Langham Monographs Update (21 vols.)

by Hann Tzuu Joey Tan; Peter Kamande Thuo; Khee-Vun Lin; Konstantin Nazarov

and

17 more

Publisher:

Langham

, 2020–2021

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

A Christian Theology of Suffering in the Context of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand

• Author: Satanun Boonyakiat
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 196

In this book, Satanun Boonyakiat elucidates a Christian theology of suffering relevant to the context of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand. Grounding his work in a trinitarian comparative theology of religions, Boonyakiat explores the ways in which Buddhist teachings on suffering—specifically the Four Noble Truths—can challenge, enrich, and deepen a Christian perspective. Ultimately, Dr Boonyakiat suggests, a Christian theology of suffering relevant to the people of Thailand, both Christian and Buddhist alike, must move beyond a traditional, western emphasis on theodicy to address a practical response to suffering’s lived reality—a response rooted firmly in Scripture and grounded in a theology of the cross.

This book represents a wonderful example of careful listening to another religious tradition in order to properly appreciate and learn from it; Boonyakiat's work is a genuine conversation where Christians discover what they can learn from Buddhism.

—William A. Dyrness

A Complementary Approach to the Interpretation and Translation of Biblical Metaphors

• Author: Peter Kamande Thuo
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 314

In this in-depth study, Peter Kamande Thuo explores the complexity of accurately understanding, interpreting, and translating Scripture, especially biblical metaphors. Engaging the need for a stronger theoretical framework for conceptualizing and communicating metaphors across languages, Dr Thuo proposes a complementary approach that utilizes relevance theory to bridge gaps presented by conceptual metaphor theory and cognitive linguistics.

There are many biblical metaphors which may look very similar to those in African target languages yet significantly very different in meaning. A good example is “circumcision of heart” in Romans 2:29. A face-value translation that does not pay attention to conceptual differences between the source language culture and target language culture may yield misleading interpretations. In this book the author demonstrates how the tools of Conceptual Integration Theory and Relevance Theory can be applied to render biblical metaphors in more meaningful ways. This book is very informative and will be of great use to scholars in Biblical Studies, Socio-linguistics and Bible Translation, especially in African cultural contexts where parallels of biblical imagery and rituals are easily encountered and thought to be similar, yet the underlying conceptual meanings are totally different. I highly recommend this book for reference in seminaries, theological colleges and universities.

—Diphus Chemorion

Biblical Shalom for Sustainable Holistic Transformational Development in Nigeria: A Study of Two Rural Communities in North Central Nigeria

• Author: Stephen Z Yashim
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 250

How do Christian organizations, engaged in development work, effectively facilitate the holistic transformation of communities? In this important contribution to the field, Dr. Stephen Yashim reviews the participatory, problem-solving approaches commonly utilized by Christian relief and development organizations in Nigeria. Dr. Yashim highlights the failure of current methods to facilitate dialogue between the biblical worldview with its divine, transformative potential, and the worldview of local rural communities. In order for rural communities to progressively experience biblical shalom—the total well-being of the whole and its members—they must be equipped to examine and articulate their own perspective on development while also engaging with biblical perspectives. Dr. Yashim proposes an alternative approach of “participatory appreciative dialogue” to be used alongside more traditional methods in pursuit of community transformation. This is an excellent resource for anyone engaged in community development and transformation, and who longs to experience biblical shalom poured out among individuals and communities.

The quest for a holistic transformation of rural communities through a sustainable framework in Africa has indeed been a challenge over the years. A participatory appreciative dialogue approach has been developed by Stephen Z. Yashim as a working and sustainable method for holistic rural community development to facilitate the application of biblical shalom. His qualitative engagements with the sampled participants during the data collection and the results obtained afterward have proven beyond reasonable doubt that the proposed framework is worth adopting as a supplement to the existing frameworks that are still not yielding adequate results. I am convinced Yashim's model in this book is relevant for the African context. Hence, the rural communities will get involved in meaningful services with biblical guidance for their own development, and they will appreciate and feel recognized for their contributions with the help of God almighty.

—Ruth Enoch Adamu

By What Authority? The Literary Function and Impact of Conflict Stories in the Gospel of Matthew

• Author: Rebecca Ye-Atkinson
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 264

Hostile encounters between Jesus and Jewish leaders are found throughout the Gospel of Matthew. Yet these encounters are rarely explored holistically, nor is attention given to the reason for their prominence in the Matthean text. In By What Authority?, Dr Rebecca Ye-Atkinson examines seventeen distinct moments of conflict in the first gospel, exploring the function of each narrative in light of Matthew’s overarching literary and theological purposes. An excellent resource for scholars, this in-depth textual analysis is also accessible and engaging for any reader interested in deepening their understanding of Matthew’s gospel and its message.

This study provides valuable insight into the narrative function of the conflict stories in Matthew’s gospel, showing their role in the overall design or plot of this gospel. Conflict leads to the passion. The author also rightly highlights the christological function that surfaces in some of these narratives, which reveal Jesus’s identity, including its divine aspect.

—Craig S. Keener, PhD

Catalyzing Reader-Response to the Oral Gospel: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Markan Text's Convincing and Convicting Devices

• Author: Mwaniki Karura
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 296

Dr. Mwaniki Karura provides fresh insight into the Gospel of Mark, its audience, and its purpose in this in-depth study of the Markan text and its oral context. Through careful analysis of the rhetorical layers in Mark, Karura establishes the use of Old Testament quotations, miracle stories, and the passion narratives as tools to galvanize its readers’ response to the oral gospel they had already received. Dr. Karura demonstrates how Mark’s gospel exists as both a challenge and an encouragement, utilizing parables such as the sower and that of the wicked tenants, to reflect its readers’ own hearts. In condemning its audience’s lukewarm response to the gospel they had heard preached, it simultaneously seeks to inspire obedience, faith, and whole-hearted passion for that same gospel. This is an excellent resource for scholars and preachers alike, as they seek to further understand the Markan text, its first-century audience, and the context of the early church.

This innovative and enduring book tackles an important topic which has been almost unnoticed in Markan scholarship, and it is highly endorsed to the reader due to its scholarly insights and eloquence. It is commended as one of the best books on the relationship between oral gospel and written gospel.

—Rev. Kabiro wa Gatumu, PhD

Church and Mission in the Context of War: A Descriptive Missiological Study of the Response of the Baptist Church in Central Africa to the War in Eastern Congo between 1990 and 2011r: A Descriptive Missiological Study of the Response of the Baptist Church in Central Africa to the War in Eastern Congo between 1990 and 2011

• Author: Eraston Kambale Kighoma
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 320

The church in the Democratic Republic of Congo is no stranger to conflict, yet little research has been done on the impact of war in shaping the local church's understanding of itself and its mission. In this in-depth study, Dr. Eraston Kambale Kighoma traces the survival and theological development of the Baptist Church in Central Africa over a twenty-year period of conflict. Utilizing a combination of descriptive, contextual and integrative approaches, he examines the effect of war on the church’s theology in action, especially its understanding and practice of mission. This study sheds new light on existing theories of missions, while offering specific insight into the church’s missionary task in contexts of conflict. It offers an excellent addition to missiological studies for scholars and practitioners alike.

Dialogue of Life: Social Engagement as the Preferred Means to Incarnational Mission in the Context of Malay Hegemony

• Author: Khee-Vun Lin
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 220

The status of the global church is often that of a sociopolitical minority, at odds politically, religiously, and socially with the nations that encompass it. In such contexts, where Christians find themselves facing oppression, isolation, and challenging questions of identity, how is the church to faithfully uphold its missional calling? In this in-depth study of Chinese Christians living in Sabah, Malaysia, Dr. Khee-Vun Lin engages missiology and political theology to address the practical implications of incarnational mission in contexts where national identity exclude Christians from the public discourse. Examining the political and religious history of Malaysia, including the impact of colonialism, nationalism, and Islamization, Dr. Lin provides a powerful explication of the theological and practical foundations for utilizing social engagement as a tool of incarnational mission. Whether living under oppressive hegemonic control or the shadow of secular governments turned hostile to Christian values, it is through embracing incarnational identity that Christians can authentically engage both nation-building and evangelism to the good of their neighbor and the glory of God.

Historically the encounter between Christianity and Islam has been primarily defined either by confrontation and war or by the subjugation of Christians as dhimmis in Muslim territories. Dr. Lin writes out of his existential struggles as a Chinese Christian living in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority state. Against this background he courageously asks the question: Is there a third way which avoids either extreme of confrontation or subjugation and which allows Christians simultaneously to play a meaningful citizenship role in the nation and to be faithful in Christ’s mission?

—Bishop Emeritus Hwa Yung

Dostoevsky’s Convictional Theology Expressed in His Life and Literature

• Author: Dumitru Sevastian
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 314

Fyodor Dostoevsky was not a theologian, and his books are not books of theology. However, there is a "living way" that emerges from the study of his life and work, convictions made manifest in the details of his own life and the lives of his characters. Utilizing James William McClendon’s conception of biography as theology, Dr. Dumitru Sevastian explores the lived convictions that emerge from three distinct periods in Dostoevsky's life, the pre-Siberian, Siberian, and post-Siberian, each represented by one of his novels, The Poor Folk, The House of the Dead, and The Brothers Karamazov. What emerges is a powerful expression of faith formed in community and tempered in suffering, an example relevant to all Christians seeking to model their lives and relationships on the dying and resurrected Christ.

Working on the life and writings of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Dumitru Sevastian has produced an instructive exercise in reconstruction of this influential Russian writer's theology. The book employs James Wm. McClendon’s “biography as theology” approach which provides the necessary interpretive lenses through which Dr Sevastian discovers Dostoevsky's convictions and the communities which stood behind them and shaped them. This book demonstrates how life events and communities of influence leave their imprint on one's convictions and embedded theology. This is a good example of how to do theology biographically.

—Oleksandr Geychenko, PhD

Expository Preaching in a World of Spiritual Nominalism: Exploring the Churches in India's North East

• Author: R T Johnson Raih
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 424

The spiritual decay of nominalism threatens the established church worldwide. While spiritual lethargy is often addressed from the perspective of theology and discipleship, little attention has been given to the role of homiletics in revitalizing a congregation’s spiritual health. In this study, Dr. Johnson Raih explores the impact of preaching on members of Baptist churches in Imphal, Manipur, India, from 2000 to 2015. He utilizes interviews and questionnaires from pastors, church leaders, and lay members to assess the presence of nominalism within church congregations, along with the effects of various preaching methods on increasing or decreasing spiritual vitality. Combining this qualitative research with scriptural and theological insight, Raih suggests that expository preaching has the power to confront, and even eradicate, nominalism within the church. He draws on biblical examples, along with the methodology of John Stott and Timothy Keller, to offer ten practical recommendations for countering nominalism homiletically - whether in Imphal, India, or around the world.

Why is nominalism rampant within the church? Could it be that it has to do with deficient preaching that fails to expound God’s word in a faithful and challenging way to his people? Johnson Raih has set out to explore the connection in relation to the Baptist churches in Imphal, Manipur, in northeast India, an area with a long Christian tradition. Taking care to situate his findings in a wider biblical and contemporary framework concerning preaching, he is, above all, concerned with listening to the voice of the people. They reveal why much preaching fails to produce mature and holy Christians and what can be done about it. If his findings are given the seriousness they deserve, it could revolutionize the quality of Christian living not only in Imphal but well beyond it too.

—Derek Tidball, PhD

Faith-Integrated Being, Knowing, and Doing: A Study among Christian Faculty in Indonesia

• Author: Sarinah Lo
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 276

In this holistic study of the integration of faith and learning, Dr. Sarinah Lo challenges the Western tendency to privilege knowing over being and doing. In the context of Indonesian higher education, Dr. Lo addresses the cognitive, affective, spiritual, relational, and vocational aspects of human nature. She demonstrates that effective integration of faith and learning must reach beyond the academic disciplines to address the formation of a Christian perspective in all areas of life, thought, and practice. Utilizing in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis, Dr. Lo’s field research explores the specific challenges facing Christian faculty in Indonesia, where the rise of radical Islam and the pressure to conform to state ideology raise unique questions about the nature of faith-learning integration. The first study of its kind, this is an excellent resource for educators wanting to think more broadly about what it means to follow Christ in the classroom, pushing beyond Western models of integration to embrace the more holistic approach of faith-integrated being, knowing, and doing.

The integration of faith and learning has been challenging Christian educators for decades. Sarinah Lo not only identifies the contributing factors to this challenge but also proposes a wholistic approach that Christian faculty members and institutions would do well to consider.

—Donald C. Guthrie

Focalization in the Old Testament Narratives with Specific Examples from the Book of Ruth

• Author: Konstantin Nazarov
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 320

Since Gérard Genette first coined the term in 1972, focalization has been recognized as one ofthe key concepts in contemporary understandings of narrative. However, in the field of biblical studies, the concept has been largely overlooked. Dr. Konstantin Nazarov seeks to rectify this oversight, exploring the implications of focalization on Old Testament narratology. Utilizing the work of Wolf Schmid and Valeri Tjupa to develop his methodology - and examining the book of Ruth as a case study - Nazarov demonstrates the value of focalization in furthering the appreciation and understanding of biblical texts. This is an excellent resource for students of narratology, biblical studies scholars, or anyone seeking to better understand the narratives of Scripture.

Interpersonal Reconciliation between Christians in a Shame-Oriented Culture: A Sri Lankan Case Study

• Author: Mano Emmanuel
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 320

Interpersonal conflict is one of the greatest threats to the health and growth of the church worldwide. Yet despite their best intentions, Christian leaders often discover that the cause of recurring conflict remains unclear and prescribed techniques for conflict resolution are ineffective in their communities. In this Sri Lankan case study, Dr Mano Emmanuel examines the specifics of interpersonal conflict within a shame-oriented culture. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, she incorporates cultural anthropology, missiology, and communication studies into her analysis, identifying seven aspects of culture that must be addressed if reconciliation is to be fully experienced in the Sri Lankan church. Highlighting the parallels between contemporary honor-shame cultures and the honor-shame context of the New Testament, the author provides specific suggestions for experiencing biblical reconciliation while maintaining cultural sensitivity and protecting the honor of those involved.

The inability to deal properly with interpersonal conflicts is causing havoc in the South Asian church today. Christians with bright prospects of usefulness in the kingdom are destroying their futures, and vibrant churches are facing God-dishonouring splits. A major reason for this poor showing in the church is an inadequate understanding of the biblical dynamics of conflict resolution and an inadequate reckoning of the cultural features that hugely influence our behavior. This learned study discusses these issues with a deep sensitivity to both these areas. Reading and learning from this book would be a health-giving antidote to much that ails our church.

—Ajith Fernando

Journeys to New Life, Identity, and Community: Empowering Jesus Followers and Jamaats in Bangladesh

• Author: Peter Kwang-Hee Yun
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 306

In Journeys to New Life, Identity, and Community, Dr. Peter K. Yun explores the complexities of identity for Muslim background believers (MBBs) in Bangladesh. Encompassing scholarship surrounding contextualization and the insider movement, as well as extensive personal interviews with Bangladeshi MBBs, this book offers insight into the lived reality of following Christ within a Muslim context. Yun identifies three primary approaches to negotiating social identity within MBB communities and examines the potential strengths and weaknesses of each, as well as the implications for believers navigating the gospel’s call to be within culture and simultaneously beyond it. This book offers careful anthropological observation while speaking to missiological concerns and offering practical suggestions for local believers, practitioners, and future scholars. It is a powerful resource for anyone passionate about God’s work in Muslim contexts.

Revelation and Grace: A Critical Appraisal of Hendrik Kraemer’s Theology of Religions

• Author: Philip Djung
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 250

Our globalized world, with its increasingly pluralistic societies, necessitates a theological framework that enables Christians to embrace their neighbors - with respect, understanding, and love - without compromising the essential components of their own faith. In Revelation and Grace, Dr. Philip Djung explores the ways in which Hendrik Kraemer’s theology of religions offers the church such a framework. By placing Kraemer in conversation with other twentieth century Dutch Reformed theologians, namely Herman Bavinck, Johan H. Bavinck, and Abraham Kuyper, Dr. Djung allows the doctrine of revelation and grace to inform his interpretation of Kraemer’s work. He provides a critical assessment of Kraemer’s theology, illustrating the significance of Kraemer’s commitment to the uniqueness of Christ and the necessity of Christian mission, while advocating for the need to amend certain aspects of Kraemer's perspective to more fully reflect God’s presence in world religions.

Sermon Listening: A New Approach Based on Congregational Studies and Rhetoric

• Author: Enoh Seba
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 300

Preaching is an integral part of every church service, and its purpose has always been to edify, encourage, and to emphasize the positive effects of coming together as a people of God. Yet there remains an inconsistency between the intended goals of preaching and the subjective perception of the listeners. In this homiletical study, Dr. Enoh Seba provides fresh insight into the “turn to the listener” model and offers a theologically sustainable warrant mandate for the transformation of the preaching practice through a stronger involvement of the congregation. While grounding the research in the experience of Croatian Baptists, Dr. Seba highlights practical suggestions for both listeners and preachers that are transferrable across contexts. This important work reveals that preaching can and should be transformed into a truly congregational practice that will affirmatively affect the dynamics of ecclesial life. This book will spark conversations and induce small-scale changes on a variety of levels while bridging the gap between preachers and their listeners.

The Beasts, the Graves, and the Ghosts: A Study of Contextualized Preaching during Chinese Festivals

• Author: Hann Tzuu Joey Tan
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 418

At the heart of the gospel is the message of the incarnation: God translating himself into the context of human culture and language so we might know him. Far from coming to an end with Christ’s life on earth, this process of contextualization is ongoing, reoccurring every time the gospel encounters the particularities of society and culture.

In this book, Dr Tan explores the significance of contextualized preaching within the Chinese context. Against the backdrop of three major festivals - the Spring Festival, the Qing Ming Festival, and the Hungry Ghost Festival - Tan examines the practices of six experienced Chinese preachers in order to demonstrate the theological and practical importance of contextualized preaching. As a result of his research, Tan suggests six main principles for contextual preaching - principles that are rooted within a Chinese context, yet applicable to anyone seeking to express the gospel’s relevance within a particular cultural setting. Combining insights from biblical studies, applied theology, and ethnography, this interdisciplinary study will enrich one’s understanding of Chinese culture, the gospel, and the important and necessary work of contextualization.

For preachers and evangelists, this volume is a gold mine. Written by a preacher, evangelist and entrepreneur, the reader's eyes will be opened and the heart will be warmed as well. The subject of contextualization has been treated many times over, but the treasure in this book is a classic case study in a Chinese cultural context. The reader will also be rewarded by several charts and graphs, as well as illustrations from the personal ministry of local church ministry, contextualized church planting and examples from far-reaching recording and television presentations. And although Dr Hann Tzuu Tan's primary intention is situated in a Chinese culture, this thorough treatment will be useful in other contexts as well.

—John W. Nyquist, PhD

The Fellowship of the Throne in John’s Apocalypse: A Theo-Political Inquiry into Authority and Society and their Christological Bond

• Author: Fabián Santiago
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 334

What relevance does the book of Revelation hold for our lived reality within secular societies? In this book, Dr Fabián Santiago explores concepts of authority, society, and political power against the backdrop of the Apocalypse and in conversation with Oliver O’Donovan’s political theology. Santiago offers a reading of Revelation that does not bypass its exegetical complexities, but instead allows for new possibilities of engagement. He investigates the conception of authority presented in Revelation - a conception centered on the throne of God and transformed by the exalted Jesus - and argues that this divine authority ultimately correlates with the Fellowship of the Throne, a liturgical community mediated by the risen Christ. An excellent resource for students of political theory and theology, Christology, and biblical narrative, this book offers a powerful theo-political critique of secular discourse on the nature of political authority.

In this fascinating close reading of the biblical text of the Book of Revelation with Oliver O’Donovan’s political theology as his exegetical guide, Dr Santiago proposes from his Mexican context a new way forward for an avowedly secular state where over 90 percent of the population are active Christian believers with a rich religious heritage. Bringing together his upbringing and education in Mexico and his theological and biblical studies in London, he argues that the Apocalypse brings to a climax the biblical account of God’s kingly rule in which the throne of God, the basis of divine power, is supremely fulfilled through the exalted Christ in a liturgical sociality of the Fellowship of the Throne, which becomes the ultimate horizon for political power. This provides a welcome theo-political challenge to the secular public discourse of not only Mexico but much of the Western world, and a much-needed call to the church to embody the authority of the risen and exalted Christ in today's society.

—Rev Richard A. Burridge, PhD

The Universal Eschatological Worship of Jesus Christ in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians

• Author: Surif
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 302

Philippians 2:6-11 is one of the most significant christological passages to appear in Paul’s letters. Placing these verses against the backdrop of the Roman-imperial cult that flourished in Philippi, Dr. Surif moves beyond a humiliation/vindication or obedience/lordship paradigm to focus on the section's culmination in the universal eschatological worship of Christ. Examining Paul’s eschatological framework throughout Philippians - as well as its tradition within Jewish literature more broadly - Dr. Surif explores the implications for Christians called to obedience, suffering, and holiness as active participants in God’s work of salvation. Ultimately, Paul is reminding his readers that salvation does not culminate in the resurrection of the dead but the universal worship of Jesus Christ - and it is for that worship that they are being prepared.

Women in Mission: SIM/ECWA Women in Nigeria 1923–2013

• Author: Lami Rikwe Ibrahim Bakari
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 210

In Africa and around the world, the church has been established through the faithful effort of men and women working together for the sake of the gospel. However, failure to acknowledge women’s contributions in evangelism and ministry - or to integrate women’s stories into the history of the church - has led to treating women as secondary within the body of Christ.

In Africa and around the world, the church has been established through the faithful effort of men and women working together for the sake of the gospel. However, failure to acknowledge women’s contributions in evangelism and ministry - or to integrate women's stories into the history of the church - has led to treating women as secondary within the body of Christ.

Women in Mission explores the powerful legacy of women in SIM (formerly, Sudan Interior Mission) and the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), demonstrating that from the beginning women have been active and essential participants in the work of God in Nigeria. Dr. Lami Rikwe Ibrahim Bakari examines various theological and cultural frameworks for understanding the role of women in society before delving into the rich historical reality of women’s involvement in Nigerian church history. This study is a powerful reminder that God’s call to partner in the gospel is not limited by sex, and that it is precisely in recognizing women as primary and active participants in God’s mission - maximizing and not suppressing their giftings -that the kingdom of God is best served.

Women in Mission explores the powerful legacy of women in SIM (formerly, Sudan Interior Mission) and the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), demonstrating that from the beginning women have been active and essential participants in the work of God in Nigeria. Dr. Lami Rikwe Ibrahim Bakari examines various theological and cultural frameworks for understanding the role of women in society before delving into the rich historical reality of women’s involvement in Nigerian church history. This study is a powerful reminder that God’s call to partner in the gospel is not limited by sex, and that it is precisely in recognizing women as primary and active participants in God’s mission - maximizing and not suppressing their giftings -that the kingdom of God is best served.

Dr. Ibrahim has added her voice on the unending debate on the role of women in Christian missions and church life. There is a need for men and women to be partners in missions and in all spheres of the life of the church. This book suggests concrete and creative ways to achieve such partnership. I highly recommend it to all leaders and members of ECWA, as well as other denominations in Nigeria and Africa.

—Rev. Barje S. Maigadi, PhD

Work and Community in the Thessalonian Correspondence: An African Communal Reading of Paul’s Work Exhortations

• Author: Gift Mtukwa
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 244

In this important study, Dr. Gift Mtukwa investigates the relationship between work and community in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. Utilizing an African biblical hermeneutic, he provides a theology of work that takes seriously the communal nature of Paul’s context and its parallels with a traditional African worldview. He combines cultural and historical insight with biblical analysis to demonstrate that work has a critical role to play in community formation. It is neither a burden nor an individual pursuit but a purposeful communal activity done to benefit self and neighbor.

This fresh look at Paul’s work exhortations from a contextualized African perspective offers a powerful reminder that work - like all human endeavors - should have the glory of God and love of others as its goal.

Zhang Yijing (1871–1931) and the Search for a Chinese Christian Identity

• Author: Jue Wang
• Series: Langham Monographs
• Publisher: Langham
• Publication Date: 2021
• Pages: 442

Can Christian identity and national identity be reconciled? For Christians in China, this question is particularly fraught. While Sinicization offers the indigenous church one path forward, it fails to provide a tenable solution for believers unwilling to submit their love of God under love of country.

Dr. Jue Wang explores an alternative roadmap for Chinese Christian identity in the writings of Zhang Yijing. The editor of True Light, a Chinese Baptist publication, Zhang was also a Chinese patriot, Confucian, and life-long proponent of science and reason. Utilizing the lens of identity studies, Dr. Wang examines Zhang’s process of reconciling faith and culture in his quest to be both authentically Christian and authentically Chinese. This study offers a fascinating glimpse into the modern history of the Chinese church, while uncovering the significance of an often-overlooked Chinese Christian apologist. Zhang’s example offers encouragement and hope for believers around the world seeking to integrate social, cultural, and national identities under the lordship of Christ.

Jue Wang’s timely study on the life and identity of Zhang Yijing is an essential work for those who wish to understand how modern nationalism, rationalism, and culture have shaped the identity of Chinese Christianity. Further, it probes new avenues by which to understand identity and contextualization of Chinese Christianity and the various challenges this contextualization has overcome to become deeply rooted in China today.

—Thomas Alan Harvey