May 2nd, 2007 by Ron
I could have gotten through seminary [Gordon-Conwell no less in the 1970’s] and I all I had to do was read 5 chapters of Genesis, Psalm 20, Paul’s letters, the book of Acts. How is that for a thorough MDiv over view of the whole Bible?
January 3rd, 2007 by Ron
$26.00 (02)
Named one of the top religion books of 2002 by USA Today , Philip Jenkins’ phenomenally successful The Next Christendom permanently changed the way people think about the future of Christianity. In that volume, Jenkins called the world’s attention to the little noticed fact that Christianity’s center of gravity was moving inexorably southward, to the point that Africa may soon be home to the world’s largest Christian populations. Now, in this brilliant sequel, Jenkins takes a much closer look at Christianity in the global South, revealing what it is like, and what it means for the future.
The faith of the South, Jenkins finds, is first and foremost a biblical faith. Indeed, in the global South, many Christians identify powerfully with the world portrayed in the New Testament–an agricultural world very much like their own, marked by famine and plague, poverty and exile, until very recently a society of peasants, farmers, and small craftsmen. In the global South, as in the biblical world, belief in spirits and witchcraft are commonplace, and in many places–such as Nigeria, Indonesia, and Sudan–Christians are persecuted just as early Christians were. Thus the Bible speaks to the global South with a vividness and authenticity simply unavailable to most believers in the industrialized North.
More important, Jenkins shows that throughout the global South, believers are reading the Bible with fresh eyes, and coming away with new and sometimes startling interpretations. Some of their conclusions are distinctly fundamentalist, but Jenkins finds an intriguing paradox, for they are also finding ideas in the Bible that are socially liberating, especially with respect to women’s rights. Across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, such Christians are social activists in the forefront of a wide range of liberation movements.
It’s hard to overstate how interesting, how eye-opening, how frequently surprising (and sometimes disturbing) Jenkins’ findings are. Anyone interested in the implications of these trends for the major denominations, for Muslim-Christian conflict, and for global politics will find The New Faces of Christianity provocative and incisive–and indispensable.
“Jenkins’s prescient religious histories offer brilliant insights on the state of modern Christianity.” –Publishers Weekly
“An engaging book that invites–no, compels–rethinking the future of the global Christian movement.” –Richard John Neuhaus, Editor-in-Chief of First Things
“Gracefully and cogently synthesizing mountains of research, Jenkins illuminates a crucial aspect of the burgeoning ‘Two-Thirds World’ Christianity that he called attention to in The Next Christendom .”–Booklist
“In this compelling sequel, Jenkins probes more deeply the differences between northern and southern Christianity, examining various elements that characterize Christian life, especially belief in the Bible…. Jenkins’s prescient religious histories offer brilliant insights on the state of modern Christianity.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“By introducing the world of southern Christianity to a northern audience, Mr. Jenkins has thus done a good deed for people on both sides of the equator.”–Wall Street Journal
“An important new book by one of the preeminent scholars of contemporary Christianity. Perhaps more than any other church historian in the affluent north, Philip Jenkins understands how the church of the global South will transform Christian faith in the world. The New Faces of Christianity challenges our usual reading of the Bible with profound insights from Christians who help us re-learn truths that much of Western Christianity has forgotten. Like his ground-breaking The Next Christendom , this is absolutely essential reading for all who are seeking to understand the future of the church in the 21st century.” –Jim Wallis, Editor of Sojourners and author of God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It
January 2nd, 2007 by Ron
We salute Inter-Varsity and Urbana for focusing on Ephesians as an inductive method for setting up all of the Urbana functions. This was extremely edifying.
December 25th, 2006 by Ron
Traina writes that application is bringing a passage to bear on a contemporary situation based on it’s universal truthfulness. [p.215, Methodical Bible Study]
December 25th, 2006 by Ron
What is Bible interpretation? Train answers, “It means recapturing the attitudes, motives, thoughts, and emotions of its writers and of those concerning whom they wrote.” [p.94, Methodical Bible Study]
December 25th, 2006 by Ron
Former Princeton professor Howard Kuist defined observation as “the art of seeing things as they really are.” To which, Robert Traina concluded that observation, “then is is essentially awareness.” Methodical Bible Study, Robert Traina, p.31.
December 19th, 2006 by Ron
Kirsten Vandervelde tours with a theatrical production of Don Richardson’s Peace Child. In her down time, she greets people as a receptionist for our missions ministry here in Montana.
As a 20 year old, she heard me teach on the value of daily Bible reading. This particular morning, four years later, I noticed that she was writing out the gospel of John longhand so I asked her about it. She told me that four years ago, after she heard me teach about Bible study, she decided to starting writing the Bible out longhand.
Since 2002, she has written out during her daily devotional time the following Bible books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Johsua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timonthy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation. She is presently writing out the gospel of John and Ezekiel. She told me, “I have filled up notebook after notebook.”
As we spoke, I noticed an engagement ring on her finger. I told her that I hope her fiance knows what a treasure he is getting in her. In fact, the writer of the Proverbs wrote that “her worth is far more precious than jewels.”
I brought her into the SBS here in Montana to encourage our students and staff as I was both encouraged and challenged by her testimony and love for the Word. ~Ron Smith~
You can access Kirsten’s ministry at Sidewalk Productions.
December 16th, 2006 by Ron
It is amazing to me how few Inductive Bible Study courses there are in seminaries, Christian colleges and universities. I remember Dr. J. Christy Wilson Jr. tell us at Gordon-Conwell in the mid 1970’s that we should master the English Bible. Interestingly, his father Dr. J. Christy Wilson said the same thing a generation earlier at Princeton Seminary. Wilbur Whyte started the formal Inductive method of Bible study because he saw the same thing at Yale University Seminary four generations ago. Students, studying for the ministry, did not know the English text of Scripture. They knew Greek, Hebrew, Church history and Theology but not the contents of the English Bible.
December 7th, 2006 by Ron
As I study through the Word of God I am constantly reminded that we cannot impart what we do not possess. This means that not only for our own sake, but for the sake of our listeners we must daily drink from the living water. I can think of no better way of doing this than studying through the Word inductively. Don
December 6th, 2006 by Ron
Paul told the Corinthians that they were a letter written from God. This is really a picture of application isn’t it. We are the only Scriptures that some people will ever read. Whether we obey or disobey–this underlines the importance of application. “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving ourselves.”
Inductive Bible Study Method
Letting the Bible speak for itself.
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