Ancient-Future Evangelism (Ancient-Future) , livre ebook

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165 pages

English

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Following his well-received Ancient-Future Faith, Robert Webber presents a new model for evangelism and discipleship, the first in a series of four books applying his theoretical ideas to practical situations. Part 1 of Ancient-Future Evangelism surveys evangelism and Christian formation throughout the church and then translates the process for twenty-first-century Christians. Webber presents evangelism as four distinct stages and suggests three accompanying rites of passage that can be easily adapted to any church tradition. Part 2 underscores how the four-fold process of faith formation is interwoven with three theological principles: Christ as victor over evil, the church as witness to God's salvation, and worship as a witness to God's mission accomplished in Jesus. Ancient-Future Evangelism will appeal to both emerging evangelicals as well as traditional church leaders. It relates faith to Christian practice by drawing wisdom from the past and translating those insights into the present and future life of the church.

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Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 novembre 2003
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441242105
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0576€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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A NCIENT -F UTURE F AITH S ERIES

Current Titles
Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (1999) Ancient-Future Evangelism: Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community (2003)

Forthcoming Titles
Ancient-Future Time
Ancient-Future Spirituality
Ancient-Future Communion

Related Books by Robert E. Webber
The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World (2002)

© 2003 by Robert E. Webber

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

ISBN 978-1-4412-4210-5

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Appendix 4, “The Eastbourne Consultation Joint Statement on Discipleship,” appears courtesy of Cook Communications Ministries. ©1997. Used by permission of Cook Communications Ministries, 4050 Lee Vance View, Colorado Springs, CO 80918. A ministry dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel and the support of believers on their discipleship journey.

Unless otherwise indicated Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NRSV is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
CONTENTS

Cover
Series Page
Title Page
List of Tables
Introduction to the Ancient-Future Faith Series
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. The Way New Christians Have Been Formed
Part 1 The Process of Christian Formation
2. Make Disciples
3. Evangelism
4. Discipleship
5. Spiritual Formation
6. Christian Vocation

Part 2 Cultural and Theological Reflection
7. The World We Evangelize
8. The Story We Tell
9. The Church That Tells the Story

Conclusion

Appendixes
1. Various Sequences for the Stages and Passage Rites
2. Descriptions of the Passage Rites
3. The Christian Year Sequence
4. The Eastbourne Consultation Joint Statement on Discipleship

Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Back Ads
TABLES
1. Spiritual Formation and Passage Rites
2. Conversion and Discipleship among the Reformers
3. Anabaptist Conversion and Spirituality
4. Reformation Salvation Process Compared to the Evangelical Process
5. The Wesleyan Process of Salvation
6. Christian Formation in the New Testament and Early Church
7. The Dissolution of the Ancient Process of Christian Formation
8. The Making of a Disciple
9. Evangelism Occurs within Community
10. The Nature of Discipleship
11. How the Church Disciples
12. What Is Christian Spirituality?
13. Training New Christians to Be Spiritual Today
14. What Is Christian Vocation?
15. Teaching the Meaning of the Eucharist
16. Our Post-Christian World
17. The Mission of God in Jesus Christ
18. Creation and the Fall
19. The Theological Basis for the Mission of the Church
20. How Does the Church Witness to God’s Mission in a Post-Christian Era?
21. The Sequence for the Delay of Baptism
22. The Sequence for Immediate Baptism
23. The Sequence for Infant Baptism
24. The Sequence for the Reaffirmation of Faith
INTRODUCTION TO THE ANCIENT-FUTURE FAITH SERIES
In each book of the Ancient-Future Faith series I will present an issue related to faith and Christian practice from a particular point of view that of drawing wisdom from the past and translating these insights into the present and future life of the church, its faith, worship, ministry, and spirituality. In these books I address current issues in the context of three very significant quests taking place in the church today.
First, these books speak to the longing to discover the roots of the faith in the biblical and classical tradition of the church. I affirm the Bible as the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. However, instead of disregarding the developments of faith in the church, I draw on the foundational interpretation of the church fathers and the creeds and practices of the ancient church. These are sources in which Christian truth has been summarized and articulated to expose and defend against heretical teaching.
Second, this series is committed to the current search for connection to history. Therefore, I draw from the entire history of the church together with its many manifestations orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant particularly the Reformers and evangelicals like John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. Valuable insights from these traditions are woven into the text, so the reader will understand how deeply committed Christians from various traditions have sought to think and live the faith in other places and times. From them we gain great wisdom.
Finally, I regard these insights and practices from the biblical tradition, ancient roots, and Christian history to constitute the foundation for addressing the third issue faced by today’s church: How do you deliver an authentic faith into the new cultural situation of the twenty-first century? How do you carry the great wisdom of the past into a postmodern and post-Christian world? The way into the future, I argue, is not innovation or a new start for the church. Rather, the road to the future runs through the past.
These three roots, connection to history, and authenticity will help us maintain continuity with historic Christianity as the church moves forward in a changing world. I hope what I cull from the past and then translate and adapt into the present will be of benefit to your ministry in a postmodern, post-Christian world. [1]
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
No one is fully able to acknowledge all the sources and people who contribute to the writing of a book. Many unnamed books, people, and even institutions have formed my life and challenged me to be sensitive to the work of the church as it moves into a post-Christian world. The fact that I mention only a few of these people and institutions here in no way diminishes my appreciation for the unnamed.
First, I need to thank Northern Seminary for my appointment as the William and Geraldine Myers Professor of Ministry. This generous chair has substantially reduced my teaching load, allowing me more time to write. I am equally grateful to Baker Books and especially to Robert Hosack for the support given to this series and for the freedom they have given me to develop this book in a way that reflects my convictions.
Next, there are those special people who have encouraged me and helped me with research and the process of many rewrites and editorial changes. A special word of thanks to Lois Stück and Chad Allen for their careful editing. Thanks to Ashley Olsen and Barbara Wixon at Northern Seminary for their cheerful and willing help. Also to Carmen Martinez, my ready and helpful assistant at the Institute for Worship Studies. Finally, and certainly not the least, I owe a debt of gratitude to my wife, Joanne. The freedom she gives me to spend long hours at writing and editing is a gift without which this book would be no more than unfinished thoughts.
INTRODUCTION
In September 1999, 450 church leaders from fifty-four countries and nearly ninety Christian fellowships and denominations met in Eastbourne, England, for the International Consultation on Discipleship to discuss a burning issue. The question they addressed is one that every pastor and congregation in the world has faced. How can our evangelism produce not only converts but disciples who grow in faith and become active members of the church?
In a published document entitled “The International Consultation on Discipleship,” the authors acknowledged:
“Many converts to Christianity throughout the world fall away from faith.” The church is “marked by a paradox of growth without depth.” “Many within the church are not living lives of biblical purity, integrity and holiness.” [1]

In addressing the participants of the International Consultation on Discipleship, John Stott said that evangelicals have “experienced enormous statistical growth . . . without corresponding growth in discipleship.” [2] African theologian Tokunboh Adeyemo lamented that the church “is one mile long, but only one inch deep.” [3]
So, what are Christian leaders to do? To begin, declares the conference manifesto, the Great Commission is not only to evangelize but to make disciples . The document defines discipleship as “a process that takes place within accountable relationships over a period of time for the purpose of bringing believers to spiritual maturity in Christ.” [4]
Note three very crucial insights for evangelism that result in discipleship:
Evangelism is a process. Evangelism takes place over a period of time. Evangelism brings new believers to spiritual maturity.

To accomplish these goals, the conferees called Christians to recover the integral relationship between evangelism and discipleship, to assess rigorously existing structures, to recognize the local church as the primary community in which discipleship takes place, to affirm the vital role of mentoring, to rediscover the role of the Holy Spirit as teacher, and to call all Christians to live as “subjects in the kingdom of God.” [5]
David Neff, an editor of Christianity Today , commented on the International Consultation. “Now that the consultation has placed disciple-making higher on the global evangelical agenda, it is vital that our biblical scholars, theologians, and spiritual guides develop for us a full-orbed vision of the life of the disciple.” [6] Ancient-Future Evangelism is a response