Christian Contours

What does it mean to think and live Christianly in a world of competing worldviews? Christian Contours answers this question by inviting readers to consider the understanding of reality proposed by the Bible. Though it is easy to divide life into separate compartments (religious and secular, theological and practical), faith invites us to view all of life in the light of that Biblical understanding. Presenting a clear, compelling case for unity in essential Christian tenets, the authors of Christian Contours guide the reader through developing, internalizing, and articulating a biblical worldview. This robust worldview enables the Christian to be a critically-thinking participant in culture and to be a faithful disciple of Christ with both heart and mind.

In November 2010, three hundred faculty, students, and others interested in Christian mission gathered in Boston to consider how the world, the global church, and Christian missions have changed since the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in 1910 and to reflect on the three previous centennial conferences (Tokyo 2010 in May, Edinburgh 2010 in June, and Cape Town 2010 in October). Participants at "2010Boston" were not delegates from churches and mission agencies, but were students and scholars of various aspects of world Christianity representing the Anglican/Episcopal, Evangelical, mainline Protestant, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic traditions. This conference volume consists of nine keynote messages, five student presentations, three reports from the other conferences, and additional materials from or about 2010Boston. The keynote messages address the history of mission (especially in and from Boston) and the current global context for mission, and suggest modes for future Christian engagement with the world and one another. Student papers address such conference themes as unity in mission, mission and postcolonialism, and discipleship in context. The closing chapter surveys the conference's eight themes and summarizes the outcomes of the 2010Boston process.

Paul Helm introduces the doctrine of divine providence--focusing on metaphysical and moral aspects and especially noting divine control, providence and evil, and the role of prayer. In the Contours of Christian Theology.

Abraham Kuyper was, by any standard, one of the most extraordinary figures in modern Christian history. He was a Dutch Reformed minister, a gifted theologian, a prolific journalist, the leader of a political party, the cofounder of the Free University of Amsterdam (where he was professor of theology), a member of the Dutch Parliament, and eventually prime minister of the Netherlands. Kuyper's remarkable legacy lives on today in the tradition of Dutch Calvinism that he developed. As his writings become more widely available, this tradition continues to find new adherents attracted by his comprehensive vision of Christian faith. But what defines the Kuyperian tradition? Renowned South African theologian and philosopher Craig Bartholomew has written the first systematic introduction to this tradition. Drawing on Kuyper's entire corpus, Bartholomew has identified the key themes and ideas that define this tradition, including worldview, sphere sovereignty, creation and redemption, the public square, and mission. He also goes beyond Kuyper to show how later thinkers developed these ideas. They include, among others, Herman Bavinck, J. H. Bavinck, Gerrit C. Berkouwer, and Herman Dooyeweerd. Widely known but little read, Kuyper is now receiving the global recognition that his fertile and influential thought deserves. Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition is an indispensable guide to one of the most significant schools of thought in the modern age.

In this study of how we know what we know, W. Jay Wood surveys current views of foundationalism, epistemic justification and reliabilism.

This volume offers much-needed theological reflection on the phenomenon of conversion and transformation. Gordon Smith provides a robust evaluation that covers the broad range of thinking about conversion across Christian traditions and addresses global contexts. Smith contends that both in the church and in discussions about contemporary mission, the language of conversion inherited from revivalism is inadequate in helping to navigate the questions that shape how we do church, how we approach faith formation, how evangelism is integrated into congregational life, and how we witness to the faith in non-Christian environments. We must rethink the nature of the church in light of how people actually come to faith in Christ. After drawing on ancient and pre-revivalist wisdom on conversion, Smith delineates the contours of conversion and Christian initiation for today's church. He concludes by discussing the art of spiritual autobiography and what it means to be a congregation.