I.
REGENT UNIVERSITY
EVANGELISM
AND MISSION IN THE EARLY CHURCH
A RESEARCH PAPER
A RESEARCH PAPER
SP13 DE PMIN 501 – CHURCH AND MINISTRY (05)
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE MASTERS OF DIVINITY DEGREE
IN THE REGENT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
BY
SILAS KANYABIGEGA
DAYTON, OH
April 6, 2013
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………….…...1
EXPLANATION EVANGELISM..........................................................................................…...
1
The Characteristics of Evangelism in
the Apostles’ Period……………......………………...2
EXPLANATION MISSION………………………………………………….….…....................4
Mission
in Old Testament...........................................................................................................…..4
Mission
in New Testament……………….……………………..………………..…….………….5
THE
EVANGELISM IN THE EARLY CHURCH..…………………..……….....…….………….7
Countries Evangelized by the
apostles………………………………...………...………………….8
THE
MISSION IN THE EARLY CHURCH...................................................................................9
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................12
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………....…………….……13
iii
INTRODUCTION
The development of this Paper shows in detail the explanation of Evangelism, the characteristics of Evangelism in the apostles’ period, the explanation of Mission; Mission in the Old Testament, Mission in the New Testament, the Evangelism in the Early Church, the Mission in the Early Church. In conclusion, the Evangelism and the Mission in the Early Church were hard and asked sacrifices in order to accomplish the Great Commission. The Early Church history shows that the first Christians were extremely tested by political authorities and people who did not understand and were hostiles to Christianity.
EXPLANATION
EVANGELISM
Evangelism is an active calling of people to
respond to the message of grace and commit oneself to God in Jesus Christ.
While many think of evangelism as a N.T phenomena, profound concern for all
people is also obvious in the OT ( 1 Kings 8:41-45; Ps. 22:27-28; Isa. 2:2-4).
God’s care for the first couple after they had sinned, His plan to “bless” all
people through the Israelite nation, and His continuing attempts through the
prophets and through discipline to forge His people into a usable nation all speak
of His concern. While Israel’s influence was primarily national and magnetic in
nature, there were instances of individual and external witness (Dan. 3-6; 2
Kings 5:15-18; Jon. 3:1-10). Though Israel was largely a failure in carrying
out her mission, the large number of God fearers at the beginning of the
Christian era show that her magnetic attraction and proselytizing efforts were
not entirely unfruitful.1
_______________________________________
1 Brand, Chad,Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Holman BiblePublishers, 2003,
518.
1
It is, however, the NT that
manifests the dynamic thrust of evangelism. While the word “evangelism” does
not occur in the Bible, it is woven into the very fabric of structure. Despite
its obvious importance, a wide range of opinion seeks to define what it means
and what it should include. Definitions range from the extremely narrow to the
exceedingly broad. Evangelism is derived from the Greek word euangelion, means “gospel” or good
news.” The verbal forms of euangelio,
meaning “to bring” or “to announce good news” occur some 55 times (Acts
8:4,25,35; 11:20) and are normally translated with the appropriate form of the
word “preach.” Evangelism has to do with the proclamation of the message of
good news. 2
The
Characteristics of Evangelism in the Apostles’ Period:
Evangelism was the main objective of
the church. The Lord left the church
a great commission “Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved:
but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
Therefore, the great commission of the church was very clear, to evangelize. The apostles did exactly that, and even when
the numbers of the faithful reached tens of thousands, they never replaced
evangelism with pastoral care or social services or construction or any other
activities. Evangelism was not only the objective of the apostles but also
of all the faithful. Everybody in the church had
evangelism as an important objective.
Evangelism started with the person’s baptism, when he feels the light of
the grace. 3
__________________________________________
2 Ibid.,
518
2
Salvation was an
objective of evangelism. The
objective was not just preaching or educating or telling the story of Jesus,
but rather ‘salvation.’ Not anyone joined the church, but only those who were
saved “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved”
(Acts 2:47). Faith was a requirement to join the church. In the book of Acts, we read about so
many incidents in which there were direct correlation between salvation and
faith, such as in: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,
you and your household” (Acts 16:31).
So, faith was a requirement for baptism.
No body can get baptized without faith, and nobody got saved without
baptism. The Holy Spirit directed the
evangelism efforts. We have read about the invitation of the
Holy Spirit of Barnabas and Paul “the Holy Spirit said: “Now separate to Me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). The
book of Acts showed us how the Holy Spirit was the leader in all evangelistic
efforts. Planting Churches: The
apostles traveled from one city to another, proclaiming the Gospel, and
baptizing people. Then they stayed in
each city until they ordained priests and deacons from the indigenous. The
church was a church of prayers.
Prayers were the source of power for this church. From this church we learned about the
great power of the “spontaneous prayers” “And when they had prayed, the
place where they were assembled together was shaken: and they were filled with
the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness’ (Acts 4:319-
A church of unity. ‘Now the
multitude of those who believed were one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:31). 4
______________________________
4 http://www.suscopts.org/evangelism/frames/evangelism_in_early_church.html
3
EXPLANATION
MISSION
The propagation of the Christian
faith among non-Christian people was one of the main tasks of the Church from
the first.5 In the Christian context the person sent is called a
missionary. This person is charged with the task of spreading the gospel of
Jesus Christ to people to whom he is sent. The mission of the churches is to
send our missionaries to all parts of the world until everyone has had the
opportunity to hear the message of Jesus and accept Him as Lord. Interestingly,
the term mission is not found in the scriptures, yet the concept of mission
permeates the entire Bible.6
Mission in
Old Testament
While some scholars insist that the
OT has little, if anything, to say about mission, the more general
understanding is that mission is an important OT concept. Its foundation lies
in the understanding that the transcendent God is also the God who is involved in
history. He is the God who acts. The record of His involvement in history
indicates that His work is both revelatory and redemptive. People know who God
is by what He has done. Since the fall (Gen. 3), God’s primary activity has
been redemptive, as the confessions in the OT reveal (Deut. 6:20-24; 26:5-9;
Josh. 24:2-15). This redeeming activity of God is missionary because God sends
His messengers to the house of Israel and His prophets as His spokesmen to all
nations.7
_______________________________________
5 Livingstone, E.A. Oxford Concise Dictionary of the CHRISTIAN
CHURCH. Oxford University Press, 1977, 2000, 2006, 389.
6
Brand,
Chad, Draper, Charles, England Archie. Holman
Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Holman Bible Publishers, 2003, 1140.
7 Ibid., 1140
4
Clearly,
God’s mission concern is inclusive, not exclusive. As indicated in the listing
of the nations in Ge, 10, God’s interest has been in all people, not just in
Israel. When God called Abraham and his descendants, they were chosen, not to
be exclusive vessels, but rather to be a means of blessings “all families of
the earth” (Gen. 12:1-3; 18:16-19; 22:9-19; 26:1-5; 28:10-14).8
Mission in
New Testament
The NT brings to a crescendo the
Bible’s symphonic theme of Mission. The mission begins with Jesus who was sent
to earth to reveal the Father (John 1:18; 14:9), to glorify Him (John 13:31;
14:13; 17:1,6), to bring the kingdom of God on earth (Matt. 12:22-23), and to
make God’s love and mercy known to a lost world. He came to seek and save the
lost (Luke 19:10). His mission was also inclusive. While Jesus’ ministry was
primarily for the Jews, He also met the needs of non-Jews. He healed the
daughter of a Canaanite woman and praised the woman for her faith (Matt.
15:21-29). He also healed the servant of the Roman centurion (Matt.
8:5-13). On another occasion, He
initiated a conversation with a Samaritan woman that led both to her
conversation and to that of the entire community (John 4 ).Through His
teachings Jesus made clear that His mission was to continue after He ascended.
Each of the Gospels and Acts contains an account of His mandate to His
followers, telling them to go to all the world, make disciples, baptize them, 9
_________________________________
8 Brand, Chad, Draper, Charles,
England Archie. Holman Illustrated Bible
Dictionary. Holman Bible Publishers,
2003, 1140.
9 Ibid., 1140.
5
and preach
the gospel (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-49; John 20: 21-22; Acts
1:8). Jesus assumed that the church would reach out beyond itself. This
commission made a dramatic change in the emphasis of mission. Instead of
looking to foreigners to come to Jerusalem as did the OT, the church’s mission
is to go into the entire world and not wait for the world to come to it. Not
just selected prophets like Jonah but all the believers were to go and tell
what they had seen with others. The scope of mission was inclusive. The church
was to cross all barriers – to reach out to all ethnic groups, clans, tribes,
social classes, and cultures. The message of salvation was to be shared with
all people everywhere. The new disciples were to be baptized and taught. The
purpose of the teaching was to do more than share information. It was to
provide nourishment in the faith as well. Since the Great Commission is a
mandate, the church is expected to be obedient. Even so, it does not have to do
the job alone. Christ has promised that He will be with the church until “the
end of the world.” With this assurance the church was obedient, for the gospel
was presented first in Jerusalem (Acts 1-8), then in Samaria (Acts 8-12), and
finally to all the world (Acts 13-28).Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church
did mission by preaching Jesus (Acts 2; 8:35; 10:36-44; 1 Cor. 2:1-2). The
church’s mission to the world was strengthened through its intimate fellowship
and unity (Acts 2:44), and every effort was made to maintain this characteristic
(acts 6:1-7; 15; and Paul’s letters to the churches in Corinth and Galatia).The
missionaries Jesus sent out were instructed to go only to the house of Israel
to preach and to meet human need. They were not to be overly concerned about
their physical or material needs nor were they to spend an undue amount of time
with those who willfully rejected their message (Matt. 10:1-15). 10
__________________________________
10 Ibid., 1140.
6
After the resurrection
missionaries were arrested (Acts 4-5), suffered (2 Cor. 4:7-10), and died (Acts
7).The Apostle Paul was the most outstanding of these missionaries. God had
called him as a missionary to the Gentiles (Acts 26:16-18; Rom. 1:5; Eph. 3:1),
and he was sent out by the church in Antioch (Acts 13:1-3). The Holy Spirit led
him in his ministry (Acts 16:6-10). He preached Jesus (1 Cor. 2:1-2), met
people on their own level (Acts 17), established autonomous, indigenous
churches (Acts 14:23), and worked with others – often training them to do the works
of the ministry (Acts 16:1-3). Paul further refused to be dependent on the work
he established for his own livelihood, yet he was grateful when churches
responded to his needs (Phil. 4:14-18). Significantly, he identified with those
with whom he worked (1 Cor. 9:19-23).Mission was the heartbeat of the NT
churches.11
The
Evangelism in the Early Church
The Christian Community in Syrian
Antioch quickly became a metropolitan church rivaling in size the church of
Jerusalem. If the Church of Jerusalem was the mother-church of Christians in
general, the church of Antioch was the mother-church of Gentile Christians in
particular.12 Through many
men during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had a profound desire for the
certainty of salvation, there was none who sought God’s grace as earnestly as
did Martin Luther.13
_____________________
11 Ibid., 1140
12 Bruce, F. F. PAUL: Apostle of the Heart Set free. Williams B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, The Paternoster Press Ltd, 1977, 148.
13 Lohse, Bernhard. A Short History of Christian Doctrine: From
the First Century to the Present. KreuzVerlag, 1963, 159, 160.
7
Matthew published his gospel among
the Hebrews in their own tongue, when Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel
in Rome and founding the church there. After their departure Mark, the disciple
and interpreter of Peter, himself handed down to us in writing the substance of
Peter’s preaching. Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the Gospel
preached by his teacher. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned
on his breast, himself produced his gospel, while he was living at Ephesus in
Asia.14
Countries Evangelized by the
apostles:
Such then was the plight of the Jews.
Meanwhile the holy apostles and disciples of our Savior were scattered over the
whole world. Thomas, tradition tells us, was chosen for Parthia, Andrew for
Scythia, John for Asia, where he remained till his death at Ephesus. Peter
seems to have preached in Pontus, Galatia and Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia, to
the Jews of the Dispersion. Finally, he came to Rome where he was crucified,
head downwards at his own request. What need be said of Paul, who from
Jerusalem as far as Illyricum preached in all its fullness the Gospel of
Christ, and later was martyred in Rome under Nero? This is exactly what Origen
tells us in Volume III of his Commentary
on Genesis.15 The Early Disciples made disciple making
their top priority. Discipling principles were second nature in everything they
did.16 One of their priorities was a Commitment to Scripture. The
Apostles began to teach the great truths about Jesus Christ by showing their
distinctively Jewish
__________________________________
14 Bettenson, Henry & Maunder, Chris. Documents of the Christian Church: Fourth Edition. Oxford
University Press, 1963, 1999, 2011, 29, 30.
15 Eusebius.The History
of the Church: From Christ to Constantine. Dorset Press, 1965, 107.
16 Hull, Bill.The
Disciple-Making Church.Published by Fleming H. Revell, 1990, 62.
8
congregation how the Old Testament
prophets showed He was Messiah. They taught Jesus’s teachings on life, death,
and the eternal life.17 In Acts 4 Luke tells us that Peter and
John’s preaching had landed them in the Jewish Supreme Court. The 3,000 had become
5,000.18 They continued to minister in the marketplace (Acts 4:33;
5:14, 21, 42).19 “Those who had been scattered by the persecution in
connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,
telling the message only to the Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus
and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the
good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great
number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Acts 11:19-21.”20
Mission in
the Early Church
According to Acts 8:1, the
Hellenistic Christians were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” Acts
9:32-42 speaks of visits by Peter to the Christian communities in Lydda,
Sharon, and Joppa, all in Judea. Acts 8 tells of the work of Philip in Samaria,
the conversation of Simon Magus; and the visit of Peter and John. As early as
Acts 9, we are also told that some of the fleeing Christians were scattered as
far as Damascus, well beyond the borders of Judea. And Acts 11:19 adds further
that “those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over
Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch.” This does not
mean that the mission was extended to the Gentiles, for Acts explains that they
went to all these areas “speaking the word to none except Jews.”21
________________________________
17Hull, Bill.The
Disciple-Making Church. .Published by Fleming H. Revell, 1990, 64.
18Ibid., 77
19Ibid., 77
20Ibid., 100
21 Gonzalez, Justo L.The
Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. HarperCollins
Publishers, 2010, 31,32,33.
9
The mission of Philip in Samaria, and
the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, are possibly the first indications of
the church’s willingness to receive non-Jews. But the issue is finally faced in
Acts 10, in the episode of Peter and Cornelius, which eventually leads the
church of Jerusalem to the surprising conclusion: “Then to the Gentiles also
God has granted repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). Immediately thereafter we
are told that something similar happened in Antioch, with the result that
Barnabas was sent by the church in Jerusalem to investigate the matter, and
“when he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad” (Acts 11:23). These
various events show that, according to Acts, while the earliest Christian
expression was mostly the result of the witness of those Jewish Christians of
Hellenistic tendencies who had to flee Jerusalem, the mother church approved of
their work, both among Hellenistic Jews and among Gentiles.22
Naturally,
this did not solve all problems, for there was always the question of whether
Gentile converts to Christianity had to obey the Law of Israel. After some
hesitation, the church in Jerusalem accepted them, declaring that “it has
seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no other burden than
these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols
and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity” (Acts 15:28-29).
This, however, did not end the matter, for Paul’s Epistles are full of evidence
that there were for a time those who insisted on greater strictures.23
Furthermore, one should note that most of
these first Gentile converts were not completely alien to Judaism. They were
what Jews often called “God - fearers” – people who had come to believe in the
God and the ethical teachings of Israel, but for one reason or another had not
joined the ranks of Israel by becoming “proselytes.” In Acts, both the Ethiopian
eunuch and Cornelius
________________________________
22 Gonzalez, Justo L.The
Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. HarperCollins
Publishers, 2010, 31,32,33.
23 Ibid., 31, 32, 33.
10
were
such God-fearers. And, in Antioch of Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas were
enthusiastically received by the Jewish community until they proved to be too
ready to accept “others who fear God” into the ranks of the people of God (Acts
13).24
“On his first two mission tours, Paul
planted more than fifteen churches. Because it is the first application of
discipling churches in non-Hebraic cultures, I have named this conglomerate the
mission church. It bridged various
languages, cultures, and religious environments and represents the best
church-planting curriculum. Paul’s first tour lasted two years and included
eight cities. Luke covers the mission in eighty verses (Acts 13:1-14:28). For
the first church this step was multiplication, and for Antioch it was
reproduction. For Paul and Barnabas it was formative work: They had to feel
their way along and creatively contextualize their principles.”25The
firstjourney began the “Come and see” activity in the mission church,
expressing people to the message, gathering them to learn about Christ, and
organizing them into churches. In the second journey, initial penetration of
the Gospel message occurred in cities such as Philippi, Tessalonica, and Berea.
But the apostle Paul added the developmental and corrective stage of church
maturation to the already-established congregations. In “Come and follow me,”
people began to receive training in ministry skills and the corrective visits
of the apostle.26
After the break with
Barnabas, Paul took Silas and returned to the Galatian churches. In this third
visit, he sought to build up the church. Acts 15:41 and 16:5 describe his
actions as strengthening, which means “making firm.” Paul’s intention had real
results: “So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in
numbers” (16:5).27
__________________________________________________
24 Gonzalez, Justo L.The
Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. HarperCollins
Publishers,
2010, 31, 32, 33.
25 Hull, Bill.The
Disciple-Making Church.Published by Fleming H. Revell, 1990, 107.
26 Ibid.,
119.
27 Ibid., 122
11
Paul had not changed the strategy:
Go where the people are and preach to them. In Philippi and Athens, that meant
bypassing the synagogue strategy. At Philippi, they did nothing Luke considered
noteworthy until the first Sabbath. Paul, Luke, Silas, Timothy, and the others
went to a place of player and preached to the women gathered there. The Lord
opened the heart of Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira.
She believed and was baptized, along with her family.28
CONCLUSION.
Suffering, then, is the badge
of true discipleship. The disciple is not above his master. Following Christ
means passiopassiva, suffering
because we have to suffer.”29The Early Church made into practice
Evangelism and Mission in very difficult time in the history of the Church and
it has succeeded on both. The good example of the Early Church is a model to
the present Church in order to accomplish with success the Great Commission
that the Lord Jesus Christ needs us to make into practice before His second
coming.
____________________________
28
Hull, Bill.The Disciple-Making Church.Published by Fleming H. Revell, 1990,
127.
29Bonheoffer,
Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship.
SCM Press Ltd, 1959, 91.
12
BIBLIOGRAPY
Bettenson, Henry & Maunder,
Chris. Documents of the Christian Church:
Fourth
Edition.Oxford University Press, 1963, 1999,
2011.
Bonheoffer,
Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship.
SCM Press Ltd, 1959.
Brand, Chad.Holman Illustrated
Bible Dictionary. Holman Bible Publishers, 2003.
Bruce, F. F. PAUL. Apostle of the Heart Set free. Williams B.
Eerdmans Publishing
Company, the Paternoster
Press Ltd, 1977.
Eusebius. The History of the Church: From Christ to
Constantine. Dorset Press,
1965.
Gonzalez,
Justo L. The Story of Christianity: The
Early Church to the Dawn of the
Reformation.HarperCollins Publishers, 2010.
Hull,
Bill. The Disciple-Making Church. Published
by Fleming H. Revell, 1990.
Livingstone, E.A. Oxford Concise
Dictionary of the CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Oxford
University Press, 1977,
2000, 2006.
Lohse, Bernhard. A Short History of
Christian Doctrine: From the First Century to
the Present.
KreuzVerlag, 1963
II.
Thesis Statement
Because of the disobedience of the man, the result was the large separation between man and God the Father. This separation cannot leave before the payment of a great price for the restoration of the relationship which no longer existed between the offended and the offensive. Jesus on the cross was now paying the price by his suffering and then by his death. Seeing how Jesus Christ endured the suffering of the Cross and seeing also that he will die eventually soon for the offensive, God the Father descended in Christ on the Cross to restore the relationship which was broken between him and the men. The Bible tells us that on the cross, God the Father was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (1 Corinthians 5:19).
Abstract
This study will look at the heart of cross of Jesus Christ as a place of reconciliation between God and the world, and will opens the door to different questions. Between of them: Why did Christ die? Who was responsible for his death? The Roman soldiers and Pilate, the Jewish people and their priests, Judas Iscariot the traitor? Their sins and ours?, the problem of forgiveness, the gravity of sin, human moral responsibility, true and false guilt. God’s holiness and wrath, the self-substitution of God and the reconciliation between God and men.
To read this research paper is to find the answer. This research finds-and enables his readers to find-the intellectual and spiritual riches of the cross that sustain the life of discipleship, especially in times of darkness and difficulty. The carefully calibrated analysis of the significance of the cross enables us to gain an appreciation of how “the cross transforms everything… [giving] us a new, worshiping relationship to God, a new and balanced understanding of ourselves, a new incentive to give ourselves in mission, a new love for our enemies, and a new courage to face the perplexities of suffering.1
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………… 1
WHY DID CHRIST DIE? ………………………………………………. 2
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS DEATH? ………………… 3
THE PROBLEM OF FORGIVENESS……………………… …………. 5
The gravity of sin ……………………………………… …… 5
Human moral responsibility………………………………. 6
God’s holiness and wrath………… ………………………. 6
THE SELF-SUBSTITUTION OF GOD
Who is the substitute? ....................................................... 7
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………… 7
WORKS CITED……………………………………………………………. 8
INTRODUCTION
To read this research paper is to find the answer. This research finds-and enables his readers to find-the intellectual and spiritual riches of the cross that sustain the life of discipleship, especially in times of darkness and difficulty. The carefully calibrated analysis of the significance of the cross enables us to gain an appreciation of how “the cross transforms everything… [giving] us a new, worshiping relationship to God, a new and balanced understanding of ourselves, a new incentive to give ourselves in mission, a new love for our enemies, and a new courage to face the perplexities of suffering.1
The cross was probably the greatest punishment that Romans gave to people who had made the great sins. When the Romans crucified Jesus Christ, they believed that they punished one of the great sinners of the era. At Calvary, people have attended to many crucifixions and many crosses, but there was crosses not like others, because it is the cross of Jesus Christ, who was not a sinner like other people crucified, because was without sin and then died for sinners.
At the same time as the Romans and Jews believed killing "a sinner" named Jesus, God the Father was in the process to punish “one who had agreed to take the punishment reserved for all the sinners”. Because of the disobedience of the man, the result was the large separation between man and God the Father. This separation cannot leave before the payment of a great price for the restoration of the relationship which no longer existed between the offended and the offensive. Jesus on the cross was now paying the price by his suffering and then by his death. Seeing how Jesus Christ endured the suffering of the Cross and seeing also that he will die eventually soon for the offensive, God the Father descended in Christ on the Cross to restore the relationship which was broken between him and the men. The Bible tells us that on the cross, God the Father was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (1 Corinthians 5:19).
This study opens the door to
show that in the interior of the cross there was a heart like a center of the
process of the salvation for man. Jesus Christ is himself the author of
salvation through the payment of the price at Calvary, and with this price,
Jesus Christ has fulfilled all the stipulations of God the Father.
God Father Himself, the offended, was working on restoration of the broken relationship between Him and men. The man is the beneficiary of everything running on the Cross at Golgotha, and was receiving a salvation that he really did not deserve. As mentioned in the Gospel of John 3:16, we have just to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved, but we know that the secret is into the heart of the Cross. The title of this research opens the door to different questions. Between of them: Why did Christ die? 2 Who was responsible for his death? The Roman soldiers and Pilate, the Jewish people and their priests, Judas Iscariot the traitor? Their sins and ours?, the problem of forgiveness, the gravity of sin, human moral responsibility, true and false guilt. God’s holiness and wrath, the self-substitution of God, who is the substitute?, God in Christ. The next step will be a conclusion and the works cited.
WHY DID CHRIST DIE?
Many people see no problem in these questions and therefore have no difficulty in answering them. The facts seem to them as plain as day. Jesus did not “die,’ they say; he was killed, publicly executed as a felon. The doctrines he taught were thought to be dangerous, even subversive. The Jewish leaders were incensed by his disrespectful attitude to the law and by his provocative claims, while the Romans heard that he was proclaiming himself King of the Jews and so challenging the authority of Cesar. To both groups Jesus appeared to be a revolutionary thinker and preacher, and some considered him a revolutionary activist as well. So profoundly did he disturb the status quo that they determined to do away with him. In fact, they entered into an unholy alliance with one another in order to do so. In the Jewish court a theological charge was brought against him, blasphemy. In the Roman court the charge was political, sedition.
_______________________________
2 For a recent scholary defense by a lawyer of the historical accuracy of the trials, as described in the Gospels, see Jean Iambert, Le Proces de Jesus (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1980).
But whether his offense was seen
to be primarily against God or against Caesar, the outcome was the same. He was
perceived as a threat to law and order, which could not be tolerated. So he was
liquidated. Why did he die? Ostensibly he die as a law-breaker, but in reality
as the victim of small minds and as a martyr to his own greatness. One of the
fascinating features of the Gospel writer’s accounts of the trial of Jesus is
this blending of the legal and moral factors. They all indicate that in both
Jewish and Roman courts a certain legal procedure was followed. The prisoner
was arrested, charged and cross-examined, and witnesses were called. The judge
then reached his verdict and pronounced the sentence. Yet the Evangelists also
make it clear that the prisoner was not guilty of the charges laid, that the
witnesses were false, and that the sentence of death was a gross miscarriage of
justice. For our motives are always mixed. We may succeed in preserving a
modicum of rectitude in the performance of our public duty, but behind this
façade lurk violent and sinful emotions, which are always threatening to erupt.
These secret sins the Evangelists expose
as they tell their story of the arrest, custody, trial, sentence and execution
of Jesus. It is one of the purposes of their narrative, for the material of the
Gospels was used in the moral instruction of converts.
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS DEATH?
Who was responsible for his death? The Roman soldiers and Pilate, the Jewish people and their priests, Judas Iscariot the traitor? Their sins and ours? The Roman soldiers and Pilate: Those immediately responsible for the death of Jesus were of course the Roman soldiers who carried out the sentence. The actual process of crucifying him is not, however, described by any of the four evangelists. If we had to rely exclusively on the Gospels, we would not have known that happened. But other contemporary documents tell us what a crucifixion was like.3 The Jewish people and their priests: although we cannot exonerate Pilate, we can certainly acknowledge that he was on the horns of a difficult dilemma and that it was the Jewish leaders who impaled him there. Judas Iscariot the traitor?
__________________________________
3 For a summary of available information about crucifixion see Martin Hengel’s crucifixion, trans. John Bowden (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1977).
Having seen how Jesus was handed
over by the priests to Pilate, and by Pilate to the soldiers, we now have to
consider how he was handed over to the priests by Judas in the first place.
Their sins and ours? We have looked at the three individuals – Pilate, Caiphas and Judas – on whom the Evangelists fasten the major blame for the crucifixion of Jesus, and at those associated with them, whether priests or people or soldiers. The blaming of the Jewish people for the crucifixion of Jesus is extremely unfashionable today. Indeed, if it is used as a justification for slandering and persecuting the Jews (as it has been in the past), or for anti-Semitism, it is absolutely indefensible. The way to avoid anti-Semitic prejudice, however, is not to pretend that the Jews were innocent, but having admitted their guilt, to add that others shared in it. This was how the apostles saw it. Herod and Pilate, Gentiles and Jews, they said, had together “conspired” against Jesus (Acts 4:27). More important still, we ourselves are also guilty. If we were in their place, we would have done what they did. Indeed, we have done it. For whenever we turn away from Christ, we “are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace” (Heb 6:6).
_________________________________
4 For the emphasis on “holy love” see P.T. Forsyth in both Cruciality of the Cross ( London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1909), and The Work of Christ (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910); William Temple, Christus Veritas ( London: Macmillan, 1924), e.g.,pp. 257,269; and Emil Brunner, Mediator.
For despite the truth that God
demonstrated his righteousness by taking action to save his people, the words righteousness and salvation cannot
be regarded as simple synonyms. Rather
his saving initiative was compatible with, and expressive of, his
righteousness. At the cross in holy love of God through Christ paid the full
penalty of our disobedience himself. He bore the judgment we deserve in order
to bring us the forgiveness we do not deserve. On the cross divine mercy and
justice were equally expressed and eternally reconciled. God’s holy love was
“satisfied.”
The gravity of sin
The New Testament uses five main Greek words for sin, which together portray its various aspects, both passive and active. The most common is hamartia which depicts sin as a missing of the target, the failure to attain a goal. Adikia is “unrighteousness” or “iniquity,” and poneria is evil of a vicious or degenerate kind. Both these terms seem to speak of an inward corruption or perversion of character. The more active words are parabasis ( with which we may associate the similar paraptoma ), a “trepass” or “transgression,” the stepping over a known boundary, and anomia, “lawlessness,” the disregard or violation of a known law. In each case an objective criterion is implied, either a standard we fail to reach or a line we deliberately cross.
It is assumed throughout Scripture that this criterion or ideal has been established by God. It is, in fact, his moral law, which express his righteous character. It is not the law of his own being only, however, it is also the law of ours, since he has made us in his image and in so doing has written the requirements of his law in our hearts ( Rom 2:15 ). There is, thus, a vital correspondence between God’s law and ourselves, and to commit sin is to commit “lawlessness” (1 Jn 3:4), offending against our own highest welfare as well as against the authority and love of God.
The emphasis of Scripture, however, is on the godless self-centeredness of sin. Every sin is a breach of what Jesus called “the first and great commandment,” not just by failing to love God with all our being but by actively refusing to acknowledge and obey him as our Creator and Lord.5
___________________________________
5 W. Stott, John, The Cross of Christ, InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426, 1986,2006, p.92
We accept the concept of diminished responsibility, but not total dissolution of all responsibility, except in the most extreme circumstances. When we turn to the Bible, we find the same tension, of which we are aware in our personal experience, between the pressures that condition and even control us and our abiding moral responsibility nonetheless. There is a strong biblical emphasis on the influence of our inheritance, of what we are “in Adam.” The doctrine of original sin means that the very nature we have inherited is tainted and twisted with self-centeredness. If human beings have sinned ( which they have), and if they are responsible for their sins (which they are), then they are guilty before God. Guilt is the logical deduction from the promises of sin and responsibility. We have done wrong, by our own fault, and are therefore liable to bear the just penalty of our wrongdoing.
God’s holiness and wrath
That God is holy is foundational to Biblical religion. So is the corollary that sin is incompatible with his holiness. His eyes are “too pure to look on evil” and he “cannot tolerate wrong.” Therefore our sins effectively separate us from him, so that his face is hidden from us and he refuses to listen to our prayers (Hab 1:13); Is. 59:1ff). Closely related to God’s holiness is his wrath, which is in fact his holy reaction to evil. We certainly cannot dismiss it by saying that the God of wrath belongs to the Old Testament while the God of the New Testament is love.
The second picture is that of distance. God is not only “high above” us but “far away” from us. We dare not approach too close. Indeed, many are the biblical injunctions to keep our distance. “Do not come any closer,” God said to Moses out of the burning bush. So it was that the arrangements for Israel’s worship expressed the complementary truths of his nearness to them because of his covenant and his separation from them because of his holiness. Even as he came down to them at Mount Sinai to reveal himself to them, he told Moses to put limits for the people around the base of the mountain and to urge them not to come near.
THE
SELF-SUBSTITUTION OF GOD
Satisfaction is an appropriate word, providing we realize that it is he himself in his inner being who needs to be satisfied, and not something external to himself. Talk of law, honor, justice and the moral order is true only in so far as these are seen as expressions of God’s own character. Atonement is a “necessity” because it “arises from within God himself.”6
The problem is not outside of God; it is within his own being. Because God never contradicts himself, he must be himself and “satisfy” himself, acting in absolute consistency with the perfection of his character.
CONCLUSION
The substitute was the man Christ Jesus, viewed as a human being and conceived as an individual separate from both God and us, an independent third party. It was “ God himself” giving himself for us. “God’s own heart suffered on the cross,”. “ Noone else but God’own Son, and hence the eternal God himself”7
Jesus Christ on the cross was now paying the price by his suffering and then by his death. Seeing how Jesus Christ endured the suffering of the Cross and seeing also that he will die eventually soon for the offensive, God the Father descended in Christ on the Cross to restore the relationship which was broken between him and the men. The Bible tells us that on the cross, God the Father was in Christ reconciling him and men.
_______________________________________
6 Ronald S. Wallace, The Atoning Death of Christ (Basingstoke, UK.: Marshalls, 1981), p.113
7 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 2.1, pp. 446ff. See also pp. 396-403
1 John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Leicester, UK./Downers Grove, III.: Inter-Varsity Press, 2006 )
2 For a recent scholary defense by a lawyer
of the historical accuracy of the trials, as described in the Gospels, see Jean
Iambert, Le Proces de Jesus (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1980).
3 For a summary of available information about crucifixion see Martin Hengel’s crucifixion, trans. John Bowden (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1977).
6 Ronald S. Wallace, The Atoning Death of Christ (Basingstoke, UK.: Marshalls, 1981)
7 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 2.1
IV.
Books: Atkinson, James. Rome and Reformation Today. Latimer studies no. 12.
Oxford: Latimer House, 1982.
Barraclough, Geoffrey, ed. The Christian World: A Social and Cultural History of Christianity. London: Thames & Hudson, 1981.
Groothuis, Douglas. Confronting the New Age: How to Resist a Growing Religious Movement. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988.
Newport, John P. The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue. Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 1998.
Berkhof, Hendrik. Christ and the Powers, translated by John Howard Yoder. Scottdale, Penn: Herald Press, 1962.
Journal Articles: Chepkwony, K. A. Adam. “New Age Movement: A Challenge to the Church in the 21st Century,” AFER 48, no. 4 (December 2006): 312-31.
Cooper, John W. “Testing the Spirit of the Age of Aquarius: The New Age Movement,” Calvin Theological Journal 22, no. 2 (1987): 295-305.
Kemp, Daren. “The Christaquarians? A Sociology of Christians in the New Age,” Studies in World Christianity 7, no. 1 (2001): 95-110.
Possamai, Adam, John Bellamy, and Keith Castle. “The Diffusion of New Age Beliefs and Practices Among Australian Church Attenders,” Fieldwork in Religion 2, no. 1 (April 2006): 9-26.
Versteeg, Peter G. “Meditation and Subjective Signification: Meditation as a Ritual Form within New Christian Spirituality,” Worship 80, no. 2 (March 2006): 122-39.
Dissertations or Theses: Heino, Gerrit. “Idolatry in the book of Hosea Compared with the New Age Movement.” MTh diss., University of South Africa, 1999. In Dissertations & Theses: Full Text [database on-line]; available from http://www.proquest.com (publication number AAT 0666697) (accessed March 2, 2011).
Oates, Stephen Donald. “An Analysis of the Philosophical and Educational Principles of the New Age Movement.” PhD diss., Marquette University, 1989. In Dissertations & Theses: Full Text [database on-line]; available from http://www.proquest.com (publication number AAT 8925419) (accessed March 2, 2011).
Book Reviews:
Stibbs, Alan M. The Finished Work of Christ. The 1952 Tyndale Biblical Theology Lecture. London: Tyndale Press, 1954. Chryssides, George D. 2000. Review of Christian Responses to the New Age Movement: A Critical Assessment, by John A. Saliba. Modern Believing 41, no. 2: 72-73.
II.
SILAS KANYABIGEGA
BINT 501Theological Research methods
(02)
REGENT UNIVERSITY
Title:
The cross of Jesus Christ: Place of Reconciliation
Type of Paper: Analytical
Thesis Statement
Because of the disobedience of the man, the result was the large separation between man and God the Father. This separation cannot leave before the payment of a great price for the restoration of the relationship which no longer existed between the offended and the offensive. Jesus on the cross was now paying the price by his suffering and then by his death. Seeing how Jesus Christ endured the suffering of the Cross and seeing also that he will die eventually soon for the offensive, God the Father descended in Christ on the Cross to restore the relationship which was broken between him and the men. The Bible tells us that on the cross, God the Father was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (1 Corinthians 5:19).
Abstract
This study will look at the heart of cross of Jesus Christ as a place of reconciliation between God and the world, and will opens the door to different questions. Between of them: Why did Christ die? Who was responsible for his death? The Roman soldiers and Pilate, the Jewish people and their priests, Judas Iscariot the traitor? Their sins and ours?, the problem of forgiveness, the gravity of sin, human moral responsibility, true and false guilt. God’s holiness and wrath, the self-substitution of God and the reconciliation between God and men.
To read this research paper is to find the answer. This research finds-and enables his readers to find-the intellectual and spiritual riches of the cross that sustain the life of discipleship, especially in times of darkness and difficulty. The carefully calibrated analysis of the significance of the cross enables us to gain an appreciation of how “the cross transforms everything… [giving] us a new, worshiping relationship to God, a new and balanced understanding of ourselves, a new incentive to give ourselves in mission, a new love for our enemies, and a new courage to face the perplexities of suffering.1
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………… 1
WHY DID CHRIST DIE? ………………………………………………. 2
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS DEATH? ………………… 3
THE PROBLEM OF FORGIVENESS……………………… …………. 5
The gravity of sin ……………………………………… …… 5
Human moral responsibility………………………………. 6
God’s holiness and wrath………… ………………………. 6
THE SELF-SUBSTITUTION OF GOD
Who is the substitute? ....................................................... 7
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………… 7
WORKS CITED……………………………………………………………. 8
iii
INTRODUCTION
To read this research paper is to find the answer. This research finds-and enables his readers to find-the intellectual and spiritual riches of the cross that sustain the life of discipleship, especially in times of darkness and difficulty. The carefully calibrated analysis of the significance of the cross enables us to gain an appreciation of how “the cross transforms everything… [giving] us a new, worshiping relationship to God, a new and balanced understanding of ourselves, a new incentive to give ourselves in mission, a new love for our enemies, and a new courage to face the perplexities of suffering.1
The cross was probably the greatest punishment that Romans gave to people who had made the great sins. When the Romans crucified Jesus Christ, they believed that they punished one of the great sinners of the era. At Calvary, people have attended to many crucifixions and many crosses, but there was crosses not like others, because it is the cross of Jesus Christ, who was not a sinner like other people crucified, because was without sin and then died for sinners.
At the same time as the Romans and Jews believed killing "a sinner" named Jesus, God the Father was in the process to punish “one who had agreed to take the punishment reserved for all the sinners”. Because of the disobedience of the man, the result was the large separation between man and God the Father. This separation cannot leave before the payment of a great price for the restoration of the relationship which no longer existed between the offended and the offensive. Jesus on the cross was now paying the price by his suffering and then by his death. Seeing how Jesus Christ endured the suffering of the Cross and seeing also that he will die eventually soon for the offensive, God the Father descended in Christ on the Cross to restore the relationship which was broken between him and the men. The Bible tells us that on the cross, God the Father was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (1 Corinthians 5:19).
God Father Himself, the offended, was working on restoration of the broken relationship between Him and men. The man is the beneficiary of everything running on the Cross at Golgotha, and was receiving a salvation that he really did not deserve. As mentioned in the Gospel of John 3:16, we have just to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved, but we know that the secret is into the heart of the Cross. The title of this research opens the door to different questions. Between of them: Why did Christ die? 2 Who was responsible for his death? The Roman soldiers and Pilate, the Jewish people and their priests, Judas Iscariot the traitor? Their sins and ours?, the problem of forgiveness, the gravity of sin, human moral responsibility, true and false guilt. God’s holiness and wrath, the self-substitution of God, who is the substitute?, God in Christ. The next step will be a conclusion and the works cited.
WHY DID CHRIST DIE?
Many people see no problem in these questions and therefore have no difficulty in answering them. The facts seem to them as plain as day. Jesus did not “die,’ they say; he was killed, publicly executed as a felon. The doctrines he taught were thought to be dangerous, even subversive. The Jewish leaders were incensed by his disrespectful attitude to the law and by his provocative claims, while the Romans heard that he was proclaiming himself King of the Jews and so challenging the authority of Cesar. To both groups Jesus appeared to be a revolutionary thinker and preacher, and some considered him a revolutionary activist as well. So profoundly did he disturb the status quo that they determined to do away with him. In fact, they entered into an unholy alliance with one another in order to do so. In the Jewish court a theological charge was brought against him, blasphemy. In the Roman court the charge was political, sedition.
_______________________________
2 For a recent scholary defense by a lawyer of the historical accuracy of the trials, as described in the Gospels, see Jean Iambert, Le Proces de Jesus (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1980).
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS DEATH?
Who was responsible for his death? The Roman soldiers and Pilate, the Jewish people and their priests, Judas Iscariot the traitor? Their sins and ours? The Roman soldiers and Pilate: Those immediately responsible for the death of Jesus were of course the Roman soldiers who carried out the sentence. The actual process of crucifying him is not, however, described by any of the four evangelists. If we had to rely exclusively on the Gospels, we would not have known that happened. But other contemporary documents tell us what a crucifixion was like.3 The Jewish people and their priests: although we cannot exonerate Pilate, we can certainly acknowledge that he was on the horns of a difficult dilemma and that it was the Jewish leaders who impaled him there. Judas Iscariot the traitor?
__________________________________
3 For a summary of available information about crucifixion see Martin Hengel’s crucifixion, trans. John Bowden (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1977).
Their sins and ours? We have looked at the three individuals – Pilate, Caiphas and Judas – on whom the Evangelists fasten the major blame for the crucifixion of Jesus, and at those associated with them, whether priests or people or soldiers. The blaming of the Jewish people for the crucifixion of Jesus is extremely unfashionable today. Indeed, if it is used as a justification for slandering and persecuting the Jews (as it has been in the past), or for anti-Semitism, it is absolutely indefensible. The way to avoid anti-Semitic prejudice, however, is not to pretend that the Jews were innocent, but having admitted their guilt, to add that others shared in it. This was how the apostles saw it. Herod and Pilate, Gentiles and Jews, they said, had together “conspired” against Jesus (Acts 4:27). More important still, we ourselves are also guilty. If we were in their place, we would have done what they did. Indeed, we have done it. For whenever we turn away from Christ, we “are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace” (Heb 6:6).
THE PROBLEM OF FORGIVENESS
The problem of forgiveness is constituted by the inevitable collision between
divine perfection and human rebellion, between God as he is and us as we are.
The obstacle to forgiveness is neither our sin alone nor our guilt alone, but
the divine reaction in love and wrath toward guilty sinners. For, although
indeed “God is love, “ yet we have to remember that his love is “holy love,” 4
love which yearns over sinners while at the same time refusing to
condone their sin. How, then, could God express his holy love-his love in
forgiving sinners without compromising his holiness, and his holiness in
judging sinners without frustrating his love? Confronted by human evil, how
could be true to himself as holy love? In Isaiah’s words, how could he be
simultaneously “a righteous God and a Savior” (Is 45:21)? _________________________________
4 For the emphasis on “holy love” see P.T. Forsyth in both Cruciality of the Cross ( London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1909), and The Work of Christ (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910); William Temple, Christus Veritas ( London: Macmillan, 1924), e.g.,pp. 257,269; and Emil Brunner, Mediator.
The gravity of sin
The New Testament uses five main Greek words for sin, which together portray its various aspects, both passive and active. The most common is hamartia which depicts sin as a missing of the target, the failure to attain a goal. Adikia is “unrighteousness” or “iniquity,” and poneria is evil of a vicious or degenerate kind. Both these terms seem to speak of an inward corruption or perversion of character. The more active words are parabasis ( with which we may associate the similar paraptoma ), a “trepass” or “transgression,” the stepping over a known boundary, and anomia, “lawlessness,” the disregard or violation of a known law. In each case an objective criterion is implied, either a standard we fail to reach or a line we deliberately cross.
It is assumed throughout Scripture that this criterion or ideal has been established by God. It is, in fact, his moral law, which express his righteous character. It is not the law of his own being only, however, it is also the law of ours, since he has made us in his image and in so doing has written the requirements of his law in our hearts ( Rom 2:15 ). There is, thus, a vital correspondence between God’s law and ourselves, and to commit sin is to commit “lawlessness” (1 Jn 3:4), offending against our own highest welfare as well as against the authority and love of God.
The emphasis of Scripture, however, is on the godless self-centeredness of sin. Every sin is a breach of what Jesus called “the first and great commandment,” not just by failing to love God with all our being but by actively refusing to acknowledge and obey him as our Creator and Lord.5
___________________________________
5 W. Stott, John, The Cross of Christ, InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426, 1986,2006, p.92
Human
moral responsibility
We accept the concept of diminished responsibility, but not total dissolution of all responsibility, except in the most extreme circumstances. When we turn to the Bible, we find the same tension, of which we are aware in our personal experience, between the pressures that condition and even control us and our abiding moral responsibility nonetheless. There is a strong biblical emphasis on the influence of our inheritance, of what we are “in Adam.” The doctrine of original sin means that the very nature we have inherited is tainted and twisted with self-centeredness. If human beings have sinned ( which they have), and if they are responsible for their sins (which they are), then they are guilty before God. Guilt is the logical deduction from the promises of sin and responsibility. We have done wrong, by our own fault, and are therefore liable to bear the just penalty of our wrongdoing.
God’s holiness and wrath
That God is holy is foundational to Biblical religion. So is the corollary that sin is incompatible with his holiness. His eyes are “too pure to look on evil” and he “cannot tolerate wrong.” Therefore our sins effectively separate us from him, so that his face is hidden from us and he refuses to listen to our prayers (Hab 1:13); Is. 59:1ff). Closely related to God’s holiness is his wrath, which is in fact his holy reaction to evil. We certainly cannot dismiss it by saying that the God of wrath belongs to the Old Testament while the God of the New Testament is love.
The second picture is that of distance. God is not only “high above” us but “far away” from us. We dare not approach too close. Indeed, many are the biblical injunctions to keep our distance. “Do not come any closer,” God said to Moses out of the burning bush. So it was that the arrangements for Israel’s worship expressed the complementary truths of his nearness to them because of his covenant and his separation from them because of his holiness. Even as he came down to them at Mount Sinai to reveal himself to them, he told Moses to put limits for the people around the base of the mountain and to urge them not to come near.
Satisfaction is an appropriate word, providing we realize that it is he himself in his inner being who needs to be satisfied, and not something external to himself. Talk of law, honor, justice and the moral order is true only in so far as these are seen as expressions of God’s own character. Atonement is a “necessity” because it “arises from within God himself.”6
The problem is not outside of God; it is within his own being. Because God never contradicts himself, he must be himself and “satisfy” himself, acting in absolute consistency with the perfection of his character.
CONCLUSION
The substitute was the man Christ Jesus, viewed as a human being and conceived as an individual separate from both God and us, an independent third party. It was “ God himself” giving himself for us. “God’s own heart suffered on the cross,”. “ Noone else but God’own Son, and hence the eternal God himself”7
Jesus Christ on the cross was now paying the price by his suffering and then by his death. Seeing how Jesus Christ endured the suffering of the Cross and seeing also that he will die eventually soon for the offensive, God the Father descended in Christ on the Cross to restore the relationship which was broken between him and the men. The Bible tells us that on the cross, God the Father was in Christ reconciling him and men.
_______________________________________
6 Ronald S. Wallace, The Atoning Death of Christ (Basingstoke, UK.: Marshalls, 1981), p.113
7 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 2.1, pp. 446ff. See also pp. 396-403
BIBLOGRAPHY
1 John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Leicester, UK./Downers Grove, III.: Inter-Varsity Press, 2006 )
3 For a summary of available information about crucifixion see Martin Hengel’s crucifixion, trans. John Bowden (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1977).
4For
the emphasis on “holy love” see P.T. Forsyth in both Cruciality of the Cross (
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1909), and The Work of Christ (London: Hodder
& Stoughton, 1910); William Temple, Christus Veritas ( London: Macmillan,
1924), e.g.,pp. 257,269; and Emil Brunner, Mediator.
5 W. Stott, John, The Cross of Christ,
InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426, 1986,20066 Ronald S. Wallace, The Atoning Death of Christ (Basingstoke, UK.: Marshalls, 1981)
7 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 2.1
III.
REGENT UNIVERSITY
CHURCH DISCIPLESHIP ASSESSMENT PAPER
PMIN 509 - MODELS OF BIBLICAL DISCIPLESHIP
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE MASTERS OF DIVINITY DEGREE
IN THE REGENT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
BY
SILAS KANYABIGEGA
DAYTON, OH
April 6, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION…………………………..
…..........................................................................1
THE
DEFINITION OF DISCIPLESHIP, AS SUPPORTED IN THE BIBLE………………. 1
EXPANATION DISCIPLESHIP
……………..…………… ………….………………….....2
How it is done……………………………………………………………………….….. 3
Why it is done………………………… ……………………………………...…………4
FEW KEY BIBLICAL PASSAGES ON
DISCIPLESHIP …………….……….………..........5
WHY DISCIPLESHIP IS SO IMPORTANT FOR
THE GROWTH OF
THE CHURCH AND GOD’s
KINGDOM……………………………………….…………..... 7
EXPLORATION OF THE DISCIPLESHIP ETHOS
AND APPROACH OF HUBER HEIGHTS FREE METHODIST CHURCH…………………………………….………….……..
………...8
a.
Interview with the
Senior pastor Randy Griffith …………………..……….….…..8
b.
Interview with Dr.
Denise Griffith – A children’s Elder.....….……....……...……10
c.
Interview with
Geoff Liebrandt - A non-paid person who is a ministry leader in the church as
pastoral staff member…………………………………..………….....…11
d.
Description of the Free Methodist
Church…..…………..………………….……..11
·
Assessment of church
discipleship activities, initiatives, and materials for children, youth, young
adults, and adults……………………………………………………....…………13
·
Observations of how
discipleship is tangibly enacted in the church………….….……...13
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….......……..14
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………..…………………...……15
iii
INTRODUCTION
This paper will define discipleship, as supported in the Bible and will explain
what discipleship is, how it is done, and why. The definition will be supported
with Scripture and other theological resources using biblical passages that
reflect discipleship and explain the biblical text, as well as various biblical
commentaries and other theological books. Additionally, I will explain
why discipleship is so important for the growth of the church and God's
Kingdom.
I selected Huber Heights Free
Methodist Church because it is my local church to explore discipleship
ethos. The interviews will assess church discipleship activities,
initiatives, and materials for children, youth, young adults, and adults as
well as, observations of how discipleship is tangibly enacted in the church.
Research will show how the Church must
put into practice the discipleship according Matthew 28:18-19. In order
to return it to the great commission in Matthew 28:18-19, today's church needs
a radical movement with the sole purpose of returning the church to a serious
commitment to making disciples, as Christ commanded.1
THE DEFINITION OF DISCIPLESHIP, AS
SUPPORTED IN THE BIBLE
Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object
of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. Christianity without
the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity
without discipleship is always
Christianity without Christ.1 Because
the Son of God became Man, because he is the Mediator, for that reason alone
the only true relation we can have with him is to follow him. ________________________________
1 Hull, Bill. The Disciple- Making Church. Published by
Fleming H. Revell: a division of Baker Book House Company, 1998,
April 2002,
8.
1
Discipleship is bound to Christ as
the Mediator, and where it is properly understood, it necessarily implies faith
in the Son of God as the Mediator. Only the Mediator, the God-Man, can call men
to follow him.2
The biblical definition of Discipleship is given in Matthew
28:16-20 when Jesus gave the Great Commission to his disciples. The disciples
are now only eleven, Judas having forfeited his identification as an “apostle”
(10:2-3) and, presumably, the throne from which he might have ruled the tribes
of Israel (19:28). Those who remain have themselves been “made disciples”
through the testimony of women who proved more faithful than they, and now they
are to “make disciples” of others.
They are still people of “little
faith” (6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20), a community in which worship and doubt
coincide (v. 17; cf. 14:31-33. As such, their commission now depends on Jesus’
authority, not their own (7:29; 8:5-13; 9:8; 21:23-27; cf. 10:1). No longer limiting their ministry to Israel (10:5-6; cf.
15:24), they are to go out into the whole world with the gospel of the kingdom
Jesus preached (24:14; 26:13; cf. 4:17, 23), making disciples of all nations.
Becoming a disciple involves two steps: being baptized into the community of
people who worship Jesus as the Son of God, an affirmation that leads them now
to call God by a new name, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”; and being trained in
obedience to fulfill the will of the Father (cf.7:21) by living in accord with
the commandments as taught and interpreted by Jesus. Jesus’s church will be an
inclusive, ethical community of worshiping doubters. A church founded by women
(28:1-10), a church that considers little children to be its most important
___________________________
2
Bonheoffer, Dietrich.
The Cost of Discipleship. SCM Press Ltd, 1959,
59.
2
members (18:15), a church that
specializes in making room for sinners and outcasts (9:10-13)-this is the
community of people with whom Jesus promises to abide till the end of time.3
EXPANATION
DISCIPLESHIP
A disciple is a follower, pupil, or adherent of a teacher or religious leader.
Jewish and Greco-Roman history and literature provide examples of respect
figures who gather disciples in order to teach and lead them. In the NT Gk, μαθητής is used most often
of followers of Jesus, although it is also used to describe followers of other
figures (e.g., disciples “of John,” Mark 2:18; or “of Moses,” John 9:28). The
life of Christian discipleship as presented in the NT calls for supreme
devotion to Jesus through the acceptance of his lofty demands. Commitment to
him must come before all other attachments (Luke 9:57-62; 14:25-33).
Nevertheless, a dimension of Christian discipleship that is sometimes
overlooked is the promise of joy and ultimate benefits for those who take up
the cross to follow Jesus (Luke 14:12-14; 18:29-30).4
According
Matthew 28:19-20a, Disciples do not live for themselves; Jesus commissions this
group of disciples to form a worldwide mission community of Jewish and Gentile
disciples that lives out Jesus’ teaching. To do so is to be an alternative community
with commitments and practices that are antithetical to Rome’s values and
practices (20:25-28).5 The word “Disciple” implies the acceptance in
mind and life of the views and practices of the teacher. Usually, however, it
refers to the adherents of Jesus. Sometimes it refers to the Twelve
_________________________________________________
3 Mays,
James L. Bible Commentary. HarperCollins Publishers, 2011, 900.
4 Freedman, David Noel. Eerdmans
Dictionary of the Bible. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000, 348,
349.2
3
Apostles
(Matt. 10:1; 11:1; etc.); but, more often, simply to Christians (Acts 16:1, 2,
7; 9:36).
Disciple
(Gk., “learner”), an apprentice or pupil attached to a teacher or movement; one
whose allegiance is to the instruction and commitments of the teacher or
movement. Isaiah called his followers disciples (8:16). Most NT
references to “disciple” designate followers of Jesus, including both his
closest associates (the twelve) and a larger number who also followed him (Luke
6:17); eventually, the term “disciples” was used as a virtual synonym for
“Christians” (Acts 6:1). Other people, however, are also said to have had
disciples, e.g., John the Baptist (Luke 11:1; John 1:35) and the Pharisees (Matt.
22:16; Mark 2:18). In John 9:28, some Pharisees claim, “We are disciples of
Moses.6
How
Discipleship is done
Discipleship needs consecration, and the consecration requires obedience to
Jesus. Jesus expected the men he was with to obey him. They were not required
to be smart, but they had to be loyal. This
became the distinguishing mark by which they were known. They were called his
“disciples,” meaning that they were “learners” or “pupils” of the Master. It
was not until much later that they started to be called “Christian” (Acts
11:26), although it was inevitable, for in time obedient followers invariably
take on the character of their leader (Matthew 11:29). 7
_________________________________
5 The
New Interpreter’s Study Bible. New Revised Standard Version with the
Apocrypha. Abingdon Press, 2003, 1800.
6 Allan,
Powell Mark. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers,
2011, 198.
7 Coleman,
Robert E. The Master Plan of Evangelism. Published by Revell: a
division of Baker Publishing Group, 1963,
1964, 1993,
43.
4
Supreme obedience was interpreted to
be the expression of love.8 Jesus
wanted his followers to obey him. But in recognizing this truth, he realized
that his discipleships would discover the deeper experience of his Spirit. And
in receiving his Spirit they would know the love of God for a lost world (John
20:22).9 Jesus showed them how to live. Jesus saw to it that his
disciples learned his way of living with God and man. He recognized that it was
not enough just to get people into his spiritual communion. His disciples
needed to know how his experience was to be maintained and shared if it was to
be perpetuated in evangelism (John 13:15).10 The discipleship is
done through delegation as Jesus assigned work to the disciples (Matthew) 4:
19. Jesus was always building his ministry for the time when his disciples
would have to take over his work and go out into the world with the redeeming
gospel. This plan was progressively made clear as they followed him. 11 Evangelism
need not try to be subversive, nor does it employ subversion as one of
its “strategies.”12
Why Discipleship is done
This goes back to the Great Commission Christ gave to his disciples to “make
disciples of
__________________________________
8 Ibid.,
48.
9 Ibid.,
53
10 Ibid.,
63
11 Ibid.,
71
12
Stone,
Bryan. Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian
Witness. Brazos Press: a division of
Baker Publishing Group, 2007, 176.
5
every
creature” (Matt. 28:19). The word here indicates that the disciples were to go
out into the world and win others who would come to be what they themselves
were – disciples of Christ. This mission is emphasized even more when the Greek
text of the passage is studied, and it is seen that the words go,
baptize, teach are all participles which derive their force from the
one controlling verb “make disciples.” This means that the Great
Commission is not merely to go to the ends of the earth preaching the gospel
(Mark 16:15), nor to baptize a lot of converts into the
name
of the triune God, nor to teach them the precepts of Christ, but to “make
disciples” – to build people like themselves who were so constrained by the
commission of Christ that they not only followed his way but led others to as
well. Only as disciples were made could the other activities of the commission
fulfill their purpose. 13
All
this focuses on salvation for non-perdition of sinners because of their sins,
according to John 3:16 which says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life”. Actually, discipleship must convey the message of salvation to
prevent perdition and condemnation of sinners. In this message, according to
John 3:16, the focus must be emphasized on faith in Christ. People must accept
and believe in Christ as Lord and Savior for salvation and forgiveness of their
sins. People must know that God in Christ substituted himself for sinners. That
is the heart of the cross of Christ. It would be hard to exaggerate the
magnitude of the changes that have taken place as result of the cross, both in
God and in us, especially in God’s dealings with us and in our
________________________________
13 Ibid.,
93
6
relations with him. Truly, when Christ
died and was raised from death, a new day dawned, a new age began. This new day
is “the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2), and the blessings of “such a great
salvation” (Heb 2:3) are so richly diverse that they cannot be neatly defined.14
A
FEW KEY BIBLICAL PASSAGES THAT REFLECT DISCIPLESHIP
Matthew 28:19-20: 19 Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching
them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.” 28: 19-20
New functions for the Eleven (cf. 10:1, 5-8; 15:24). 28:19 all nations.
Emphases elsewhere in the Gospel suggest the translation “all Gentiles” here
(see, e.g., 2:1-12; 3:9; 4:15; 8:10; 15:21-28; 21:28-22:10[esp. 21:43]; 27:25).
Baptizing. Baptism in the early churches derives from John the Baptist
(see 3:11; Acts 11:16). The Father and…the Son and…the Holy Spirit. This
explicit Trinitarian formula is rare in the NT and probably derives from early
worship in the Matthean church; see Didache 7:1. 28:20 Teaching.
Heretofore in Matthew only Jesus teaches (see 7:28-29; 23:8). I am with you,
probably in fulfillment of 1:23 (see also 18:20). To the end of the age,
i.e., to the coming of Jesus as the Son of Man for judgment (see chs.24-25)15
Luke 9:6: They departed and went through the villages, bringing
the good news and curing diseases everywhere. 9:1-6, Jesus Sends Out
the Twelve. Cf. Mark 6:7-13; Matt. 10:1, 9-11, 14.
Since the time they were chosen to be
apostles (6:12-16), the Twelve have listened to and
_____________________________________________________________
14 Stott,
John R. W. The Cross of Christ. InterVarsity Press, 1986, 2006,
165.
15 Attridge, Harold W. The HarperCollins Study Bible Fully
Revised and Updated. HarperCollins Publishers, 1989.
7
observed
Jesus. Now they are in fact apostles (“those sent out”), commissioned to
exorcise demons, to heal, and to preach. Like that of Jesus, their ministry
will testify to the in breaking of the kingdom and an attack on the forces of
evil. For this mission Jesus gives not only authority (Mark 6:7), but also
power. They do not go two by two; Luke reserves that for the seventy (10:1-12).
For the journey they are to be totally dependent on God. Like the Levites they
could expect hospitality and support (Num. 18:31; 1 Cor. 9:3-14). Inhospitality
was not to be met with retaliation, but with the simple ritual of judgment
(Luke 9:5; Acts 13:51). Luke clearly has in mind the subsequent mission of the
church led by the apostles, especially in the added note of universality:
“bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere”16
(v.6, my emphasis). 9:6: This verse concludes the commissioning
scene, underscoring the disciples’ obedience and success, and reiterating the
principal features of their mission: preaching the good news and healing the
sick. The last word affirms both the power of the disciples who had been
commissioned by Jesus and the universal extent of the kingdom: They were
successful “everywhere.”17
Acts
11: 19-30: Luke
connects Antioch with the first intentional mission among Gentiles, the
beginning of Saul’s witness among Gentiles, the designation of believers as
Christians, and the first Christian benevolence to Christians in other regions.
Historically, the relationship between the origin of the gentile mission as
portrayed here and as portrayed in 10:1-11:18 is probably beyond
recovery.18 The gospel’s thrust into these regions is attributed to
those Jewish Christians
_______________________________________
16 Mays, James L. Bible
Commentary. HarperCollins Publishers, 2011, 940.
17 The
New Interpreter’s Bible. A Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Volume IX, Luke
& John. Abingdon Press, 194.
18 Attridge, Harold W. The HarperCollins Study Bible Fully
Revised and Updated. HarperCollins Publishers, 1989, 1876.
8
who
left Jerusalem because of the persecution prompted by Stephen’s controversial
preaching and death (8:1-4). Although the majority seems to have preached
exclusively to Jews, a courageous minority (“some,” 11:20) of diaspora Jews
from Cyprus and Cyrene took the bold step of preaching to “the Hellenists,”
i.e., Gentiles. They apparently did so without requiring circumcision (cf.
15:1, 5). They thus put into practice generally what Peter had done
specifically with Cornelius – and without divine prompting! 19
WHY
DISCIPLESHIP IS SO IMPORTANT FOR THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH AND
GOD’S
KINGDOM.
Romans 10: 13-15: for, “Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But, how are
they to call on one in whom they have not believed in? And how are they to
believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without
someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?
As it is written: “How beautiful are
the feet of those who bring good news! 20 The more the Church grows;
the more God’s kingdom grows. Discipleship is so important for the growth of
the Church because people must believe in Jesus first. In order for people to
believe, they must hear the Gospel or preaching by someone sent to them.
Growing in Christ is the key to growing a church. This is all about being a
good and effective witness of who Christ is and what He has called the church
to be and do. Following up, teaching, and mentoring new as well as seasoned
Christians are the keys to spiritual growth and the replication of the witness.
Discipleship is so important for the
growth of the Church and God’s kingdom because it is how
______________________________
19 Mays, James L. Bible
Commentary. HarperCollins Publishers, 2011, 1002.
9
people
become Christians, grow and mature as Christians, share Christ and serve one
another as Christians.
EXPLORATION OF THE DISCIPLESHIP ETHOS
AND APPROACH OF
HUBER HEIGHTS FREE METHODIST CHURCH
A. Interview with the Senior pastor Randy
Griffith
1.
According to the
Bible, what is discipleship?
…Jesus said, "If you hold to my
teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32)
A new command I give you: Love one
another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
(John 13:34-35)
If you remain in me and my words remain
in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my
Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my
disciples. (John15:7-8)
- The word discipleship does not occur in the Bible but the word disciple does. The word disciple means learner.
___________________________________
20 Coogan, Michael D. The New Oxford
Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha,
Fourth edition. Oxford University Press,
2010,1990.
10
- From the above Scriptures we can learn that discipleship is: Holding to the teachings of Jesus, loving one another, prayer and bringing glory to God by bearing fruit of the Spirit.
- Discipleship is the work of the Spirit of God in believers. It begins and ends with God. Disciples are those that learn, grow and carry out His work as Jesus did.
- It is a life of prayer, sharing God’s word, ministering to the needs of others, and suffering. And through the obedience of His disciples, the Spirit of God draws, heals, builds up and prepares others for their particular work as the body of Christ and disciples of Jesus.
2.
How is discipleship
done in your church?
- Our life is a life of discipleship at various levels. Since the church is not a facility or a location but people in whom the Spirit of God dwells, it is done through the many relationships we have with others, formal and informal meetings, inside and outside the church facility, flowing from the relationship we have with Christ.
- We teach and endeavor to live out the word of God, especially the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray for one another. We minister to the various needs of people. We are a part of many churches that meet outside of our facility and denomination. We endeavor to live a life of love as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her and promote the same.
- At a more formal level we have worship times where we sing to our Lord, we pray for one another, offerings are collected for various needs and the word of God is preached to build up believers for their various works of service.
- We have small group Bible studies: Women’s, Men’s, Adult, Teen and Children’s discipleship groups; Sunday School, VBS, Kid’s Camps, Coffee House’s, and other
11
meetings
and events. We sponsor missionaries and other ministries inside and
outside the denomination.
- The majority of discipleship, however, occurs outside the church facility in our families and with other individuals and groups of believers and unbelievers we formally and informally have relationship with.
3.
Why do we need
discipleship in the church?
- Through the Spirit of God, it is how people become Christians, grow and mature as Christians, share Christ and serve one another as Christians.
B. Dr. Denise Griffith,
a children’s Elder
1.
How you teach your
children, youth, young adult to growth better in Christian life?
·
Through the word of
God, through music, prayer time together and through Christian fellowship
and by the example of their teachers/other adults in the church.
2.
Let me know specific
material you use in Discipleship in your church’s activities?
·
The Bible, Focus on
the Family’s Clubhouse and Thriving Family Magazines for children’s church. The
Sunday school classes use a variety of materials. The youth Sunday school group
is currently studying “Thinking Like a Christian”
3.
Is it easy to lead
children? If not, explain why.
·
Yes – the biggest
challenges are finding things that engage them, capture their interest
especially since kid’s today are so technology oriented. We have largely chosen
not to use technology but base our discipleship on relationship building,
personal example, and teaching kids how to read and study the Bible and pray.
12
C. Interview with Geoff Liebrandt, a
non-paid person who is a ministry leader in the church who is not paid as
pastoral staff member
1.
Are men or women
active in Discipleship? If no, explain
·
I do not know of any
one-on-one discipleship happening in our church at the moment. However,
one-on-one discipleship has been practiced by members in the past. Several men
have taken responsibility to meet one-on-one with new Christians or someone who
has been interested in learning about faith in Christ, and doing Bible studies
and discipleship studies with them. We also have a women's Bible study where
one or more women from outside the church have come and participated in the
study. Also, men and women in the congregation have demonstrated faithfulness
obedience to Christ, and thereby modeling discipleship to others in the
congregation.
2.
What advices you have
for the growth of the Church?
·
I believe we as a
congregation get too comfortable with doing the same things all the time.
We don't look outward to the community around us often enough to see how we
might make a positive impact on others outside the walls of our church
building. I think we as a congregation should look for new ways to
minster to others in the local community - through handing out free water in
hot weather, helping the elderly with yard work, etc…
An assessment of church discipleship
activities, initiatives and materials for children, youth, young adults and
adults.
- Our initiatives have to do mostly with lifestyle and choices rather than special events.
___________________________
22Hull Bill, The
Disciple- Making Church, published by Fleming H. Revell: a division of
Baker Book House Company, April 2002,
p8.
13
- The primary resource used for discipleship is the Bible. Depending on who is leading each group, other Biblically based resources are used at the leader’s or the group’s discretion. Our groups tend to be discussion based where everyone participates with the desire to become better Christians.
·
We often purchase resources for
children’s and teen Sunday school classes. For groups like VBS, we have
purchased materials in the past, but of late have been coming up with our own.
Observations of how discipleship is tangibly enacted in the
church.
·
Through family relationships,
relationships inside and outside the church facility.
·
We also help support the Compassion
Free Methodist Church that meets in our facility and is made up largely of
African refugees who have received asylum and are seeking citizenship.
·
Some of the relationships we have
outside the church facility are with the unchurched and individuals in
prison.
·
Groups that we consider as churches
outside of the local church where discipleship takes place are the staff and
residents at Heartland of Miamisburg and Montgomery Developmental
Center.
·
We share God’s word and pray to open
the Huber Heights City Council meetings.
A number of our members are actively involved with Gideon’s International.
·
Once per month ministers in our
community meet for encouragement and prayer at our facility.
14
CONCLUSION
The Research Paper starts by giving a definition of what Discipleship means,
which is the adherence to Christ. The definition of Discipleship is biblical
better given in Matthew 28: 19-20 when Jesus gave the Great Commission to his
disciples. “and
teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am
with you always, to the end of the age.
As one of some elements of the explanation of what Discipleship is, the paper
let know that a disciple is a follower, pupil, or adherent of a teacher or
religious leader. The Paper clarify also that the
Discipleship is done through consecration, and that the consecration requires
obedience to Jesus. The paper continues by focusing on a few key biblical
passages that reflect discipleship and explain the biblical text, as supported
by reference to various biblical commentaries, before to explain why
discipleship is so important for the growth of the church and God’s Kingdom.
Discipleship is important to the growth of the church. The disciple, a
follower, or pupil must be obedient to Jesus, understand his commission and
live out that commandment to “Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.” 20 Only when Christians are willing to follow the
commission will the church grow.
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hull,
Bill. The Disciple- Making Church. Published by Fleming H. Revell: a
division of
Baker Book House Company, 1998, April 2002.
Bonheoffer,
Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. SCM Press Ltd, 1959.
Mays, James L. Bible
Commentary. HarperCollins Publishers, 2011.
Freedman,
David Noel. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. William B. Eerdmans
Publishing
Company, 2000.
The
New Interpreter’s Study Bible. New Revised Standard Version with the
Apocrypha.
Abingdon Press, 2003.
Allan,
Powell Mark. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers,
2011.
Coleman,
Robert E. The Master Plan of Evangelism. Published by Revell: a division
of
Baker Publishing Group, 1963, 1964, 1993.
Stone,
Bryan. Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian
Witness.
Brazos Press: a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2007.
Stott,
John R. W. The Cross of Christ. InterVarsity Press, 1986, 2006.
Attridge, Harold W. The
HarperCollins Study Bible Fully Revised and Updated. HarperCollins
Publishers, 1989.
The
New Interpreter’s Bible. A Commentary in Twelve Volumes: Volume IX,
Luke & John.
Abingdon Press, 1995.
Coogan, Michael D. The New Oxford
Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the
Apocrypha, Fourth edition. Oxford
University Press, 2010.
16
IV.
Silas Kanyabigega
REGENT UNIVERSITY
BINT 501 Theological
Research Methods
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ASSIGNMENT
Barraclough, Geoffrey, ed. The Christian World: A Social and Cultural History of Christianity. London: Thames & Hudson, 1981.
Groothuis, Douglas. Confronting the New Age: How to Resist a Growing Religious Movement. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988.
Newport, John P. The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue. Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 1998.
Berkhof, Hendrik. Christ and the Powers, translated by John Howard Yoder. Scottdale, Penn: Herald Press, 1962.
Journal Articles: Chepkwony, K. A. Adam. “New Age Movement: A Challenge to the Church in the 21st Century,” AFER 48, no. 4 (December 2006): 312-31.
Cooper, John W. “Testing the Spirit of the Age of Aquarius: The New Age Movement,” Calvin Theological Journal 22, no. 2 (1987): 295-305.
Kemp, Daren. “The Christaquarians? A Sociology of Christians in the New Age,” Studies in World Christianity 7, no. 1 (2001): 95-110.
Possamai, Adam, John Bellamy, and Keith Castle. “The Diffusion of New Age Beliefs and Practices Among Australian Church Attenders,” Fieldwork in Religion 2, no. 1 (April 2006): 9-26.
Versteeg, Peter G. “Meditation and Subjective Signification: Meditation as a Ritual Form within New Christian Spirituality,” Worship 80, no. 2 (March 2006): 122-39.
Dissertations or Theses: Heino, Gerrit. “Idolatry in the book of Hosea Compared with the New Age Movement.” MTh diss., University of South Africa, 1999. In Dissertations & Theses: Full Text [database on-line]; available from http://www.proquest.com (publication number AAT 0666697) (accessed March 2, 2011).
Oates, Stephen Donald. “An Analysis of the Philosophical and Educational Principles of the New Age Movement.” PhD diss., Marquette University, 1989. In Dissertations & Theses: Full Text [database on-line]; available from http://www.proquest.com (publication number AAT 8925419) (accessed March 2, 2011).
Book Reviews:
Stibbs, Alan M. The Finished Work of Christ. The 1952 Tyndale Biblical Theology Lecture. London: Tyndale Press, 1954. Chryssides, George D. 2000. Review of Christian Responses to the New Age Movement: A Critical Assessment, by John A. Saliba. Modern Believing 41, no. 2: 72-73.
13
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