Perspectives on church and mission: The missional church and metaphors for the church

The most important issues for the missional church should be to establish the relation between mission and the church. The methodology used is to listen to voices concerning relevant issues in the missional church. Many important aspects of the missional church are discussed to give an overview of contemporary challenges. Metaphors for the church, such as people of God, body of Christ, temple of God, bride of Christ and witness of God give many essential guidelines for how the church should engage the world. By evaluating these metaphors, new suggestions can be made. It is concluded that the church should always be the church of the living Christ, living new lives in this world with the eye on the world to come.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The relation of the Church and mission is of great importance. In the discipline of Missiology current ideas about the missional church call for new interpretations. Only by thoroughly interacting with the metaphors of the church can the missional church be understood in a new way.

Application of Inculturation Criteria in Studies on the Indigenous Nature of the Church in Nubia

This article is an attempt to define the relationship between Christianity in Nubia and the local cultures of the Nubian kingdoms of Nobadia and Makuria from the 6th to the beginning of the 16th century, using the inculturation criteria theory associated with the actualization of the Church within a particular culture in light of archaeological research. The mission of the Church must be realized within a specific community of the people of God as well as in its administrative structure and the local hierarchy. The Church’s task is to accomplish its sanctifying, prophetic and teaching mission, which is accomplished through the proclamation of the Gospel, the celebration of sacraments, funeral rites, and teaching of prayer practices. Due to lack of adequate resources, this Church’s prophetic task was omitted. The Church, as archaeological research shows, also contributed to social life and the development of the material culture of the inhabitants of the Middle Nile Valley.

Profetismo e resistência: crítica à cidade injusta a partir do olhar de um camponês (Mq 3, 9-12) | Prophetism and resistance: criticism of the unjust city from the perspective of a peasant (Mic 3, 9-12)

Este estudo aborda o profetismo bíblico em Miqueias (Mq 3,9-12). Em uma terra devastada, em que não há mais profetas, justifica-se o resgate do profetismo como missão em denunciar a injustiça e anunciar o direito, mais especificamente em relação aos vulneráveis. O objetivo deste estudo é compreender os atos proféticos de Miqueias, apropriando-se deles como chave de leitura para a atualidade, à luz da História da Salvação, conceituando-se resistência como resgate da relação humana com a terra, enquanto vínculo sagrado com a Promessa de Deus a seu Povo. Este intento será conseguido mediante revisão bibliográfica e aproximação bíblico-teológica, buscando-se a reflexão e a entrega do significado do texto conforme o contexto histórico vivido com as lideranças político-religiosas em Miqueias (Mq 3,9-12). Ao investigar a ruptura da Aliança, a perda da posse da terra e a perda do vínculo como nação em Israel, vividas pelos camponeses contemporâneos a Miqueias, procura-se delimitar a responsabilidade pela relativização do direito à terra, como aliança sagrada e consequente perda da condição de identidade como Povo de Deus. Resultados: O estudo demonstrou a função social do profeta como decodificador do momento histórico, atemporal, levado pela força da indignação, da qual procede sua resistência, não solitária, mas, solidária, amparada no sonho coletivo e comunitário, organizado e possível. Considerações Finais: A pesquisa ampliou a compreensão bíblica e teológica da necessidade do resgate da dignidade humana em periferias urbanas, construindo a cidade justa, fundada na agroecologia urbana e na bem-aventurança da simplicidade. This study speaks about the theme of biblical prophetism in Micah (Mic 3,9-12). In a devastated land, where there are no more prophets, the rescue of prophetism as a mission to denounce injustice and announce the right, more specifically in relation to the vulnerable, is justified. The objective of this study is to understand the prophetic acts of Micah, appropriating them as a key for reading today, in the light of the History of Salvation, conceptualizing resistance as a rescue of the human relationship with the earth, as a sacred connection with the Promise of God to his People. This intent will be achieved through a bibliographic review and a biblical-theological approach, seeking to reflect and rescue the meaning of the text according to the historical context experienced with the political-religious leaders in Micah (Mic 3,9-12). In investigating the rupture of the Alliance, loss of land ownership, loss of the bond as a nation in Israel, experienced by contemporary peasants to Micah, it seeks to delimit the responsibility for the relativization of the right to land as a sacred alliance, and consequent loss of the condition of identity as People of God. Results: The study seeks to demonstrate the social function of the prophet as a decoder of the historical, timeless moment, driven by the force of indignation, from which comes his resistance, not solitary, but, solidary, supported by the collective and community dream, organized and possible. Final Considerations: The research intends to base biblically and theologically the rescue of human dignity in urban peripheries, building the just city, founded on urban agroecology and the bliss of simplicity.

“Stately and Set Apart”

In Chapter 2, the members of Park Street Church in Boston (founded 1809) wrestle with the question of how to maintain their church’s historic identity without becoming a museum. The solution is an organic interpretation of progress. Park Street leaders believe that, just as a seed contains all the genetic information necessary to become a mature plant, healthy change unfold slowly and logically, according to a predictable trajectory, from a single point of origin. This chapter analyzes how the congregation’s understanding of progress is reflected in its preaching and musical repertoire. Just as God’s covenant with Abraham unites Israel and the New Testament church into a single people of God, so too does a musical “covenant” penned in 1810 by the church’s first musicians unite nineteenth- and twenty-first century congregations into a single Park Street Church.

Old Testament and Nationalism: Hebrew Bible, Jewish People, English Nation

This article discusses the co-evolution of nationalism and Protestantism in the course of the sixteenth century in England; the influence of the Hebrew Bible’s concept of “the people of Israel” as a community of fundamentally equal members on the emerging English national consciousness (the first national consciousness to develop, in turn influencing all subsequent nationalisms); and the reinterpretation of the core passages of the Hebrew Bible, in English translations up to the King James version, in terms of the emerging national consciousness. Completely independent at their historical sources, nationalism and Protestantism reinforced each other in the crucial English case through the translation of the Hebrew Bible. This, on the one hand, nationalized Protestantism in England and, on the other, led to the incorporation of the biblical concept of the people of God in the new, secular concept of nation.

The Church and Ecumenism in the Thought of John Henry Newman

This article explores the development of Newman’s thought on the Church, throughout different phases of his long life. The article focuses, among other themes, on the nature of the Church, the important introduction to his Via Media (1877), the charismatic dimension of the ekklesia, and the respective roles of the pope, the bishops and the laity, in particular what the latter can contribute to the whole People of God. The article also seeks to delve into the question whether one can talk about ecumenism in the writings of the influential nineteenth-century English man of letters and opinion leader. The conclusion offers some final considerations on what Newman underwent during his long and meandering journey with regard to some basic tenets of his ecclesiology.

Francis’ Idea of the Church: Outline of an Ecclesiology

In the past eight years, since the election of Francis as the first Latin American pontiff in history, the Church has experienced new manners of being and acting. Even though she has also been in a constant state of aggiornamento, Francis’ vision has contributed greatly to this concept of being a perfect image of the ideal Church of Christ (cf. Ecclesiam Suam 10) and a better servant of humanity. The objective of this study is to present an outline of Francis’ main ecclesiological concepts, in the awareness that this endeavour can never be completely exhaustive. For this reason, the article is divided into two main sections. In this first one, the bedrocks of his ecclesiological thoughts are studied. These include his Jesuit vocation, the CELAM conferences and vision, and the Argentine theology of the people. In the second section, his main ecclesiological themes are analysed: the people of God, a poor Church for the poor, ecumenism, reform, and an ecological Church.