Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

A Brief Look At Methodology And Grace In Wesleyan Theology, Kyle Blanchette

The Asbury Journal

In a recent piece for the Asbury Theological Journal, Nathan Crawford has attempted to put current understandings of emergent phenomena within the neurosciences in conversation with Christian soteriology; in particular, Crawford has sought to link up themes found in emergence with distinctively Wesleyan perspectives on sanctification. In this article, I offer some reflections on theological methodology in light of Crawford's analysis, and I identify some needed clarifications of Kenneth J. Collins's model of John Wesley's soteriology. In the latter half of the piece, I present a critical analysis of the issue of monergism and synergism in Wesley's understanding of grace.

Exegetical And Extispicic Readings Of The Bible In Turkana, Kenya, And North America, Kevin P. Lines

The Asbury Journal

While a missional hermeneutic elucidates missiological interpretation of scripture, translation would be the key descriptive of missiological me of scripture. Articulating, a Turkana extispicic hermeneutic as both a critical and a valid process for interpreting the Bible, this paper proposes that Christians have the opportunity to engage in alternative intercontextual critical hermeneutical processes when "reading" the Bible. This engagement could reveal an ontic expansion of God-if we are able to overcome eclectic diversity and the fear of relativism. Three locations: theological institutions, missionaries, in the church, and diaspora communities are suggested for practical application of intercontextual hermeneutics.

Book Reviews, Desiree Segura-April, Meesaeng Lee Choi, Joseph R. Dongell, Michael D. Matlock, Jason R. Jackson, Stephen Seamands, Wm. Andrew Schwartz, Ben Witherington, Laurence W. Wood

The Asbury Journal

Catherine Stonehouse and Scottie May
Listening to Children on the Spiritual Journey: Guidance for Those Who Teach and Nurture
2010. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic
Reviewed by Desiree Segura-April

Dyron B. Daughrity
The Changing World of Christianity: The Global History of a Borderless Religion
2010. New York: Peter Lang
Reviewed by Meesaeng Lee Choi

Derek Tidball
The Message of Holiness: Restoring God's Masterpiece
2010. Downers Grove, IL Inter-Varsity, Press
Reviewed by Joseph R. Dongell

Accordance. Scholars Collection
DVD-ROM and CD-ROM, version 8
2008. OakTree Software, Inc.
Reviewed by Michael D. Matlock and Jason R. Jackson

Paul L. Gavrilyuk, Douglas M. …

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial
Terry C. Muck

Colloquium Essays:

Inhabiting the Garden: Bible, Theology and Mission
Lawson G. Stone

Green Eggs and Shawarma: Reinterpreting the Bible, Reforming Mission, with Leviticus' as a Test Case
Mark A. Awabdy

The Pannenbergian Retroactive Significance of Resurrection
Brian M. Ebel

Exegetical and Extispicic Readings of the Bible in Turkana, Kenya and North America
Kevin P Lines

Essays:

Missional Holiness in a Post-Christendom World
Timothy C. Tennent

Methodology and Grace in Wesleyan Theology
Kyle Blancbette

Features:

Review Essay
Aaron Perry

Book Reviews
Desiree Segura-April
Meesetlg Lee Choi
Joseph R. Dongell
Michael D. Matlock and Jason …

A Transnational Faith: El Salvador And Immigrant Christianity, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

Immigration is radically shaping the makeup of the United States; however immigration today is radically different than in previous generations. Modern immigration is characterized by transnationalism, where more immigrants are maintaining connections with their homelands. These connections have both positive and negative impacts on both the United States and the immigrant's countries of origin. El Salvador is one example of this trend. Financial remittances and gangs are representative of the way transnational migration affects a country of origin, like El Salvador, as well as the United States. The Church needs to adapt to this global trend and recognize its impact …

Conversion, Justification, And The Experience Of Grace In The Post-Aldergate Wesley: Towards An Understanding Of Who Is "A Child Of God.", Marlon D. De Blasio

The Asbury Journal

Aldersgate is highlighted from the angle of its significance on Wesley's theological thinking and subsequent ministry, rather than from an emphasis on his point of conversion. The Post-Aldersgate Wesley developed a soteriological understanding that identified a "child of God" with distinct qualifications, namely justification by faith, the experience of grace, and the indwelling Spirit. A theology of conversion also emerges with definitive markers that constitute a new standing from non-Christian to Christian. Shifts in Wesley's theological understanding of Christian faith are evaluated. Justification by faith remained a strict soteriological principle in the mind of the mature Wesley. As well, the …

United We Sing: Union Hymnals, Holiness Hymnody, And The Formation Of Korean Revivalism (1905-2007), William T. Purinton

The Asbury Journal

The history of Christianity long has recognized the transatlantic revival connections in both the First and Second Awakenings, with preaching being noted as the primary means of communicating the revival message. During the past century, transpacific revivalism has become a significant part of the world history of Christianity. In Korean Protestantism, revivalism has been rooted within the majority religious experience, with hymns and gospel songs as an important medium. "While North American denominations have used separate hymnals and have tended to exclude revival hymns from their selections, Korean Protestants have used the same hymnal from the beginning and have retained …

From Saul To Paul: The Apostle's Name Change And Narrative Identity In Acts 13:9, David Wenkel

The Asbury Journal

It has long been accepted as a safe conclusion that the difference between the names Saul and Paul in the Book of Acts merely reflects cultural accommodation in a Hellenistic milieu. This study challenges this conclusion by examining the literary pattern and narrative usage of names. This study concludes that the name change reflects the true identity of Paul amidst conflict with Bar-Jesus/Elymas. The name 'Paul' is significant because of its etymology and the information provided by the narrative.

Living Water In Indian Cups: A Call For Cultural Relevance In Contemporary Indian Missions, Prabhusingh Vedhamanickam

The Asbury Journal

There has been a concentrated effort in contemporary India to stereotype Christianity as a western agent involved in destroying Indic religions, desecrating Indian cultures and destabilizing the nation. While there have been some attempts to contextualize the gospel in Indian missions, in the theological and missiological realms, there is an urgent need to incarnate the gospel in culturally relevant ways due to three critical factors: The cultural diversity of the nation, the rise of Hindu nationalism and the paradigmatic shift from Indian cross cultural missions to local, indigenous movements. While the multinational companies in India are tailoring their strategies according …

Leading A Polytheistic Faith To The Monotheistic God: A Study In Identifying Barriers To The Gospel In A Chinese Buddhist Community And Ways To Overcome Those Barriers, Agnes Wood

The Asbury Journal

This article is written for the purpose of exploring a way to lead a polytheistic faith, prevalent in the local Chinese Buddhist community (LCBC) in Brunei, to the reality of a monotheistic God as revealed in the Bible (1 Corinthians 8:6). It serves as a guide for the local Chinese church (CC) to lead the LCBC to see that God as a Creator is sufficient to be their God.

This article identifies the need of a missiological package in order to lead the LCBC to Christ. The CC needs to assist the LCBC to become receptive before the core of …

Spanish Language Christian Academic Publishing, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ESSAYS

A Transnational Faith: El Salvador and Immigrant Christianity

Robert A. Danielson

Conversion, Justification, and the Experience of Grace in the Post-Aldersgate Wesley: Towards an Understanding of who is “a child of God”

Marlon D. De Blasio

United We Sing: Union Hymnals, Holiness Hymnody, and the Formation of Korean Revivalism (1905-2007)

William T. Purinton

Living Water in Indian Cups: A Call for Cultural Relevance in Contemporary Indian Missions

Prabhu Singh

From Saul to Paul: The Apostle’s Name Change and Narrative Identity in Acts 13:9

David Wenkel

Leading a Polytheistic Faith to the Monotheistic God: A Study in …

Reaching Secular Peoples: A Review Of The Books Of George G. Hunter, Iii, Gary L. Mcintosh

The Asbury Journal

Rethinking Evangelism: A Symposium (1971)

Focus on Evangelism: Readings for Thinking It Through (1978)

The Contagious Congregation: Frontiers in Evangelism and Church Growth (1979)

Finding the Way Forward (1980)

Church Growth: Strategies That Word (1980 with Donald McGavran)

. . . and Every Tongue Confess: Toward a Recovery of O U f Essential Mission (1983)

To Spread the Power: Church Growth in the Wesleyan Spirit (1987)

How to Reach Secular People (1992)

Church for the Unchurched (1996)

The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West ... Again (2000)

Leading & Managing a Growing Church: (2000)

Radical Outreach: …

Book Reviews, Anthony J. Headley, Nathan Crawford

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

A Review Essay: Four Views On Church And Politics, Brian Edgar

The Asbury Journal

Good and Bad Ways to Think about Religion and Politics

Robert Benne

2010. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans

Politics According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture

Wayne Grudem

2010. Grand Rapids: Zondervan

Christianity and Politics: A Brief Guide to the History

C.C. Pecknold

2010. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books

The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Five Democracies, 2nd ed.

Stephen Monsma and J. Christopher Soper

2009. Lallham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial

Terry C. Muck

Our Personal Core Identity: A Wesleyan Perspective

Jim Boetcher

Identity Formation for Conciliatory Existence: How We Perceive the Other

Chris Kiesling and Lalsangkima Pachuau

An Aboriginal Missiology of Identity Reclamation: Towards Revitalization for Canada's Indigenous Peoples through Healing of Identity

Wendy Peterson

Racial and Ethnic Identity: Social Scientific and Biblical Perspectives in Dialogue

Ruth Anne Reese and Steven Ybarrvla

Marriage and Ministry: Conjugal and Occupational Conflicts in Wesley's Life and Ministry

Tony Headley

Book Notes

Kenneth Collins

Book Reviews

Frances Adenry

Gwinyai Muzorewa

Laurence W. Wood

Identity Formation For Conciliatory Existence: How We Perceive The Other, Chris Kiesling, Lalsangkima Pachuau

The Asbury Journal

In this article we interface mission, theology and psychology in an exploration of what hinders and what enables conciliatory existence. Whereas common approaches to reconciliation focus on redressing past wrongs, we propose identity formation that would prevent such wrongs. We consider how people integrate elements of their social context into a social identity that influences how they perceive "the other."

Understanding this to be divine action that transforms psychological processes, we draw from all three disciplines to understand the dynamics of how we come to see the other.

Biblical theology provides penetrating narratives into the nature of fallen humanity and …

Racial And Ethnic Identity: Social Scientific And Biblical Perspectives In Dialogue, Ruth Anne Reese, Steven Ybarrola

The Asbury Journal

The first part of the paper lays out our understanding of ethnicity and race in light of current research from sociology and anthropology. The paper then turns to the New Testament material, and it examines "the Jews" as one ethnic group in the first century. This material is used to demonstrate that Christians also took on the language of ethnicity. The paper raises the question, "is there a Christian identity that both supersedes and subsumes ethnic identity?" It proposes that the answer to that question is, ''Yes, there is a Christian identity and ethos that supersedes ethnic identity." And, this …

An Aboriginal Missiology Of Identity Reclamation: Towards Revitalization For Canada's Indigenous Peoples Through Healing Of Identity, Wendy Peterson

The Asbury Journal

This essay concerns the failure by Canada's Indigenous people to fully apprehend and embrace the Christian doctrine of imago Dei. The concern is founded upon the negative self-perception and perceived inferiority of Aboriginal peoples as less-than the Caucasian majority. Is this a failure of transmission on the part of missionaries, or is it a failure of reception on the part of Aboriginals? The premise is that both the theology of mission and the practice of mission with Aboriginal people must take into account the issue of self-perception and the problem of identity formation. The question is asked, Is there a …

Book Notes, Kenneth J. Collins

The Asbury Journal

William B. Lawrence

Methodism in Recovery: Renewing Mission, Reclaiming History, Restoring Health

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Charles Yrigoyen, John G. McEllhenney, and Kenneth A. Rowe

United Methodism at Forty: Looking Back Looking Forward

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Scott J. Jones

Staying at the Table: The Gift of Unity for United Methodists

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Marriage And Ministry: Conflicts And Occupational Conflicts In Wesley’S Life And Ministry, Tony Headley

The Asbury Journal

In this article, the author explores John Wesley's perspectives on marriage and how these views related to his practice of ministry. Specifically, the author examines Wesley's developmental journey from believing he could not marry to actually contracting a marriage with Mary Vazeille. Following exploration of Wesley's perspectives on marriage, the author discusses these issues in relation to two observed patterns in his significant intimate relationship with Sophy Hopkey, Grace Murray and Mary Vazeille; namely that for the most part, Wesley cultivated these relationships out of travel and illness. The author concludes that even though Wesley moved from a position of …

Editorial: No Religious Preference, Terry C. Muck

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Justification By The Faithfulness Of Jesus Christ, Chad Harrington

The Asbury Journal

This essay focuses on Paul's description of justification by faith in Galatians 2:16. Scholars such as J.D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright have recently challenged more traditional perspectives on justification. This essay appropriates some of these challenges to Paul's letter to the Galatians. The problem for Paul is that some Christians are distorting the gospel (Gall:7) and excluding Gentiles Christians (2:12-13). Paul's solution is gospel reorientation. Instead of being a Torah-focused church, he instructs the Galatian church to be Christ-centered. This essay examines justification, works of law, and faith/fulness to reveal Paul's rhetorical purposes by analyzing socio-rhetorical backgrounds and literary, grammatical, …

From "Cults" To Cultures: Bridges As A Case Study In A New Evangelical Paradigm On New Religions, John W. Morehead

The Asbury Journal

The increased awareness of the new religions with the counterculture of the 1960s saw various responses, including a "counter-cult" approach by evangelicals. The counter-cult approach has tended to view new religions as "cults" and to respond to them as heretical systems of belief in need of refutation by doctrinal and apologetic arguments. Over the last decade or so a new evangelical paradigm has emerged based in missiology which, while recognizing theological disagreements that the new religions have with Christianity, approaches new religions as religious cultures rather than as cults. Various resources have been produced as a result of the new …

The Most Indispensable Habits Of Effective Theological Educators: Recalibrating Educational Philosophy, Psychology, And Practice, Mark A. Lamport

The Asbury Journal

In this article, the author provocatively claims that "theological education is neither"; it is not theological unless it is considers the nature of its mission to be ultimately Ministerial; and it is not education unless it takes seriously the learner as focal point of the process.

Armed with "best practices" research on effective teaching in higher education, this rather personal, sometimes feisty, essay challenges the fundamental assumptions of theological education professors' most strongly held beliefs regarding their educational philosophies (advocating critical thinking over accumulation o f content), educational psychologies (promoting learning outcomes and the characteristics of the adult learner over …

Bridging The Gap: Understanding Knowledge Of God In Gregory Of Nyssa's Commentary On The Song Of Songs, Nathan Crawford

The Asbury Journal

The problem of how one knows God is central to the theological endeavor. This paper seeks to explore how Gregory of Nyssa deals with this problem. I suggest that it is by understanding the role of Christ in the incarnation that Gregory finds knowledge of God possible. The incarnation bridges the gap that exists between God and humanity. And, through bridging this gap, Christ enables a person to have mystical knowledge of God.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial
Terry C. Muck

Justification by the Faithfulness of Jesus Christ
Chad Harrington

From "Cults" to Cultures: Bridges as a Case Study in a New Evangelical Paradigm on New Religions
John W Morehead

The Most Indispensable Habits of Effective Theological Educators: Recalibrating Educational Philosophy, Psychology, and Practice
Mark A. Lamport

Bridging the Gap: Understanding Knowledge of God in Gregory of Nyssa'sCommentary on the Song of Songs
Nathan Crawford

John Wesley's Question: "How Is Your Doing?"
David Werner

Book Notes
Kenneth Collins

Review Essay
Kenneth M. Loyer

Book Reviews
Michael Matlock and Bradley Johnson
Charles Meeks
Amos …

John Wesley's Question: "How Is Your Doing?", David Werner

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Notes, Kenneth Collins

The Asbury Journal

James L. Schwenk
Catholic Spirit: Wesley, Whitefield, and the Quest for Evangelical Unity in Eighteenth-Century British Methodism
2008. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press

Scott Kisker
Mainline or Methodist: Discovering Our Evangelistic Mission
2008. Nashville: Discipleship Resources

L. Faye Short and Kathryn D. Kiser
Reclaiming the Wesleyan Social Witness: Offering Christ.
2008. Franklin, Tennessee: Providence House Publishers

A Review Essay: "Coming To Terms With Perfection", Kenneth M. Loyer

The Asbury Journal

Perfection: Coming to Terms with Being Human
Michael J. Hyde
2010. Waco: Baylor University Press

Wesley, Aquinas, and Christian Perfection: An Ecumenical Dialogue
Edgardo A. Colin-Emetic
2009. Waco: Baylor University Press