The Mission of the Church and its Unity

Process and Progress: A Case Study in India. The mission of the church and its unity are integrally related: the Lord has given the mission to His one church, just as He has given unity to the people of God in mission. In John 17, 20-21, He says, “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” This rather complicated way of describing unity and mission makes it inescapable that the two always go together and that the denial or weakening of one becomes the denial or weakening of the other

Lutheranism in India

Lutherans in India have become a considerable factor among Christians. The first Protestant missionaries, Ziegenbalg and Pluetschau, were Lutherans. Lutheran missionaries had a strong influence in the early work of some of the non-Lutheran missions in South India. They can be found in the southern tip near Nagercoil, north and east of Calcutta near the Burma border, in central India. and even in Pakistan. There are Lutherans who speak Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Santali, Briya and several other languages and dialects. There are missions with only a little over two hundred members, and missions which have been replaced almost completely by churches numbering over one hundred thousand

The History of a Joint Catechism: Progress in India

Efforts toward union have generally been characterized by emphasis either on order or faith. To epitomize these emphases with the phrases union first, agreement later and agreement first, union later approaches caricature; but it does serve to indicate the direction in which each emphasis is headed. Both these emphases seem to partake of the same weakness, the supposition that the other side, somehow or other, will be taken care of. The union first supposes that agreement will grow out of union; agreement first supposes that a series of agreed propositions is going to take care of the organizational problems of union. Certainly no thinking ecumenist is going to subscribe to either caricature. A balanced view of faith and order seems to hold the greatest promise of ecumenical progress

Notes on Translation of the Malayalam Bible

These notes are designed to point out some of the difficulties of the translator\u27s task, especially if he must transfer thought content into a language that is separated from the original in point of form, culture, distance, and time. It is not the writer\u27s intention to present an exhaustive study of the Bible in Malayalam. Nor does he maintain that the problems dealt with are the most urgent and vexing. Peculiarities of Malayalam make it difficult to make clear some of the vexing problems to one not familiar with the language. Enough examples, however, will be cited to remind us that a Bible translation represents a formidable undertaking and that the great number of versions of the Bible in the vernacular of a multitude of tongues should be recognized as God\u27s gift

Toward Preparing Equippers

Twenty-four years in India, sixteen of in seminary teaching, might sound like good credentials. Put differently, the credentials wilt: 24 years working within 100 miles of land\u27s end of this vast country, reasonably fluent in only one of India\u27s 18 official languages, barely conversant with another, in contact with nationwide theological education only recently, a member of the steadily diminishing group of expatriate seminary instructors

Editorial

Denver, Theological Comments Will the Decision on Fellowship at Denver Make a Difference? Fellowship and the Younger Sister Churches Synodical Conventions: A Theological Perspectiv