Langham Monographs Update (16 vols.)

by Lawrence Oseje; Nathan Nzyoka Joshua; Vyacheslav Tsvirinko; David Kirwa Tarus

and

12 more

Publisher:

Langham

, 2018–2019

Overview

The Langham Monographs series is filled with useful observations and best-practices formed through cross-cultural ministry settings. Expert authors explore the global effects of Christianity and different perspectives and views on the Bible. Discover the impact of theological education styles on the effectiveness of their students. Authors explore biblical themes for modern missional practice.

Key Features

• Analyzes contemporary moral and social issues facing the global church
• Provides a fresh look at contemporary missiology
• Explores issues of local identity and Christ centered self-understanding in missions

Product Details

• Title: Langham Monographs Update (16 vols.)
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018—2019
• Volumes: 16
• Pages: 5,486
• Resource Type: Monographs

A Different Way of Being: Towards a Reformed Theology of Ethnopolitical Cohesion for the Kenyan Context

• Author: David Kirwa Tarus
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 362

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David Tarus humbly yet boldly challenges Kenyans to pursue national unity and peace by interrogating their allegiances to their ethnic communities and political parties. Carefully arguing why it is only a Christian identity, commitment to humanity as bearing the divine image, and the triune God himself, that can heal the divisions in this land. Ethnopolitical conflict is not confined to one nation, and this study will bear much fruit in other contexts where people yearn for social cohesion.

Dr Tarus’s work is an exemplary piece of historical, systematic, and contextual theology. He shows that a Christian theology of the divine image (drawing especially on Calvin’s theology) provides a foundation for overcoming ethnopolitical conflict in Kenya.

—Steven M. Studebaker, PhD, Howard and Shirley Bentall Chair in Evangelical Thought, Associate Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, McMaster Divinity College

David Kirwa Tarus has a PhD in Christian Theology from McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and is currently an adjunct lecturer at Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. He previously worked as the coordinator of Scott Christian University, Eldoret Campus, Kenya, and taught as an adjunct lecturer at various other universities in Kenya. David is the co-editor of Christian Responses to Terrorism: The Kenyan Experience (Wipf & Stock, 2017). His research interests include theological anthropology, political theology, and ecclesiology. David is also an ordained minister of the Africa Inland Church (Kenya).

African Traditions Meeting Islam: A Case of Luo-Muslim Funerals in Kendu Bay, Kenya

• Author: Lawrence Oseje
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 418

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In many communities across the world traditional beliefs and practices are passed down generations and are a feature of day-to-day life, despite the influence of outside sources. Focusing on Luo Muslims in Kenya, Dr Lawrence Oseje looks at the interaction of Islam and traditional Luo practices, especially those around death and burial.

A study into cultural issues of death such as this is indeed a milestone into seeing the very fabrics that hold, guide and inform the day-to-day experiences of the life of ordinary Muslims in Africa. His research has no doubt demonstrated the need to understand every culture from its own context.

—Josephine Mutuku, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Africa International University

Lawrence Oseje earned his PhD in Interreligious Studies from Africa International University (AIU). He is currently a lecturer and adjunct professor in missions and intercultural studies at a number of universities and seminaries across Africa, including Africa International University, Nairobi, Kenya and Africa College of Theology, Kigali, Rwanda. His travels in many nations of the world training pastors, missionaries and other Christian leaders has given him a richer appreciation of people and their cultural values. Lawrence is married to Dorcas, and together they are blessed with three children, Jael, Emmanuel and Rosebell.

Benefaction and Patronage in Leadership: A Socio-Historical Exegesis of the Pastoral Epistles

• Author: Nathan Nzyoka Joshua
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 342

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Since antiquity, many have come to view benefaction and patronage in a negative light, largely due to the increasingly immoral motives of those involved in systems that can be exploitative or corrupt. Dr Nathan Joshua provides a counter to this view and instead draws attention to the goodness of godly benefaction and patronage from an African Christian perspective. This is a valuable resource addressing the need for leadership with integrity, and challenging the negative outlook surrounding benefaction and patronage today.

Nathan Nzyoka Joshua breaks new ground in the study of the Pastoral Epistles by carefully and responsibly locating them within the ancient practice of benefaction and patronage. His work has added benefit by applying his findings to ecclesial structures in his own East African context. An eye-opening and challenging work.

—James C. Miller, PhD, Professor of Inductive Biblical Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary

Nathan Nzyoka Joshua earned his PhD in New Testament Biblical Studies from Africa International University (AIU), Nairobi, Kenya. He is a pastor for Africa Inland Church, and currently lectures and serves as the acting Head of Department for Biblical Studies, at AIU. He is the co-author of Restoring the Beauty and Blessing of Ethnic Diversity: A Training Manual on Ethnicity (AIU and ALARM, 2009). Dr Joshua has three children with his wife, Regina.

Beyond Justice: Death and the Retribution Principle in the Book of Job

• Author: Varunaj Churnai
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 248

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Churnai demonstrates that the retribution principle allows humans to know the hidden God as it illuminates the relationship between individual and Creator. Through Job’s experiences and heartfelt outpouring of his soul before both God’s wrathful and gracious face we can know God more fully. Churnai shows how these faces of God are reconciled in the two divine speeches of YHWH, which invite both Job and the reader and move beyond retribution theology to trust in the graciousness of God.

With penetrating insight and sensitivity to the book’s literary structures, Churnai shifts the focus away from the principles of retributive justice that hold Job’s friends’ reality together. This excellent study is a must read not only for exegetes but also for systematicians and those dedicated to pastoral care.

—Rev Robert A. Kolb, PhD, Professor of Systematic Theology, Concordia Seminary

Varunaj Churnai earned her doctorate in Biblical Studies from Concordia Seminary, St Louis, Missouri, USA, and is a biblical professor at Bangkok Institute of Theology and Bangkok Bible Seminary. She currently works as a Deputy General Secretary of Thailand Bible Society, serving as a writer, Bible translator, and administrator at TBS. She is also the Thailand country coordinator for Langham Preaching. After living in the USA for nine years she now lives in Thailand again with her husband and their two sons.

Context and Contextuality: The Mission of Migrant Churches with a Focus on the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association

• Author: Vyacheslav Tsvirinko
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 610

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Tsvirinko examines the holism, authenticity and contextuality of mission work done by churches in the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association in America. He defines authentic mission in light of three major Christian groups and uncovers startling insights on how these churches engage in mission back in their homeland and in America. The conclusions are invaluable to diasporic Christian communities who evaluating their authenticity in the way they do mission, internationally and locally, creating a path to more fruitful ministry.

Vyacheslav Tsvirinko provides a good overview of issues with which immigrants struggle as they find themselves in a different context in an exemplary research work.

—Dr. Peter Penner, Director of Advanced Studies, Euro-Asian Accrediting Association, New Testament Editor, Slavic Bible Commentary

Vyacheslav Tsvirinko holds a PhD from the University of Wales and currently teaches at Divitia Gratiae University, Chisinau, Moldova, where he trains a new generation of Christian leaders. Persecution by the Soviet government led Dr Tsvirinko to immigrate to the USA with his wife Nina and their six sons in 1990 until 2016 when they felt called by God to move to Moldova as missionaries. In the USA, Dr Tsvirinko served as senior pastor of a Russian-speaking church and later, as President of the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association. He also worked at Fresno Pacific University, California, in admissions as well as serving as a regional campus director.

Gender and Development: A History of Women’s Education in Kenya

• Author: Emily Awino Onyango
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 334

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Dr. Onyango uses gender as a tool to provide a detailed analysis of the role of Christian missions in the education, and societal development, of girls in Kenya. Highlighting the interaction between Christian missionaries and African culture, Onyango skilfully explores the history of both Christianity and women in Kenya. The result of this study is a thorough and engaging contribution to African Christian history that gives a voice to the history of African women.

Emily Onyango is a pioneer in the history of girls’ education in Kenya. . . she tells an extraordinary story of initial cultural courage by young Kenyan women, of persevering female missionary dedication, of difficult gendered negotiations in home and employment and, in the end, of the confident, if still embattled, sense of achievement by a growing number of Kenyan women.

—John Lonsdale, PhD, Emeritus Professor, Modern African History, Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge

Emily Awino Onyango earned her PhD from the University of Wales, UK. She currently works as a senior lecturer at St Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya, where her teaching focuses on church history, gender studies and African Christianity. Dr Onyango is also a priest in the Anglican Church of Kenya and a Canon in the Diocese of Bondo.

Jesus Christ as Ancestor: A Theological Study of Major African Ancestor Christologies in Conversation with the Patristic Christologies of Tertullian and Athanasius

• Author: Reuben Turbi Luka
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 430

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Dr. Turbi Luka uses historical-theological methodology to engage in detail with Christologies of key African theologians and conventional theological sources for Christology, including the church fathers Tertullian and Athanasius as well as modern theologians. This crucial study highlights the need for biblically rooted Christology and for sound theological understanding and naming of Jesus at every level.

Jesus Christ as Ancestor provides an engaging analysis of different genres of ancestor Christology in African theological discourse. Readers will find fresh insights into the phenomenon of ancestral mediation in African thought and also the varying ways some Christian theologians have appropriated it for their Christian contexts. Though it is tailored for African evangelical communities, Jesus Christ as Ancestor will appeal to theologians interested in African Christian theology.

—Victor I. Ezigbo, PhD, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Bethel University, St Paul, Minnesota, USA

Reuben Turbi Luka earned his PhD and MDiv from Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS), Plateau State, Nigeria. He previously worked as an accountant with the Plateau State Health Services Management Board and Bingham University Teaching Hospital. He currently serves as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at JETS. He is married to Margaret and they are blessed with seven children and two grandchildren.

Jesus’s Identification with the Marginalized and the Liminal: The Messianic Identity in Mark

• Author: Bekele Deboch Anshiso
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 252

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The first-century Judaic understanding of the identity and nature of the Messiah has been a much-debated topic among biblical scholars and preachers alike. So too has the messianic identity and nature of Jesus himself. Deboch informs these debates with fresh evidence outside traditional references to miracles, and supernatural identifications by demons and God himself. This book brings insightful new conclusions that transform our understanding of the biblical messianic identity revealed in the person of Jesus.

Deboch engages many of the most perennially challenging issues in the interpretation of Mark’s gospel. He brings fresh insight to Mark’s presentation of the divine messianic identity of Jesus. The book holds many unexpected delights on Mark’s unexpected Messiah.

—Steven M. Bryan, PhD, Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Bekele Deboch Anshiso is an evangelist in his home country of Ethiopia where he returned to after he earned his PhD from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Dr Deboch is also a part time lecturer of New Testament Studies at Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Prior to his PhD studies, he spent 25 years planting churches and doing evangelism in northern Ethiopia before studying at Spurgeon’s College, London, UK, and then teaching at Evangelical Theological College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Bekele and his wife have three childre

The Development of Vocational Stewardship among Indonesian Christian Professionals: Spiritual Formation for Marketplace Ministry

• Author: Sutrisna Harjanto
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 230

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In this thorough study, Dr Harjanto explores the formational elements of the integration of faith, work and mission among Indonesian Christian professionals, through careful analysis and evaluation the resulting book is an educational perspective on the theology of work and mission. If the church of Jesus Christ is to have the transformational impact that we know the world is in such desperate need of, then we must better understand our vocations from a biblical and missional perspective.

Sutrisna Harjanto has thoughtfully addressed an increasingly important topic for the worldwide church – vocational stewardship. By exploring the experiences of Indonesian Christians in various occupations, he has also significantly broadened and thickened the overall discussion. I am very grateful to Sutrisna for extending our theoretical and contextual understanding of vocational stewardship.

—Donald Guthrie, Director, PhD in Educational Studies Program, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Sutrisna Harjanto has a Bachelor degree in Pharmacy, as well as an MDiv from Trinity Theological College, Singapore, and a PhD in Educational Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, USA. He previously spent over twenty years in campus ministry among university students and graduates in Indonesia with Perkantas (a member of International Fellowship of Evangelical Students). He currently is a program director of the Christian Education Master’s program at Bandung Theological Seminary, Indonesia.

The Evolution of Legislation on Religious Offences: A Study of British India and the Implications for Contemporary Pakistan

• Author: F. A. Nazir
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 286

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Dr. F. A. Nazir places the discussion of offences relating to religion in the historical context of the south Asian subcontinent, the institution of penal codes in British India during the colonial period, and developments in legislation after 1947 independence and the creation of the state of Pakistan and in postcolonialism. Nazir’s thorough and rigorous historical research brings important understanding and reflection to contemporary religious laws, religious rights and multi-faith society in Pakistan.

In this powerful book F. A. Nazir deploys a wealth of historical and legal scholarship to show how legislation originally drafted with the utilitarian purpose of protecting India’s various religious communities from words and actions calculated to bring offence has, in the very different context of an Islamic theocratic state, become an instrument of oppression against all religious minorities. Nazir raises issues of fundamental importance for Christians, Muslims, and all those concerned with religious freedom and stability in the contemporary world.

—Brian Stanley, PhD, Professor of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh

F. A. Nazir has a PhD in World Christianity from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and is a lecturer and Dean of Studies at Gujranwala Theological Seminary, Pakistan. As well as serving the church through preaching, training and teaching in theological education institutions, her other significant passions are singing, music, and poetry.

The Pharisees in Matthew 23 Reconsidered

• Author: Seng Ja Layang
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 186

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Layang defends and analyses the view that the actions of the Pharisees, and the condemnation they receive in Matthew 23 are consistent with the context of Jesus’s time on earth. Layang tackles the dating controversy of the Pharisees in this chapter and the chapter’s subsequent authenticity. An interesting and in-depth study that credits Matthew 23 as historically reliable and authoritative as part of the Word of God, giving a convincing counter-argument to recent critical thought.

Dr Layang Seng Ja competently argues that Matthew 23 provides an authentic portrayal of the Pharisees in Jesus’s time, but also reflects the turbulent post-70 period where Matthew’s Jewish-Christian community faced conflict from Pharisaic-Rabbinic Judaism. The study contains a wealth of historical information and literary insights, and presents a valuable voice from the Majority World. I warmly recommend this monograph.

—Cornelis Bennema, PhD, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, Union School of Theology, Oxford

Seng Ja Layang earned her DTh in New Testament from Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong. Formerly, she worked as a Burmese-Chinese-Kachin interpreter at the Kachin Independence Organization, and is now a full-time professor in New Testament Studies and also Head of the New Testament department at Kachin Theological College and Seminary, Myanmar. She is also an executive member of the Society of Asian Biblical Studies (SABS).

The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches: Its Background, Context, and Formation among Post-World War II Churches

• Author: Raymundo Go
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 364

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Go presents the growth of evangelicalism in the Philippines from 1898 to 2000, looking at the formation of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches and motivating factors of founding members. Go brings insights on the impact that American issues had on the Philippine church. Through detailed explanation of the interaction and influence of the modernist/liberal, fundamental, and evangelical movements in shaping Philippine Christian history, this study addresses the reason for a lack of unity in the Philippine church.

Raymundo Go’s historical exposition of the formation and development of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches is logically arranged, thorough, detailed, and well documented.

—Rodrigo D. Tano, PhD, President of Alliance Graduate School

Raymundo Go earned his PhD from Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. He has been a missionary with Philippine Campus Crusade for Christ for thirty years, and has taught theology at the International Graduate School of Leadership, Quezon City, Philippines, for the last seventeen years. Dr Go recently moved to serve as a lecturer in the Theology Department at the East Asia School of Theology, Singapore. He and his wife, Lut, are blessed with two children, Sara and Nathan.

Theology of Participation: A Conversation of Traditions

• Author: Daniel G. Oprean
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 282

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Dr Oprean explores how existing theological resources can be used to enhance theological discourse between Baptist and Orthodox traditions in Romania through in-depth analysis of the thought of British Baptist theologian, Professor Paul Fiddes, and Romanian Orthodox theologian, Father Dumitru Staniloae. Presented as a conversation between the two traditions this study is a model for how theological and religious dialogue can facilitate reconciliation, not just in the church but also in wider society.

This book is a welcome and important contribution to the field of religious dialogue between the Orthodox and the Baptist communities. This is a book that will serve to enhance the conversation between Orthodox and Baptist communities in Romania, and deepen the mutual understanding of each other’s religious traditions.

—Ian J. Shaw, PhD, Provost, Union School of Theology, Bridgend, South Wales, UK

Daniel G. Oprean received his PhD from the University of Wales, Cardiff, UK, in 2014 and is currently a senior lecturer at Evangelical Theological Seminary, Osijek, Croatia. He serves as the Movement Coordinator for Langham Preaching in Romania, as well as a pastor with the Baptist Union in Romania. He is the author of Communion and Participation: Theological Reflections on the Spiritual Dimension of Existence (Excelsior Art, 2011) and editor of The Dialogue between Exegesis and Theology in Bible Preaching (Editura de Vest, 2018).

Transforming Missiology: An Alternative Approach to Missiological Education

• Author: Fohle Lygunda li-M
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 464

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Dr Lygunda provides a thorough analysis of missiological teaching in theological education institutes in Africa, with special reference to three Christian universities in Democratic Republic of Congo. His detailed examination of current teaching of mission theory and praxis forms the solid foundation for his articulation of a new paradigm of missiological education. In this study Lygunda convincingly presents the case for a transformed approach to raising up seminarians who are equipped to lead indigenous missional churches.

The vibrant churches of majority world hold great hope for the future vitality of the global Christian movement. Speaking from the challenging but vibrant context of Congo, Fohle’s Transforming Missiology is a timely call to see God’s mission as the defining hub for programs of theological education. Both the theory and practical advice given here hold genuine potential to see the church transformed by the divine call and agents of missional transformation in a needy world.

—Perry Shaw, EdD, Author and Professor of Education, Arab Baptist Theological Seminary

Fohle Lygunda li-M has a PhD in Missiology from North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa, where he currently serves as an extraordinary researcher, and has a DMin from Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky, USA. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Africa Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, (ACIS) in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. His interest and expertise in education sprouted from his first job as a primary school teacher and his whole career has been devoted to education of some kind, including Academic Dean and Quality Assurance director at International Leadership University, Burundi.

Translating Nephesh in the Psalms into Chinese: An Exercise in Intergenerational and Literary Bible Translation

• Author: Hui Er Yu
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 442

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This interdisciplinary study tackles the controversy of translating nephesh by using an intergenerational translation team to deepen our understanding of this term and providing a more valuable translation in Chinese, especially for use in specialist Children’s Bibles. This book provides important lessons for the many translation projects working towards Children’s Bibles but also for how translation of biblical terms can be better reached through this intergenerational process.

The most remarkable aspect of Dr Yu’s research is that she pioneered the inclusion of children and youth in an intergenerational Bible translation team. This not only challenges the traditional understanding of the role of children in Christian ministry but practically shows how to optimize and integrate their contribution in the very sophisticated enterprise of Bible translation.

—Johannes Malherbe, PhD, Head of Academics, Postgraduate School, South African Theological Seminary

Hui Er Yu gained her PhD from the South African Theological Seminary, Sandton, South Africa, in 2017. She emigrated from her native country, Taiwan, to pursue theological education and currently works as the Children’s Ministry Director at North York Christian Community Church, Toronto, Canada and has been involved in children’s ministry for over sixteen years. Hui Er Yu was a recipient of the Frederick Buechner Award for excellence in writing (2017).

Women and Pride: An Exploration of the Feminist Critique of Reinhold Niebuhr’s Theology of Sin

• Author: Luping Huang
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 236

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Dr. Huang provides a thorough analysis and examination of both the Niebuhrian and feminist understandings of sin, highlighting the strengths and limitations of both arguments. Through her research and interaction with women’s testimonies, Huang’s argument bridges these two competing views of women and sin resulting in a more accurate understanding and application of the theology of sin, particularly in reference to women.

This book is a Chinese female scholar’s challenge to, and reconstruction of, the feminist perspective of Reinhold Niebuhr’s doctrine of sin. Dr Huang takes women’s experience into account seriously while revising and developing Christian theology departing from Niebuhr. An excellent example of doing theology from one’s experience!

—Zhibin Xie, PhD, Author and Professor of Christian Philosophy & Ethics, Tongji University, China

Luping Huang holds a PhD in Christian Studies from Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong. She is Associate Researcher at Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. Dr Huang’s main academic interests focus upon Christian ethics and patristics.