The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification: An Outline of its Genesis and Impact From a Baptist’s Perspective

This essay outlines the genesis and impact of the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” (JDDJ) from a Baptist perspective. Starting with comparative studies of individual theologians from 1949 to 1980 it sketches the prehistory of the JDDJ including the results of ecumenical dialogues from 1972 to 1994. The essay then presents the origins and contents of the JDDJ from the draft version 1997 to the Signing 1999, including the development and content of the “Official Common Statement.” The author includes as well the impact of JDDJ on the Study on “The Biblical Foundations of the Doctrine of Justification” 2012; the Notre-Dame-Consultation 2019; and ecumenical dialogues on justification with Baptist participation. The author appreciates the JDDJ as the most significant result of ecumenical dialogues since the formation of the ecumenical movement and expresses his hope that the Baptist World Alliance too will assent to the consensus.

Barriers to Leading Small Groups among Generation Z and Younger Millennials: An Exploratory Factor Analysis and Implications for Recruitment and Training

Small groups are an essential aspect of contemporary churches, playing an important role in community building, support, spiritual formation, and accountability. However, their number and impact are often limited due to a lack of people willing to lead a small group, a problem faced by each new generation. This exploratory study of 217 young adults in church small groups (median age = 24.0 years), including both leaders and non-leaders of small groups, examines potential barriers to small group leadership. An exploratory factor analysis found six barriers: Desire to lead a small group, Skills in group dynamics, Desire to positively influence others, Social support, Biblical foundations, and Stability. The hypothesis that some barriers would be greater than others was supported: Stability and Desire to lead a small group were the greatest barriers whereas Desire to positively influence others was the lowest. The hypothesis that these barriers would be greater for non-leaders of small groups than for leaders of small groups was supported for all six barriers. The difference between leaders and non-leaders was largest for Desire to lead a small group, Skills in group dynamics, Social support, and especially Biblical foundations. These results lead to important insights for recruiting and training Generation Z and younger Millennials to be small group leaders.

Pemikiran diskursif amanat agung Injil Matius 28:18-20

This paper presents the discursive thinking of the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20. A correct understanding of the Great Commission is needed so that the implementation of the preaching of the gospel in society is not arbitrary, let alone cause conflict. This study in exploring the discursiveness of the Great Commission was conducted using a qualitative approach. Retrieval of data in the literature related to the topic in this paper. This research concludes that the discursive Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ is one of the culmination of all the biblical foundations for evangelism to develop faith that comes from the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles with different emphases. The results of the study conclude that the Gospel of Matthew 28: 18-20 emphasizes that disciples who are weak in faith are empowered to evangelize with the promise of God's participation until the end of time. Abstrak Tulisan ini menyajikan pemikiran diskursif Amanat Agung Matius 28:18-20. Pemahaman yang benar tentang Amanat Agung diperlukan agar implementasi pemberitaan Injil di masyarakat tidak sembarangan, apalagi menyebabkan konflik. Kajian dalam mendalami diskursif Amanat Agung ini dilakukan dengan pendekatan kualitatif. Pengambilan data secara literatur terkait topik dalam tulisan ini. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan, diskursif Amanat Agung Tuhan Yesus Kristus adalah salah satu puncak dari semua dasar Alkitab bagi pekabaran Injil untuk menumbuh kembangkan iman yang bersumber pada ke empat Injil dan Kisah Para Rasul dengan penekanan yang berbeda-beda. Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan bahwa Injil Matius 28: 18-20 menekankan, para murid yang dalam keadaan lemah iman diberi kuasa untuk melakukan penginjilan dengan janji penyertaan Tuhan sampai akhir zaman.

The Bible in Contemporaneous Struggles for Basic Legal Freedoms

What are the biblical foundations on which Protestant Christian activist lawyers build not only their practices but their vision of a renewed China? This chapter examines the biblical premises and understandings that motivate and sustain Protestant activist lawyers in the pursuit of their legal and religious ideals in an increasingly repressive political context. Drawing on extensive sociological research on leading rights lawyers between 2009–2015, the chapter shows how the Bible is integral to their academic and spiritual callings; how they draw on core doctrines of human nature, dignity, equality, freedom, justice, love, fairness, and forgiveness to shape their practices; and the ways that biblical understandings infuse their pursuit of basic legal freedoms, an open civil society, and a restraint on power in a transformed China.

Ulangan 31:9-13 Sebagai Landasan Strategi Guru Sekolah Minggu Dalam Mengajarkan "Takut akan Tuhan"

A well-organized Sunday School can be the right means for the church to educate children in their spiritual growth so that one day they become a beautiful future for the church and the nation. Church participation through Sunday School teachers is an important part of the spiritual formation of children to instill fear of God. Researchers used Deuteronomy 31: 9-13 which is considered to be one of the important biblical foundations to be studied with the aim of being able to develop as a strategic foundation by Sunday School teachers in teaching the fear of God to children. The method used in this study is a literature review of the biblical text in Deuteronomy 31: 9-13 which is elaborated using lexical and grammatical analysis. From the analysis of the text of Deuteronomy 31: 9-13, three main parts can be found, namely: facing God's presence; listening to God's Word; and learning to fear God which will be the basic strategy(conceptual) of the Sunday School teachers when teaching the fear of the Lord.AbstrakSekolah Minggu yang terselenggara dan terorganisir dengan efektif dan baik dapat menjadi sarana yang tepat bagi gereja untuk mendidik anak-anak dalam pertumbuhan rohaninya sehingga kelak mereka menjadi masa depan yang indah bagi gereja dan bangsa. Partisipasi gereja melalui para guru Sekolah Minggu merupakan bagian yang penting dalam pembentukan kerohanian anak untuk dapat menanamkan takut akan Tuhan. Peneliti menggunakan Ulangan 31:9-13 yang dianggap merupakan salah satu landasan biblika yang penting untuk diteliti dengan tujuan dapat dikembangkan sebagai sebuah landasan strategi oleh para guru Sekolah Minggu dalam mengajarkan takut akan Tuhan pada anak-anak. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah kajian pustaka dari teks Alkitab dalam Ulangan 31:9-13 yang dielaborasi menggunakan analisa leksikal dan gramatikal. Dari hasil analisis teks Ulangan 31:9-13, dapat ditemukan tiga bagian utama, yakni: menghadap hadirat Tuhan; mendengarkan Firman Tuhan; belajar takut akan Tuhan, yang akan dijadikan landasan (konseptual) strategi guru Sekolah Minggu dalam mengajarkan takut akan Tuhan.

Mary’s Slave Song: The Tensions and Turnarounds of Faithfully Reading Doulē in the Magnificat

This article traces the enduring legacy of slavery in the United States and its biblical foundations that create interpretive tension around the Greek words doulos/doulē for readers and translators. Following Clarice Martin’s lead, I advocate for a faithful reading of doulē as “slave” in Luke 1:38, 48 and draw parallels between African-American slave songs and Mary’s Magnificat. I then explicate the tensions inherent in reading Mary as “the slave of the Lord” and “his [God’s] slave” against the socio-historical backdrop of U.S. slavery and explore how Mary’s slave song and narrative depiction by Luke “turns around” Mary’s slave language by reversing Orlando Patterson’s three constituent elements of slavery. When using this model, Luke transforms Mary’s slave language into a homeopathic practice and Mary into the embodiment of an African- American woman’s slave song.

Are we merely “meat”?

The book “The Body […] is […] for the Lord, and the Lord for the Body” (1 Cor 6, 13). Biblical Foundations for the Theology of the Human Body by father prof. Tomasz Maria Dąbek OSB touches on a subject that is extremely significant for contemporary people and dramatically current in a world where, on the one hand, medical progress and inventing many new medicines have allowed us to radically prolong human life expectancy and facilitate social activisation of sick and handicapped persons, while on the other hand led to considering human organs as transplants and implants, “spare parts” of sorts (A. Litwińczuk, Ciało człowieka w kulturze. Przegląd zagadnień [Human Body in Culture. A Review]), which has led to “breaking up the integrity of the person.” If we add to this diagnosis the twentieth-century conceptions of the industrial body (e.g. the body of a factory worker or a soldier), considered in terms of efficiency, productivity, as well as the hedonistic body, subjected to the constant pressure of “the global culture of consumption” (A. Litwińczuk), it will appear that the threat of human beings becoming objectified becomes very real. All the circumstances listed above justify a return to elementary questions about the human nature in relation to the world, God, and other human beings. The answers are to be sought, among other places, in the Bible – a work of fundamental significance for the civilisation of the West – and Tomasz Dąbek’s publication offers useful help in this task.

Truth and History. Biblical Historicism as a Path to Theological Synthesis

В статье описана специфика библейской философии истории, прослеживаются библейские основания формирования европейской исторической мысли, а также пути её трансформации в эпоху Ренессанса, в Новое и Новейшее время. В кризисный ХХ в. так называемый «антропологический поворот» приводит к антропологизации, среди прочих направлений научного знания, и историософской мысли. Происшедшая встреча Восточно-христианской традиции с философией, антропологией и историей открывает перспективу нового богословского синтеза. The article describes the specifics of the biblical philosophy of history, traces the biblical foundations of the formation of European historical thought, as well as the ways of its transformation in the Renaissance, in the New and Modern times. In the crisis of the twentieth century, the so-called «anthropological turn» leads to anthropologization, among other areas of scientific knowledge, and historiosophical thought. The meeting between the East Christian tradition and philosophy, anthropology and history opens up the prospect of new theological synthesis.