Christian discipleship and interreligious dialogue: A theological exploration

What is the relationship between Christian mission and inter-faith engagement? What has interreligious dialogue got to do with Christian discipleship? Is one in competition with the other? Is one subsumed within the other? Is one effectively vitiated by the other? And what is the relation of mission to discipleship? Is it the case that ‘making disciples’ is the goal of mission? “Discipleship has been for centuries a way of thinking and speaking about the nature of the Christian life… But what is meant by Christian discipleship?” Is engagement in dialogue an authentic component of Christian discipleship and witness? Or is interreligious dialogue enjoined, in the end, by virtue of being subsumed to mission, whose aim is something other than the pursuit of dialogical relations? These are examples of the deep questions and theological issues that have arisen ever since, in the course of the twentieth century, a sea-change occurred with the wider Christian Church in regard to relationships with, and views about, other religions. This paper addresses just three questions: Is there a biblical basis for inter-faith engagement? What may we make of the ‘Great Commission’ in respect to interreligious dialogue? What is the understanding of mission in regards to discipleship, and how might that relate to interreligious dialogue

Christian discipleship and interfaith engagement

Ever since the famous 1910 Edinburgh World Mission conference Christian individuals and the Christian Church have been increasingly challenged to relate in new ways to people of other faiths. Reflecting on the relationship between Christian discipleship and interfaith engagement this article addresses three questions. Can a biblical basis for such engagement be discerned? What is the impact of the "Great Commission" at the end of Matthew's gospel (28:18-20)? How might a new understanding of mission and discipleship relate to concerns about interreligious dialogue? In other words, can Christian discipleship actively enable positive interfaith relations and engagement with adherents of other faiths? In conclusion, the article points to a number of considerations that might indeed contribute to just such an understanding of discipleship

Being the Body of Christ

...catechumenal formation is not a dress rehearsal for discipleship, but is discipleship itself. Catechumenal formation is ministry – the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who need to hear it most. The catechumenate facilitates newcomer participation in the central practices of discipleship alongside oldcomers. Yet, that is not all. Where the catechumenate thrives is when leaders tend to the relationships between newcomers and oldcomers – where leaders tend to the ministry that occurs between newcomers and oldcomers

Learning Curve in Rwanda: A Long Journey of Transformation

This brief glimpse into one community visit offers a taste of what holistic community development through discipleship looks like. This community has studied issues of farming, salvation by grace, animal husbandry, financial management, discerning God\u27s will, health and cleanliness, and other topics over the last five years. They are learning how to identify the barriers that trap them in poverty, and they are learning to overcome these problems through a holistic discipleship process that teaches them to become problem solvers, to study God\u27s word, and to use the resources they have to address the problems their community faces

Did Saint Paul Take Up the Great Commission?: Discipleship Transposed into a Pauline Key (Chapter 7 of Ethics and Ecclesia)

The term \u27discipleship\u27 is pervasive in church language, and for good reason since Jesus had disciples and called them to go out and make more disciples. What is particularly interesting about the ecclesial use of the language of discipleship is how it is used by believers to refer to a kind of general Christian category that would align with what academics call \u27ethics\u27. For many churches, denominations, seminaries, and biblical scholars, discipleship is equivalent to Christian obedience to God.1 A cursory look at denominational vision statements will bear this out. The United Methodist Church, for example, claims, \u27The church calls our response to God Christian discipleship\u27.2 The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America places the following conviction under the heading of \u27discipleship\u27: \u27To live our lives in and for Christ in both church and society\u27, None of this should be that unsettling since discipleship is central to Jesus\u27 own theological programme, and the Gospels certainly inspire their readers to take up the cross and follow Jesus wholeheartedly (Mt. 16.24//Mk 8.34//Lk. 9.23). However, the central question I want to raise, particularly in view of the Church (ecclesia) and \u27ethics; as the focus of this collection of essays, is this: even though a strong case can be made that the term \u27discipleship\u27 should be a central concept for Christian obedience, are we missing something if it becomes the only way we think about Christian obedience? Again, I am not suggesting it is improper to think of Christian obedience in terms of \u27discipleship\u27; however, it maintains a kind of exclusive status as the language of Christian obedience. One might wonder- who cares? Why not allow it to hold this paramount status vis-a-vis ethics? There are, I believe, a number of reasons why this is an important question for the church to address, but I would like to organize the discussion around two historical issues and conclude with a theological one. At the outset here, though, I will simply say that the Christian language of obedience should reflect the language and emphases of Scripture, all of Scripture, and, thus, we would do well to pay attention to how all parts of the Bible talk about ethics and obedience

Law and gospel as hermeneutic: Martin Luther and the Lutheran tradition

It is difficult or impossible to use the Lutheran idea of \u27Law and Gospel\u27 as a guide to the theological content of the Bible. The idea has poor biblical support and accounts for a number of ambiguities in Lutheran theology relating to sanctification (including simul justus, \u27law always accuses\u27, inabilities to understand the Sermon on the Mount as a message of discipleship). Furthermore, the idea has received quite different interpretations from various Lutheran theologians. However, one fruitful approach is to use \u27Law and Gospel\u27 as a guide to measure the impact of a text or message on a specific audience, as is demonstrated with Luther\u27s interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount. But even so, \u27Law and Gospel\u27 must be supplemented by the important category of \u27discipleship\u27 and other categories in order to encompass the possibilities of the Bible\u27s message

Why Do People Do Bad Things in the Name of Religion

Reviewed Book: Wentz, Richard E. Why Do People Do Bad Things in the Name of Religion. Macon, Ga: Mercer Univ Press, 1987

Matthew, matriculation, and ministry

Proverbs 8:22-96, 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2, Matthew 9:9-13

4. Dumped Into the Drink: Discipleship

Papers given at conf \u27Discovery \u2799: festival of faith and life\u27, Erindale College, Univ of Toronto in Mississauga, June 10-13 1999

Doing the Holy Things: Baptism and Vocation

(Excerpt) Thank you, David, and thank you all. I\u27m honored to come here once again. Honored really to stand with you and to thank you who in season and out of season have cared about setting out the holy things of God in the midst of the holy people so that the holy One might be encountered and known and proclaimed, and that is the task you have done, you at the heart of many others in the Lutheran churches of North America. You have done this, in season and out of season, and it\u27s a task for which I thank you