Communicating God's Word in a Complex World God's Truth or Hocus Pocus?

by Shaw, Daniel R.; Engen, Van Charles E.; Sanneh, Lamin

• ISBN13: 9780742514478
• ISBN10: 0742514471
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-04
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Communicating God's Word in a Complex World reaches out to the growing number of missionaries, pastors, Bible translators and teachers, mission and theological educators and students dealing with communicating the gospel. This is increasingly difficult in today's pluralist and global contexts. What was God's message, and how has spreading that message changed through the generations? The answer to that question requires a hermeneutical process that seeks to understand the biblical text and the context in which it was originally presented. R. Daniel Shaw and Charles Van Engen say that contemporary proclaimers of God's word can model their approach after that of the writers of scripture, who reinterpreted and restated their received texts for their audiences. Thus, Gospel communication is impacted by the way humans know God. This, in turn, is informed by contexts. Communicating God's Word in a Complex World draws lessons from the biblical authors themselves as a guide for how best to present God's message.

Author Biography

R. Daniel Shaw is on the faculty of the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology and served as a missionary in Papua New Guinea for twelve years. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of ten books Charles E. Van Engen is Arthur F. Glasser Professor of Biblical Theology of Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, holds a Ph.D. in missiology, and spent twelve years as a missionary in Mexico. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen books Lamin Sanneh is D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale University Divinity School

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
Foreword	xi
Lamin Sanneh
Preface	xiii
Introduction The Communicability of God's Word	1	(8)
Part I. Faithful Communication	9	(56)
God's Intention in Communicating to Human Beings: Textual Issues
The Intent of Faithful Communication	11	(12)
The Source of Faithful Communication	23	(22)
The Message of Faithful Communication	45	(20)
Part II. Appropriate Communication	65	(90)
The Communicators' Presentation of God's Intended Message: Theoretical Issues
Theologically Appropriate Communication	67	(34)
Communicationally Appropriate Communication	101	(28)
Culturally Appropriate Communication	129	(26)
Part III. Relevant Communication	155	(54)
The Receptors' Understanding of God's Intended Message: Contextual Issues
Seeking Relevant Communication	157	(20)
Enabling Relevant Communication	177	(18)
Pursuing Relevant Communication	195	(14)
Conclusion Communicating God's Word in a Complex World	209	(12)
Appendix A A Biblical Example of Hermeneutics: Jesus, the ``Lamb of God''	221	(4)
Appendix B Discourse Analysis for Appropriate Communication	225	(12)
References	237	(12)
Author Index	249	(4)
Subject Index	253	(6)
About the Authors	259