Book Company make available digital versions of one of their books at no charge. This month (September 2023), it’s Proverbs for You by Kathleen Nielson, which is available in exchange for an email address here.
Thanks to Alistair Wilson for the heads up on this open access volume, to which he has contributed a chapter:
Francois P. Viljoen and Albert J. Coetsee (eds.), Biblical Theology of Prayer in the New Testament, Reformed Theology in Africa Series Volume 13 (Cape Town: AOSIS Publishing, 2023).
Here’s the synopsis:
‘This publication deals with a biblical theology of prayer based on the New Testament. It forms the second of a two-volume publication on a biblical theology of prayer, dealing with the concept of prayer in the Old and New Testament, respectively. This New Testament volume begins with an introduction on prayer and worship in early Jewish tradition, followed by eleven chapters dealing with New Testament corpora. It concludes with a final chapter synthesising the findings of the respective investigations of the Old and New Testament corpora to provide a summative theological perspective of the development of the concept of prayer through scripture.
‘Prayer forms a major and continuous theme throughout the biblical text. Prayer was an integral part of the religious existence of God’s people in both the Old and New Testament. It underwent its greatest developments during, after and as a result of the Exile and was deepened and transformed in the New Testament. In both the Old and the New Testament, God is the sole “addressee” of his people’s prayer. This conviction continued into the New Testament, but was broadened with Trinitarian elements of worship, adoration and intercession.
A biblical theological investigation is chosen as methodology. Since all the biblical books form part of one canonical text, the assumption is that the various theologies about prayer being displayed in these books can be synthesised into a developing meta-theology about prayer. As the Old and New Testament form part of the canonical text, the results about prayer in the Old Testament can be brought into play with the results about prayer in the New Testament. This eventually leads toward an overarching biblical theology of prayer.’
Further information is available here, from where the book can be downloaded as a pdf.
The Old Testament volume referred to in the synopsis is available from here.
The latest issue of Christian History Magazine is devoted to Lilias Trotter.
From the blurb:
‘Lilias Trotter left behind the world of Victorian art and fame to serve God in Algiers. You may not know her name, but she left her mark on both the 19th century art world and North African missions.’
The whole magazine is available as a 10.1 MB pdf here.
The current issue of Mission Catalyst, published by BMS World Mission, is now available. This issue is devoted to ‘Transforming Apologetics’.
Here’s the blurb:
‘In this issue: How to make interfaith friends and not alienate people. Kang-San Tan and Benno van den Toren share how we remedy the Western world’s hold on apologetics, Rev Ruth Conlon talks us through how we can act out radical inclusion, Amro Hussein shares a time he changed his mind, and you’ll hear from regular columnist Natalia-Nana Lester-Bush on how mission is racist.’
Mission Catalyst is available as a free subscription, or this issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.
The World Evangelical Alliance’s Theological Commission has published the 25th volume in its ‘World of Theology Series’ on the topic of holistic mission:
Hannes Wiher, Holistic Mission: An Historical and Theological Study of Its Development, 1966–2011, World of Theology Series 25 (Bonn: Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft Culture and Science Publ., 2022).
Here’s some blurb:
‘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 book examines how key terms such as “evangelism” and “mission” have been understood in contemporary evangelical declarations from 1966 to 2011, in the Bible, and in the missiological debate.
‘It adopts an in-depth approach to the historical, biblical and theological analysis. The main thesis is that the different conceptions of evangelism and mission in general, and that of holistic mission in particular, have their root in the worldview of the various theologians and Christian leaders preparing these statements. The book evaluates the missiological conceptions of evangelism and mission proposed in the various declarations in the light of the Bible, so as to derive a biblical understanding of evangelism and mission.’
Further information is here, and the book is available for free download as a pdf here.
