In this collection of essays, anthropologists of religion examine the special challenges they face when studying populations that proselytize. Conducting fieldwork among these groups may involve attending services, meditating, praying, and making pilgrimages. Anthropologists participating in such research may unwittingly give the impression that their interest is more personal than professional, and inadvertently encourage missionaries to impose conversion upon them. Moreover, anthropologists attitudes about religion, belief, and faith, as well as their response to conversion pressures, may interfere with their objectivity and cause them to impose their own understandings on the missionaries. Although anthropologists have extensively and fruitfully examined the role of identity in research particularly gender and ethnic identity religious identity, which is more fluid and changeable, has been relatively neglected. This volume explores the role of religious identity in fieldwork by examining how researchers respond to participation in religious activities and to the ministrations of missionaries, both academically and personally. Including essays by anthropologists studying the proselytizing religions of Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, as well as other religions, this volume provides a range of responses to the question of how anthropologists should approach the gap between belief and disbelief when missionary zeal imposes its interpretations on anthropological curiosity."

Discover a Proven Approach to Raising Your Church s Evangelistic Temperature Evangelism. It s one of the highest values in the church. So why do so few churches put real effort into it? Maybe it s because we don t understand the evangelistic potential of the church well enough to get excited about it. Becoming a Contagious Church will change that. Revised and updated, this streamlined edition dispels outdated preconceptions and reveals evangelism as it really can be. What s more, it walks you through a 6-Stage Process and includes a brand-new 6-Stage Process assessment tool for taking your church beyond mere talk to infections energy, action, and lasting commitment. This book is not optional It s required reading for all who are serious about reaching their communities for Christ. Ignoring this book would be pastoral malpractice Lee Strobel, author of The Case for the Real Jesus You can t read this book without having your heart stirred to share the gospel. It s contagious Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life Entire leadership teams and outreach committees should read and discuss this powerful book---and then put its principles into action. John Maxwell, author of Developing Leaders Around You I can t emphasize how important books like this one are for the future of the church. It demythologizes the fear and awkwardness of evangelism into something biblical, tangible, and practical for every person. Dan Kimball, author of They Like Jesus but Not the Church Becoming a Contagious Church is hands-down the most comprehensive work on church evangelism I ve ever read. Its principles can turn inward-looking church attenders into outward-looking church evangelists. Craig Groeschel, senior pastor, LifeChurch.tv"

Ramon Llull (1232-1316), born on Majorca, was one of the most remarkable lay intellectuals of the thirteenth century. He devoted much of his life to promoting missions among unbelievers, the reform of Western Christian society, and personal spiritual perfection. He wrote over 200 philosophical and theological works in Catalan, Latin, and Arabic. Many of these expound on his "Great Universal Art of Finding Truth," an idiosyncratic dialectical system that he thought capable of proving Catholic beliefs to non-believers.
This study offers the first full-length analysis of his theories about rhetoric and preaching, which were central to his evangelizing activities. It explains how Llull attempted to synthesize commonplace advice about courtly speech and techniques of popular sermons into a single program for secular and sacred eloquence that would necessarily promote love of God and neighbor. Llull's work is a remarkable testimony to the diffusion of clerical culture among educated lay-people of his era, and to their enthusiasm for applying that knowledge in pursuit of learning and piety. This book should find a place on the shelf of every scholar of medieval history, religion, and rhetoric.

This volume deals with the founding of a missionary order in the Catholic Church, the Society of Mary, otherwise known as the Marists, a society of Priests many of whom in the early days went to the South Pacific islands. The book, a collection of essays, unites works by acknowledged authorities in the field along with some younger researchers. All of them open up new subjects and incorporate new research based on French sources. Among these are valuable essays on women missionaries, the ecclesiology of the early Marist missionaries and the Marist teaching brothers. This collection will be of interest to historians of the Pacific Islands and of nineteenth century Catholicism.

In Toward Our Mutual Flourishing: The Episcopal Church, Interreligious Relations, and Theologies of Religious Manyness, the author tells the story of The Episcopal Church's development of an official rationale for its ongoing engagement with religious diversity. At once a work of historical, moral, and practical theology, this volume contextualizes and explains what one church teaches about how religious difference may be interpreted in Christian terms. Through guided reading of noteworthy documents, this book explores such themes as this church's preference for ecumenical interfaith work, its particular attention to Christian-Jewish and Christian-Muslim concerns, the relationship between missiology and theological understanding of religious diversity, and the intersection of interreligious relations with other ecclesial concerns - peace and justice activism, liturgical reform efforts, and what it means to be "the Body of Christ" in the twenty-first century. The author thus positions this multinational, multicultural, multilingual denomination within the Interfaith Movement, the Anglican theological tradition, and the various schemes for analyzing Christian theologies of religions. About The Episcopal Church (but not just for Episcopalians), about Christianity (but not just for Christians), this book is an excellent resource for courses in interreligious dialogue, Christian ethics, and American religious history.

In Wayward Christian Soldiers, leading evangelical theologian Charles Marsh offers a powerful indictment of the political activism of evangelical Christian leaders and churches in the United States. With emphasis on repentence and renewal, this important work advises Christians how to understand past mistakes and to avoid making them in the future. Over the past several years, Marsh observes, American evangelicals have achieved more political power than at any time in their history. But access and influence have come at a cost to their witness in the world and the integrity of their message. The author offers a sobering contrast between the contemporary evangelical elite, which forms the core of the Republican Party, and the historic Christian tradition of respect for the mystery of God and appreciation for human fallibility. The author shows that the most prominent voices in American evangelicalism have arrogantly redefined Christianity on the basis of partisan politics rather than scripture and tradition. The role of politics in distorting the Christian message can be seen most dramatically in the invasion of Iraq, he argues: Some 87% of American evangelicals supported going to war, while every single evangelical church outside the United States opposed it. The Jesus who storms into Baghdad behind the wheel of a Humvee, Marsh points out, is not the Jesus of the Gospel. Indeed, not since the nazification of the German church under Hitler has the political misuse of Christianity led to such catastrophic global consequences. Is there an alternative? This book proposes that the renewal of American churches requires a season of concentrated attention to faith's essential affirmations-a time of hospitality, peacemaking, and contemplative prayer. Offering an authentic Christian alternative to the narcissistic piety of popular evangelicalism, Wayward Christian Soldiers represents a unique entry into the increasingly pivotal debate over the role of faith in American politics.

This Confronting Jesus set includes a copy of Rebecca McLaughlin's book, a companion study guide, and a DVD with video teaching sessions based on each chapter of the book-perfect for individuals, small groups, and churches.

This book is a study of the process of conversion among the Germanic peoples from the third to eleventh centuries. The intention is twofold: firstly, to examine previous scholarship on conversion and to develop a model of conversion appropriate to the Germanic peoples; and secondly, to produce a comparative study of six Germanic conversions.

Chapter 1 reviews the existing models of conversion developed by scholars in a number of fields, principally psychology, anthropology and religious studies, and develops an alternative model. Chapters 2-7 are case studies which apply this model to the conversions of the Goths, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, continental Saxons, Scandinavians and Icelanders. The final chapter presents in summary form the insights from the case studies.

The explosive expansion of Christianity in Africa and Asia during the last two centuries constitutes one of the most remarkable cultural transformations in the history of mankind. Because it coincided with the spread of European economic and political hegemony, it tends to be taken for granted that Christian missions went hand in hand with Imperialism and colonial conquest. In this book historians survey the relationship between Christian missions and the British Empire from the seventeenth century to the 1960s and treat the subject thematically, rather than regionally or chronologically. Many of these themes are treated at length for the first time, relating the work of missions to language, medicine, anthropology, and decolonization. Other important chapters focus on the difficult relationship between missionaries and white settlers, women and mission, and the neglected role of the indigenous evangelists who did far more than European or North American missionaries to spread the Christian religion - belying the image of Christianity as the 'white man's religion'.

This ethnographic study is a revisionist view of the most significant and widely known mission system in Latin America-that of the Jesuit missions to the Guarani Indians, who inhabited the border regions of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. It traces in detail the process of Indian adaptation to Spanish colonialism from the sixteenth through the early nineteenth centuries. The book demonstrates conclusively that the Guarani were as instrumental in determining their destinies as were the Catholic Church and Spanish bureaucrats. They were neither passive victims of Spanish colonialism nor innocent "children" of the jungle, but important actors who shaped fundamentally the history of the Rio de la Plata region. The Guarani responded to European contact according to the dynamics of their own culture, their individual interests and experiences, and the changing political, economic, and social realities of the late Bourbon period.

2022 Christianity Today Finalist, Missions & Global Church Christians should make disciples as disciples. Christians who are engaged in missions regularly face ethical challenges. But the approaches and standards of modern missions often further complicate, rather than alleviate, matters. Modern missiology debates what actions constitute mission work, how to measure growth, and the difference between persuasion and coercion. In Virtuous Persuasion, Michael Niebauer casts a holistic vision for Christian mission that is rooted in theological ethics and moral philosophy. Niebauer proposes a theology of mission grounded in virtue. Becoming a skilled missionary is more about following Christ than mastering techniques. Christian mission is best understood as specific activities that develop virtue in its practitioners and move them toward their ultimate goal of partaking in the glory of God. With Virtuous Persuasion, you can rethink the essence of Jesus's Great Commission and how we seek to fulfill it.

Outreach Resource of the Year Something is not right. The witness of the church in North America is eroding. Many Christians are alarmed by the decline in church attendance and seek a culprit. Too often, we point the finger away from the church, make culture the enemy, and build walls between us and others. But our antagonism and enemy-making are toxins that further eat away at our witness. Is there a better way? Tara Beth Leach could easily be one of those millennials giving up on the church. Instead, she is a pastor who loves the church and is paradoxically hopeful for its future. In an era where the church has lost much of its credibility, Leach casts a radiant vision for Christians to rediscover a robust, attractive witness. We need to name the toxic soil we've grown in, repent for past wrongs, and lean into a better way to become the church that Jesus proclaimed we would be. Leach casts down idolatrous false images of God to recover a winsome picture of a kingdom of abundance and goodness. We can be sustained by practices that will tune our hearts to God's and form us into the radiant communities God intends for us and those around us.

This book examines the life of George Strachan (1572 1635), early 17th-century Scottish Humanist scholar, Orientalist and traveller. Drawing on a wealth of newly discovered archival material to offer new insights into Strachan's life and work, it also utilises recent scholarship on the relationship between the cultures and religions of East and West. Tom McInally explains the voyages that the Catholic exile took to many of the Catholic courts of Europe as a scholar and spy before turning eastwards to embark upon a 22-year journey around the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires. By becoming fully literate in Arabic and Farsi, Strachan was able to gain a unique knowledge of Eastern societies. His collection of Arabic and Farsi texts on Islam, philosophy and humanities which he translated and sent to Europe for the advancement of European knowledge of Islam and Islamic societies became Strachan's real intellectual legacy

Biblical Foundations Book Award "God cannot lead you on the basis of information you do not have." --Ralph Winter What is God's mission in the world? For anyone passionate about discovering God's heart for the nations, Discovering the Mission of God will reveal his plans for you. Written by 21st-century field workers, scholars and church leaders, this book weaves together the basic components of God?s global mission and challenges readers to identify where they fit in the mission of God. Discovering the Mission of God explores the mission of God as presented in the Bible, expressed throughout church history and in cutting-edge best practices being used around the world today. Drawing from a new generation of scholar-practitioners, this comprehensive reader provides global perspective, recent missiological research, case studies, recommended further readings and relevant discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Contributors include: Bryan E. Beyer Karen O'Dell Bullock R. Bruce Carlton Gary R. Corwin Don Dent Robert Edwards Nathan Evans David Garrison H. Al Gilbert Kevin Greeson Jim Haney J. Scott Holste R. Alton James Patrick Lai William J. Larkin Christopher R. Little Alex Luc Stan May Clyde Meador A. Scott Moreau D. Kurt Nelson Howard Norrish Meg Page John Piper Robert L. Plummer Jerry Rankin Nik Ripken Tom Steffen Ed Stetzer John Mark Terry LaNette W. Thompson Greg Turner Preben Vang Joel. F. Williams Christopher J. H. Wright William R. Yount Discovering the Mission of God is an indispensable resource for anyone wanting a better picture of what God is doing in the world and how to find one's place in God's global plan.

Share your faith and keep your friends. You want your non--believing friends to be brothers and sisters in Christ. But how do you talk about Jesus without driving them away? When do you talk? When do you stay quiet? In How Do We Talk with Skeptics?, Sam Chan shows you how to walk the tightrope by offering ten wise tips to keep the balance right. Listen well. Speak persuasively. Learn hospitality. Gently reveal the holes in your friend's worldview. Gain wisdom on when to speak and when to listen. With Chan's help, you can keep your friends while being a faithful witness for Christ. The Questions for Restless Minds series applies God's word to today's issues. Each short book faces tough questions honestly and clearly, so you can think wisely, act with conviction, and become more like Christ.

Christianity Today Book Award Winner This volume helps leaders and leaders-in-training become students of culture who can then contextualize what they learn for their own organizational settings. Douglas McConnell, a respected leader in the worlds of missiology and higher education, enables readers to understand intercultural dynamics so they can shape their organizational cultures and lead their organizations in a missional direction. This is the latest volume in an award-winning series emphasizing mission as partnership with Christians around the globe.

I HAVE A FRIEND who is always faithful; who can meet all your needs; who will never leave you. This friend is Jesus Christ. Since I have known him, he has been faithful in all his promises. He is " . . . the same yesterday and today and forever"(Hebrews 13:8). Through my joys and sorrows he has been a "friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). I first met him when I read his invitation in the Bible: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). I came to him, and he freed me from my burden of sin and guilt and gave me hope for living. Daily he meets my needs. He promises, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. . . . Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (John 14:27). When I am lonely and worried, I remember his words: "I will not leave you or forsake you" (Joshua 1:5). I know that even at the hour of death he will remain with me, and one day he will take me to heaven to live with him. How can you and I be sure of Christ's love? The Bible says, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). We can be assured of his love because he, the sinless Son of God, suffered for our sins on the Cross of Calvary. We can know that Christ's love is everlasting. Because he rose from the grave and returned to the Father in heaven, he can say, "I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:17-18). Yes, we can trust the Lord Jesus as our eternal friend. He invites us: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). If you have never trusted Jesus as your Savior, invite him into your life today. Follow him and he will never fail you. "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24).

The publication of the Chinese Union Version (CUV) in 1919 was the culmination of a hundred years of struggle by Western missionaries working closely with Chinese assistants to produce a translation of the Bible fit for the needs of a growing church. Celebrating the CUV's centennial, The Translation of the Bible into Chinese explores the unique challenges faced by its translators in the context of the history of Chinese Bible translation. Ann Cui'an Peng's personal experience of the role played by the CUV in Chinese Christian communities lends the narrative particular weight, while her role as director of the Commission on Bible Publication at the China Christian Council offers a unique insight into the continuing legacy of the CUV for Bible translators today.

Presents a unique contemporary Eucharist that remains similar to the liturgy celebrated in a Celi De community in the early ninth century. Following the classic shape of the Eucharist--Entrance, The Ministry of the Word, The Peace, The Offertory, The Holy Communion, and the Dismissal--this service draws together texts from Scripture, mainstream Irish, Scottish, and Welsh traditions, and contemporary Celtic spirituality to create a remarkably original service that encourages fresh appreciation of the Eucharist. Easily adaptable to formal or informal settings, this book can be used inconjunction with modern lectionary cycles.

Between 1594 and 1598, a preacher named Francois converted 72,000 Protestants to the Catholic Faith. These are his words. ONE OF the most remarkable and well-documented events in Catholic history began when a young priest, Francis de Sales, volunteered to re-evangelize the Calvinists of the Chablais. Finding his preaching forcefully rejected, Francis de Sales shrewdly switched tactics and began a written apologetics campaign, posting pamphlets on walls and slipping them beneath doors under the cover of night. His defense of the Faith was so clear and thorough that at the end of four years nearly the entire population of 72,000 had returned to the Catholic Faith These powerful little tracts are as relevant today as they were in the late 1500s. De Sales draws support from Scripture, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church to address questions still frequently posed by modern Protestants. Revered as some of the most cogent arguments against Protestantism ever penned; they present a defense of the Catholic Faith that has never been equaled. "A full and complete demonstration of the Catholic religion." -Pope Pius IX

Advance Praise for Organic Church

"This book is profound, practical, and a pleasure to read. It stretches our thinking and brings us to a place where we can see the Kingdom of God spread across the world in our generation. This book has come at the right time."
--John C. Maxwell, founder, INJOY, INJOY Stewardship Services and EQUIP

"My life is about seeing hundredfold results. Neil Cole's approach helps get those kinds of results for churches by planting many new expressions of the Kingdom that reach thousands of people. One of the great joys of my life for the past six years has been to watch the dramatic growth of Awakening Chapels and the organic churches described in this work. Cole's new book tells not only the inspiring story but also describes the principles, so you can apply these ideas."
--Bob Buford, founder and chairman, Leadership Network; author, Halftime and Finishing Well

"I always listen when Neil Cole speaks. His breadth of understanding and practice of what he preaches is right on. Everyone should know or be aware of this guy that God is using in a powerful way."
--Bob Roberts, senior pastor, NorthWood Church, Keller, Texas

"Neil Cole is one of the foremost thinkers and practitioners of organic forms of church. His vision of the church is as new as it is ancient. Cole's story as well as the philosophy of Church Multiplication Associates is paradigmatic for the church as it seeks to negotiate its way faithfully into the twenty-first century."
--Alan Hirsch, director, Forge Mission Training Network, church planter; author, The Shaping of Things to Come

This study guide and DVD set, based on Rebecca McLaughlin's book Confronting Jesus, features 9 brief teaching segments with accompanying discussion questions for individuals, small groups, or Sunday school classes.

In this holistic study of Paul's ministry, author and missionary Elliot Clark brilliantly explains why Christians today should seek God's approval-not worldly ambition-when sharing the gospel.

This is Robert Schuller like you've never heard before. Though it echoes the extraordinary insightfulness and encouragement you have come to count on from Dr. Schuller, never before has he written a book so personal, so moving. This book is about adversity, tragedy, despair. But it's also about hope, joy, and eternal victory in Jesus.

For the first time, he discusses many of the difficult events of his life. He provides positive examples to show readers how he got through them and how they can emerge victoriously also.