Prophetic Identities

The spread of Christianity is often told as a story of conquest, of powerful European missionaries waging a cultural assault on hapless indigenous victims. Yet the presence of indigenous men among missionary ranks in the nineteenth century complicates these narratives. What compelled these individuals to embrace Christianity? How did they reconcile being both Christian and indigenous in an age of empire? Tolly Bradford finds answers to these questions in the lives and legacies of Henry Budd, a Cree missionary from western Canada, and Tiyo Soga, a Xhosa missionary from southern Africa. Inspired by both faith and family, these men found in Christianity a way to construct a modern conception of indigeneity, one informed by their ties to Britain and rooted in land and language, rather than religion and lifestyle. Prophetic Identities portrays indigenous missionaries not as victims of colonialism but rather as people who made conscious, difficult choices about their spirituality, identity, and relationship with the British colonial world.

The spread of Christianity is often presented as a story of conquest, of powerful European missionaries waging a cultural assault on hapless indigenous victims. Yet the presence of indigenous men among missionary ranks in the nineteenth century complicates these narratives. What compelled these individuals to embrace Christianity? How did they reconcile being both Christian and indigenous in an age of empire? Tolly Bradford finds answers to these questions in the lives and legacies of Henry Budd, a Cree missionary from western Canada, and Tiyo Soga, a Xhosa missionary from southern Africa. Inspired by both faith and family, these men found in Christianity a way to construct a modern conception of indigeneity, one informed by their ties to Britain and rooted in land and language, rather than religion and lifestyle. Although they shared a new sense of "nativeness," the men followed different paths. Whereas Budd sought to create a modern Cree village to cope with the upheavals of the 1860s and 1870s, Soga tried to foster among his people a politicized, and Christianized, sense of African nationalism. In telling this story, Bradford portrays indigenous missionaries not as victims of colonialism but as people who made conscious, difficult choices about their spirituality, identity, and relationship with the British colonial world.

Tina M. Sherman offers a first-of-its-kind, detailed analysis of prophetic passages that depict people as plants—from grasses and grains to fruit trees and grapevines—examining how the biblical authors exploited these metaphors to portray the condemnation and punishment of Israel and Judah in terms of the everyday work of crop farming and plant husbandry. Additionally, she explores how the prophetic authors employed plant imagery to construct national identities that emphasize the people’s collective responsibility for the kingdoms’ fate. Plant Metaphors in Prophetic Condemnations of Israel and Judah demonstrates the usefulness of combining conceptual metaphor theory with aspects of frame semantics in the analysis of patterns of thought and expression in biblical metaphor.

Take your place in this prophetic generation! Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deut. 8:3) As the world grows darker, God is raising up a generation that is in tune with His voice and empowered by His Spirit to release supernatural transformation by declaring His Word. Are you tired of dry, dead religion? Do you desire to hear God’s voice in a fresh new way? Ever wondered if things should actually be happening when you pray? The hour that you live in does not call for passive Christianity, but an assembly of warriors determined to walk in victory over every strategy of the enemy. The Prophetic Generation activates you to: Prophesy in proportion to your faith Recognize God’s voice and declare what He is saying Walk in multi-generational blessing and start a prophetic legacy Engage in victorious spiritual warfare using prophetic weaponry Take your place in this prophetic generation and usher in the greatest harvest in history!

Prophets have a reputation of changing, for the better, the relationship between people and God. Christianity has a long history of prophets who have directed the faithful towards more justice and righteousness. What can Christians learn from prophets for daily life, for contemporary theology, and for pastoral care? This book looks at prophetic action from a biblical, pastoral, and ethical perspective. The contributions - from both pastoral theologians and pastors from around the globe - make this study a unique exercise in maintaining the prophetic perspective in theological reflection and pastoral practice. (Series: International Practical Theology - Vol. 13)

In the Old Testament, the prophet would guide the king, therefore the people, by speaking the will of God, and many times the will of God will include correction, judgment and warnings. Prophets were often ignored in the Old Testament, while even back in those days among the true prophets you found many speaking deceptions and lies. Today, nothing has changed, because God does not change (Hebrews 13:8). Prophets are still called to lead the corporate church by speaking and declaring the will, the purpose and the mandate of God. What the prophet utters may contain correction or judgment, or it may speak of encouragement, direction or wisdom. Prophets still speak to nations, or even to a multitude of nations, declaring the will of God not just unto the Church but unto secular leaders as to warn, to guide, to direct and to declare the heart and mind of God. Thus from the old to the new, nothing has changed in regard to the prophet. Yet the office is often misunderstood, and also shrouded in mystery, erroneous perceptions and terrible abuse. This series divides the truth from the myriad of lies, misconceptions, fallacies and erroneous teachings regarding the prophetic.

This collection argues that the final form of prophetic texts attempts a picture of stability; of a new world that emerges in the aftermath of the turbulent experiences of Israel/Judah's history, sustained by a coherent community and identity. The essays within both describe and analyse the various categories of otherness in prophetic literature which threaten such an identity, displaying the complex and contradictory nature of such depictions -- particularly given the reality that these texts emerge from communities considered other. The contributors provides an interdisciplinary exploration of otherness that draws upon multiple insights into the conception and expression of the other, beyond obvious examples traditionally examined in Biblical Studies. Touching upon the rhetoric associated with identity markers such as space, race/ethnicity, gender and religious activity, Prophetic Otherness allows for further consideration of the ethics of the prophetic corpus, and its understanding of fairness and justice in relation to broad communities.

This study of William Marrion Branham's ministry reveals much about the healing methodology of deliverance evangelists. Branham's theology of healing highlights the widely accepted role of evangelists as mediators between God and the afflicted. The dynamic growth of Pentecostalism in the twentieth century is a major feature of the modern religious scene. Branham is acknowledged as a leader of the healing revival movement. Although little known outside of the Pentecostal movement, his work had tremendous influence on today's televangelists and the whole of Pentecostalism itself.