Wilbert R. Shenk
Biography
Wilbert R. Shenk has served as Senior Professor of Mission History and Contemporary Culture at the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Shenk edited Christianity and Religious Plurality (2016), Earthen Vessels (2012), and Enlarging the Story (2011).
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Theology
“Like a skillfully constructed symphony, the main theme of A Light to the Nations is announced in the first two chapters. Succeeding movements trace the triumphs and failures of God’s missional people in the Old and New Testaments. The final two chapters reprise the theme, showing its indispensable importance for the people of God today. Michael Goheen effectively blends careful scholarship and passion for full-bodied participation in God’s mission today.”
An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“This is a path-breaking study that adds historical depth and insight into contextuality and the process of contextualization. Much of the work to date on this theme has been done by Western scholars or is based on Western scholarship. Keon-Sang An, who taught theology in Ethiopia, explores the rich tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church with regard to its approach to Scripture. This work deepens our understanding of contextualization as a necessary process in every local church.”
An Introduction to the Theology of Religions
World Religions
“This is a most useful book. It provides an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the theology of religions. Dr. Kärkkäinen covers the major themes and introduces the main thinkers who have contributed to the theology of religions in the past century. He writes lucidly and presents the views of each scholar in a fair and balanced way. Anyone--and that should include all of us--who is concerned to follow developments in the theology of religions will find this to be a reliable and informative guide.”
Theology
“Apostolicity is associated with the very foundation of the church, yet its meaning has been distorted by faulty interpretation. Rather than preserving the binary definition—cultivation of the faith, communication of the faith—for most of the past two millennia the priority has been firmly placed on cultivation, making communication subsidiary. This has had profoundly negative consequences for both church and mission. In this pioneering study Dr. John Flett shows with multiple examples—historical, theological and cultural—how pervasive and influential this traditional view has been. Today's pluriform and polycentric global Christianity will continue to move with a limp so long as a true apostolicity is not appropriated. This work boldly and constructively points the way forward.”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“This important study is based on careful empirical analysis of the emerging North American environment, rigorous questioning of past practices, and theological-missiological critique of the prevailing ecclesiology. The roles of structures and leadership in facilitating effective missional witness is canvassed. Dr. Boshart demonstrates that leadership at all levels is crucial to a dynamic and fruit-bearing church. This is a vision-building work that challenges and inspires.”
Theology
“Darrell Guder's Called to Witness displays the qualities that have distinguished his writings over the past two decades. He consistently addresses themes essential to the renewal of the post-Christendom church and does so with clarity, conviction, and first-rate scholarship. His keen understanding of the disabling Christendom legacy that confronts the church in the West is reflected in the salient themes he addresses. Guder combines honest appraisal with confidence that the body of Christ can be renewed as it embraces God's mission.”
Evangelism & Missions
“This is a pioneering study of a neglected aspect of Newbigin's work. Dr. Mark Laing provides a balanced, reliable, and insightful evaluation of Newbigin's role and contribution.”
Introducing Christian Mission Today
Evangelism & Missions
“Introducing Christian Mission Today is a well-written, accessible and comprehensive survey of mission theology. Michael Goheen provides the reader with an authoritative and balanced account of the salient developments--starting with a robust biblical theology that puts the mission of God at the dynamic center--that have transformed our understanding over the past century. This work edifies and challenges.”
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“Since 1950, remarkable progress has been made in developing mission theology. Redford aids and abets this development by introducing missiological hermeneutics that will help Christians around the world engage the word of God with greater understanding and faithfulness.”
“Although contextualization theory was introduced more than four decades ago, it remains a work in progress. Janice Raymond's work on Mongolian proverbs makes an important contribution to the study of contextualization as a process, using the study of proverbs as the case in point. The outsider cannot be the primary agent of contextualization. Neither is the insider self-sufficient. Raymond's work is a case study in interdependence that is focused on deeper and more faithful understanding of the word of God using the vital indigenous materials that proverbs provide.”
Pitfalls of Trained Incapacity
Evangelism & Missions
Foreword
“Twenty-first-century people are as prone to ethnocentric reaction to other cultures as were explorers, traders, and missionaries two centuries ago. Postmodern people need all the resources they can get if they are to become sensitive to what is involved in constructive cross-cultural interaction. Pitfalls of Trained Incapacity graphically shows that what is learned in one culture as 'state of the art' theory and practice can create enormous barriers to effective engagement with people of another culture. This carefully researched and well-written case study of the group of German missionaries trained at the Basel Missionary Training Institute and sent by the Basel Mission to establish their work in Ghana throws fresh light on the challenges of crossing cultural boundaries.”
Revitalizing Theological Epistemology
Theology
“Revitalizing Theological Epistemology grapples courageously and innovatively with core issues that confront evangelical thought and practice today. Using the writings of Clark Pinnock and Lesslie Newbigin as evaluative lenses, Sherman traces the emergence and essence of a postconservative theological epistemology, considering important factors leading reformist evangelicals toward a more holistic, communal approach to the knowledge of God. Sherman's focused analysis and assessment concludes with a modest proposal for developing a revitalizing theological epistemology. I recommend it for the study of contemporary theology and culture.”
Theology
“Goheen effectively captures Newbigin as a passionate thinker, communicator, and leader. The fact that Newbigin continues to be read and discussed two decades after his death testifies to the continuing force of his vision, ideas, and convictions. Goheen mines Newbigin’s voluminous writings and presents the major themes that compose his dynamic ecclesiology, which is rooted in his vision of God’s mission to the world. The biblical narrative—the election of Israel, the incarnation, Christ’s death and resurrection, the commissioning of the disciples to follow Jesus Christ in his mission to the world, living toward the eschaton—invites the participation of all disciples. In each generation the church must discover its vocation, under the lordship of Christ, as a witness sent into the world. The many years Goheen has invested in thorough study of the Newbigin literary oeuvre yields rich insights in this book.”
“I have long valued Robert Montgomery as a scholar who refuses to be confined by conventional boundaries—be they academic, intellectual, or religious. Drawing on his rich heritage as a child of missionaries, his years of cross-cultural ministry, and academic study, Montgomery has been especially sensitive to the way cultural, linguistic, religious, and academic ‘boxes’ can distort and hinder our understanding of the Other. Montgomery has courageously stayed focused on the ways our knowledge and understanding can be enlarged and enriched by being open and paying respectful attention.”
Theology
“The Witness of God is a landmark contribution to a fundamental missional theology. In the twentieth century moves were made to develop an explicit theology of mission to accompany the modern mission movement. But deeply ingrained Christendom habits of thought and behavior have remained the default position in the relationship between church and mission. John Flett deconstructs this fallacy by showing God to be the true source of mission and showing what that means — not just for mission but for theology itself. This is a brilliant and challenging work with which theologians and missiologists alike must reckon.”
Evangelism & Missions
“This is groundbreaking work that for the first time establishes a dialogue between philosophers and missiologists. Epistemology has been central to modern philosophy, while truth has been fundamental to the Christian mission. While postmodern epistemology is challenging modern philosophy, the theology of the Christian mission is also being renegotiated. To Stake a Claim creatively illuminates the intellectual and cultural issues involved for both philosophy and missiology.”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“Treasure in Clay Jars is a bracing combination of vigorous theology and firsthand observation of what is happening at the front line. One frequently hears the plaint that books about the church and mission are too heady and make little contact with what goes on at the local level. The backbone of this work is case studies of congregations, ranging from Holy Ghost Full Gospel Baptist Church to Transfiguration Roman Catholic Parish in Brooklyn, alive to their calling to be the people of God in the world. Rather than suggesting that these churches furnish us with ideal models, this book emphasizes eight missional practices that characterize the local church committed to God's mission. Treasure in Clay Jars is a worthy sequel to Missional Church.”
NOTE: Only includes books currently in our catalog; not necessarily a complete list.
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