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GOSPEL AND CULTURES IN A CIRCULAR RELATIONSHIP — SOME MISSIONARY EXPERIENCES
Author(s) -
Bowers Joyce
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international review of mission
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.118
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1758-6631
pISSN - 0020-8582
DOI - 10.1111/j.1758-6631.1995.tb02720.x
Subject(s) - gospel , faith , evangelism , theme (computing) , sociology , new testament , historical jesus , biblical criticism , history , classics , theology , philosophy , biblical studies , computer science , operating system
Controversy and discussion about the relationship of the good news of Jesus Christ to various cultures has been a part of Christian life and faith since the first century. Much of the New Testament was written in response to such questions. In recent decades, the study of anthropology in relation to cross‐cultural mission has focused a great deal of attention upon issues of gospel and culture. The Division for Global Mission (DGM) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) offers training to its overseas personnel in order to enhance cross‐cultural skills, and encourages dialogue with partner churches. In 1994, the theme of the annual summer missionary conference was “Gospel and Culture.” Missionaries were asked to write case studies or stories from their own experience and observation that illustrate ways in which the gospel challenges cultures, and how culture enriches and illuminates the gospel. At the conference, Dr Christopher Duraisingh, from the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland, gave a series of lectures to approximately 150 missionaries, staff and guests, and issues of gospel and culture were discussed in small group sessions. Following the conference, missionary writings were compiled as “Gospel and Culture: Essays and Stories from Around the World” and passed on to Unit II of the WCC as a contribution to its multifaceted gospel and culture study. This article is based on the submissions of DGM missionaries, Dr Duraisingh's lectures at the conference, and literature published in connection with the WCC study.