Re-thinking a ‘worldviews’ approach to evangelism
Thank God he uses us in our ignorance. I’ve been thinking about worldview and I now consider my former approach to betray a cultural arrogance. Read more
Posts tagged ‘religion’
Apr 10
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Evangelicals and the fundamentalist tendency
I recently wrote a review of Michael Jensen’s book, Sydney Anglicanism: An Apology (Wipf & Stock, 2012). The questions being asked of Sydney Anglicanism are good questions for any evangelical Christian, and the book prompted some further reflections for me. The nature of evangelicalism is something that Tamie and I have been exploring for several years now.
Jensen responds to the charge that Sydney Anglicans are fundamentalists in one of his early chapters. Part of his aim is to establish that ‘Bible-believing’ is not synonymous with ‘fundamentalist’.
He notes that fundamentalism is a real phenomenon, not simply a swear word. As he puts it, fundamentalism is ‘a kind of religious mentality that is most egregiously in evidence in a kind of epistemological double standard… that confidently asserts the objectivity and interest-free status of its own reasoning while at the same time decrying the prejudice and interest-laden nature of the reasoning of its opponents.’
My question goes something like this: how can we claim to hold Scripture as our final authority in a way that’s not fundamentalist? Read more
Mar 18
The range of responses to Love Wins
With the release of Love Wins, it’s helpful to consider the different sorts of responses coming from the book’s primary context, American evangelical Christianity. Read more
Mar 18
Love Wins: setting the scene (book review 1)
I recently got a copy of Rob Bell’s Love Wins: a book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived (I’ve got Kindle on my computer). I’m just starting to read it and thought I’d make a few comments about how I’m approaching it. Read more
How did the early church grow? Part 2
These two posts cover 10 factors behind the remarkable growth of the Christian church in its first 500 years and beyond. (See Part 1.)
Each factor has important implications for how we think about mission and the church today.
It’s part history and part sociology. The material comes from a missiology lecture by Rhys Bezzant at Ridley.
A book like Rodney Stark’s The Rise of Christianity is another good starting place.
Mar 8
How did the early church grow? Part 1
These two posts cover 10 factors behind the remarkable growth of the Christian church in its first 500 years and beyond.
Each factor has important implications for how we think about mission and the church today.
It’s part history and part sociology. The material comes from a missiology lecture by Rhys Bezzant at Ridley.
