Evangelical Review of Theology 48, 1 (February 2024)

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

Introduction: Good Theology Is Very Practical

Arie de Pater and Ville Hoikkala

Free Speech under Threat in Finland and Beyond?

In Finland, Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola and politician Päivi Räsänen have been accused of a crime for publishing material that allegedly threatened, defamed or insulted homosexuals. Both have been threatened with fines and even possible imprisonment simply for holding to the conservative Christian view on marriage and sexuality. Why has this case (currently on appeal to the Supreme Court of Finland) received so much international attention, and what impact is it likely to have on freedom of expression in Europe and beyond?

Ian Randall

Orthodox and Evangelical Missional Interaction: Insights from the International Review of Mission

Orthodox and evangelical Christians have frequently had a shared interest in encouraging traditional views of the gospel and mission within the modern ecumenical movement. In this article, one of Europe’s most respected historians of evangelical life traces Orthodox and evangelical engagement with mainline Protestants through articles in the ecumenical movement’s leading mission journal.

Narry F. Santos

Jesus’ Mission to the Vulnerable: The Power of Servanthood in the Gospel of Mark

Mark’s Gospel is carefully structured to highlight Jesus’ example of sacrificial servanthood. This article draws on sociological analysis of the first-century Jewish community to show how Mark illustrated Jesus’ mission to the low and powerless. It then pairs Mark’s key messages with real-life, parallel examples of servanthood to contemporary refugee communities.

Barry N. Danylak

A Biblical Theology of Singleness in an Increasingly Single World

All over the world, marriage rates are declining and more people have no partner. How should the church respond? This article, by a theologian and participant in the WEA’s singles initiative, elucidates Paul’s endorsement of the single life in the context of a broader argument that under the new covenant, marriage and family are not necessary to experience the full blessings of life in Christ.

Israel A. Kolade

Civil Government and Political Authority: Calvin’s Commentary on Romans 13

This article examines Calvin’s commentary on Romans 13:1–7, in contrast with early church and Reformation expositions of the text, to show how his conception of political authority provides nuance to the political theology expressed in his Institutes, particularly around the sticky question of obedience to an unjust or tyrannical government.

D.S. Martin

Poetry and Theology

Ted Turnau

The Case for Creative Cultural Engagement

What can Christians do in contexts where the culture seems to be moving away from the gospel? Ted Turnau, an expert on engagement with popular culture, argues – starting, appropriately, with a creative parable – for unleashing our imagination in ways that enchant others and attract them to oases of the imagination.

Esa J. Autero

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers and Migrant Labourers in India

Despite its simple story line, the parable of the vineyard workers (Mt 20:1–16) is difficult to interpret. This article compares the parable to a contemporary setting with remarkable similarities – the experience of India’s migrant workers. The comparison yields new insights into this parable and challenges churches to work for God’s justice in India and elsewhere.

Richard Howell

Faithfulness in an Asian Multi-Faith Context

This article, originally a presentation at a 2022 ecumenical consultation of the Global Christian Forum, reflects on the challenges Asian Christianity encounters, through the lenses of the author and other experienced observers and the testimonies of prominent Asian converts to Christianity.

Book Reviews

John Hindley on Serving Christ

Every month, The Good Book Company make available digital versions of one of their books at no charge. This month (June 2023) it’s Serving without Sinking: How to Serve Christ and Keep Your Joy by John Hindley, which is available in exchange for an email address here.

William Carey International Development Journal 1, 4 (Fall 2012)

The Fall 2012 issue of the William Carey International Development Journal explores various leadership models and methods for professionals in the international development sphere. A pdf of the full journal is available here.

Yalin Xin

A Note from the Editor

Recognizing the complexity of leadership, we hope that, instead of attempting to cover every aspect of the topic, this issue becomes an invitation to you to read and dialogue with the research and reflections that explore various leadership theories, models and practices from biblical, theological, and socio-cultural perspectives.

Bill Jackson

Becoming a Church that Makes Disciple-making Leaders: Part 1

What was the leadership model that Jesus demonstrated, and how do we model that today? In this article, Bill Jackson describes why it is so important to be leaders that focus on developing disciples to be the leaders of tomorrow.

Bill Jackson

Becoming a Church that Makes Disciple-making Leaders: Part 2

What qualities are essential for leadership – particularly leadership that inspires others to follow your example? In this article, Bill Jackson describes the four qualities essential for a leader – whether they are natural or trained.

Kevin Mannoia

Discovering Servant in Servant-Leadership

There is a substantial rise in interest in servant leadership in the business world, education and Christian organizations. Leaders hear the ideas and are naturally drawn to the apparent selflessness of the paradigm that puts others first. But the genius of servant leadership is really not in its skills or in its outcomes.

Robert Blincoe

New Social Contract: Leaders Relating Church Governing Structures to Voluntary Societies

In this article, an excerpt from his PhD dissertation from William Carey International University, Bob Blincoe explores a different side to the leadership discussion. How can voluntary societies raise up additional leaders for ministry? How can current church leaders develop and empower those in these voluntary societies?

Kevin Book-Satterlee

Serving God Globally: Finding Your Place in International Development

In this book review, Kevin Book-Satterlee explores the many questions students of international development have as they seek to turn their passion into a career, and why Roland Hoksbergen’s book is a great response to their questions.

Some Cardus Articles

As usual, the latest email update from Cardus links to some helpful pieces, including:

• John Terrill and Kenman Wong asking, ‘Serving Our Work and Neighbours: Which Comes First?’

• David T. Koyzis reviewing Victor Lee Austin’s Up With Authority: Why We Need Authority to Flourish as Human Beings (New York: Continuum, 2010), in ‘Why We Need Authority’.

• Lee Hardy, exploring vocation, in a piece first published in 2000, ‘My Job is Not My Calling | My Job is Also My Calling’.

Resolved #3: To Fulfil the Law of Christ

[I contributed today’s ‘Word for the Week’, a weekly email service provided by London Institute for Contemporary Christianity; it’s the third of a projected five in a short series drawing on some exhortations from Galatians 5-6 attempting to reframe new year’s resolutions.]

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:1-2

Popular wisdom suggests that fresh resolves – at new year or any other time – often fall prey to the fatal flaw of ‘going it alone’. They focus on individual self-improvement to the neglect of relationships through which support might be given and accountability expressed.

Likewise, it’s possible to mistake the fruitful Christian life for private Christian experience. For sure, we walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25), but we do not cultivate his fruit alone. We need each other in order to exercise patience, kindness and gentleness. The change we aspire to is a communal process – at the heart of which is love.

Paul has already made this clear. Those who have been freed from the law now become ‘slaves’ of one another through love (5:13). Those who walk in step with the Spirit are empowered by the Spirit to live a life of love (5:22). Such love – far from doing away with the law – actually sums up the law (5:14). In fact, the law attains its primary reason for existence in churches of Christ when its members become loving servants of one another.

Paul’s concrete example is love expressed in restoration. Even those who have been set free and who seek to walk in the Spirit are still caught out by sin in unanticipated ways. Here, however, is an opportunity for people of the Spirit to display the fruit of the Spirit in gentleness, enabling correction without arrogance or anger – where the goal is restoration. And we do so, Paul reminds us, fully realising our own proneness to stumbling, and our own dependence on others. I who help to restore you one week may need your gentleness the following week.

So it is that we carry each other’s burdens. Beyond suffering the consequences of a specific failing, burdens might be physical, emotional, practical, financial... What, then, might we be able to do for someone this week – a visit, a conversation, a meal, a cheque, a hand with the children, a cup of cold water? Whatever the case, shouldering a load with someone requires distributing the weight between us, lightening the load of the other in the process, demonstrating love in action.

Thus it is that we follow the example of Christ, the supreme burden-bearer. Thus it is that we fulfil the law of Christ.