Dialogue between the Gospel and culture in an Indian context.

Beyond Fragmentation is an inquiry into the development of mission studies in evangelical theological education in Germany and German-speaking Switzerland between 1960-1995. This is carried out by a detailed examination of the paradigm shifts, which have taken place in recent years in both the theology of mission and the understanding of theological education. David Bosch's proposal of an emerging ecumenical mission paradigm is examined with reference to the schools in membership with the Konferenz Bibeltreuer Ausbildungsstatten (KBA). The KBA schools have been greatly influenced by the work of Peter Beyerhaus and the Frankfurt Declaration (1970), and, as such, defend a conservative theological position and resist the challenge of Bosch's mission paradigm shift, the key issue being that of hermeneutics. Ott further explores the emerging new paradigm of theological education in both the Western and Two Thirds World contexts. While the evangelical Bible school movement has historically embodied many of the features of this new paradigm, they nevertheless have jeopardized these by their pursuit of academic accreditation. Ott believes that theological conservatism has caused the KBA schools to resist changes in the areas of contextual and inductive learning. Finally, Ott studies the schools' pattern of change and change-resistance through combining the insights of Thomas Kuhn, Hans Kung and Alasdair MacIntyre to hermeneutical and epistemological issues.

Drawing together international and Indian sources, and new research on the ground in South India, this book presents a unique examination of the inculturation of Christian Worship in India. Paul M. Collins examines the imperatives underlying the processes of inculturation - the dynamic relationship between the Christian message and cultures - and then explores the outcomes of those processes in terms of architecture, liturgy and ritual, and the critique offered of these outcomes, especially by Dalit theologians. This book highlights how the Indian context has informed global discussions, and how the decisions of the World Council of Churches, Vatican II and Lambeth Conferences have impacted upon the Indian context.

The Vatican II was an event of a new facelift for the entire edifice of the Catholic ecclesiology. It called for the renewal in the universal Catholic Church. This book deals with the question: How can the Catholic Church in India accept the council's challenge for renewal and become truly Indian in its being and essence? Undertaking a systematic examination of the post-conciliar ecclesiological development in the Indian Catholic Church, in its existential multi-religious and multi-cultural context, the author attempts to develop an ecclesiological reflection for the Indian context.

The 1996 conference of the Centre for Faith & Culture in Oxford and the associated Oxford Declaration on Liturgy (included in this volume) gave a voice to calls for the 'reform of the reform.' This book forms a point of reference and a resource for those who are concerned about the need to recover a sense of the sacred in Catholic Liturgy.

When John C. H. Wu’s spiritual autobiography Beyond East and West was published in 1951, it became an instant Catholic best seller and was compared to Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain, which had appeared four years earlier. It was also hailed as the new Confession of St. Augustine for its moving description of Wu’s conversion in 1937 and early years as a Catholic. This new edition, including a foreward written by Wu’s son John Wu, Jr., makes this profoundly beautiful book by one of the most influential Chinese lay Catholic intellectuals of the twentieth century available for a new generation of readers hungry for spiritual sustenance. Beyond East and West recounts the story of Wu’s early life in Ningpo, China, his family and friendships, education and law career, drafting of the constitution of the Republic of China, translation of the Bible into classical Chinese in collaboration with Chinese president Chiang Kai-Shek, and his role as China’s delegate to the Holy See. In passages of arresting beauty, the book reveals the development of his thought and the progress of his growth toward love of God, arriving through experience at the conclusion that the wisdom in all of China’s traditions, especially Confucian thought, Taoism, and Buddhism, point to universal truths that come from, and are fulfilled in, Christ. In Beyond East and West, Wu develops a synthesis between Catholicism and the ancient culture of the Orient. A sublime expression of faith, here is a book for anyone who seeks the peace of the spirit, a memorable book whose ideas will linger long after its pages are closed.

Grenz and Franke provide a methodological approach for doing theology in the postmodern world. They call for a theological method that moves beyond the Enlightenment way of ordering and understanding information (foundationalism). They propose a theological method that takes seriously the Spirit, tradition and contemporary culture, while stressing trinitarian structure, community and eschatology.

Study conducted in theKanniyākumāri District of Tamil Nadu, India.

In this book Adam Hearlson argues that Christians can say a holy “no” to oppression and injustice through the church’s worship practices. “To speak the holy no,” Hearlson says, “is to refuse to be complicit in the oppression and violence of the ruling power. It is the courageous critique of the present and its claims of immutability.” Hearlson draws widely from Christian history to uncover ways the church has used its traditional practices—preaching, music, sacrament, and art—to sabotage oppressive structures of the world for the sake of the gospel. He tells the stories of particular subversive strategies both past and present, including radical hospitality, genre bending, coded speech, and apocalyptic visions. Blending history, theory, and practice, The Holy No is both a testament to the courage of Christians who came before and an encouragement to take up their mantle of faithful subversion.