Editorial
Steenbrink, Karel
1998-01-01 00:00:00
EDITORIAL Missiological and ecumenical studies continue because of the lasting lack of unity in the religious traditions of mankind in general and Christianity in particular. Many proposals in these fields do not focus on the ideal of unity, but on the reality of pluralism. One of the models of pluralism is the concept of diaspora. Whether it may be conceived as a burden and hardship, such as was the case with the Jewish diaspora, or as an oppor- tunity and opening towards a field of mission as understood in the early centuries of Christianity, diaspora certainly always was considered as something transient. This makes it a dynamic and transforming concept. This is shown in the first two articles of this issue of EXCHANGE. Marc Spindler gives the present state of the debate, mostly in Western academic theology and sociology. The second contribution pictures the metamorpho- sis of the concept into an ideal for the minority Christian church in Indonesia. Due to personal circumstances, a third contribution on the issue, by Rabbi Dr. Zwi Marx, could not yet be included and had to be postponed. Ghislain Ndondji-Tshiwisa-Adidem presents a study on another Greek word from the New Testament, anamnesis, not to be understood as a memory of the past, but as an actualization of the gospel in an African cultural context. Christianity in Ghana, which started somewhat more than one century ago as a missionary movement, now already has turned into an establish- ment, which is faced by new religious movements, both from within the Christian tradition and outside. Dr. Dovlo describes this new challenge for 'mainstream' churches, who have become 'classical', not only in the positive, but also in the somewhat obsolete meaning of the word. Pieter Holtrop portrays the struggle of one of the oldest ecumenical bodies, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, to come to terms with the growing confidence and importance of non-Western theologies. 3 October 1997 IIMO celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Mrs. Leny Lagerwerf as staff-member, documentation officer and editor of EXCHANGE. Leny was between 1973-1994 the managing editor of our Journal. We are glad, that after her retirement, from 1 January 1998 on, she will continue to support the journal, which owes so much to her.- Karel Steenbrink Karel Steenbrink
http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.pngExchangeBrillhttp://www.deepdyve.com/lp/brill/editorial-esD8K0BxFd
EDITORIAL Missiological and ecumenical studies continue because of the lasting lack of unity in the religious traditions of mankind in general and Christianity in particular. Many proposals in these fields do not focus on the ideal of unity, but on the reality of pluralism. One of the models of pluralism is the concept of diaspora. Whether it may be conceived as a burden and hardship, such as was the case with the Jewish diaspora, or as an oppor- tunity and opening towards a field of mission as understood in the early centuries of Christianity, diaspora certainly always was considered as something transient. This makes it a dynamic and transforming concept. This is shown in the first two articles of this issue of EXCHANGE. Marc Spindler gives the present state of the debate, mostly in Western academic theology and sociology. The second contribution pictures the metamorpho- sis of the concept into an ideal for the minority Christian church in Indonesia. Due to personal circumstances, a third contribution on the issue, by Rabbi Dr. Zwi Marx, could not yet be included and had to be postponed. Ghislain Ndondji-Tshiwisa-Adidem presents a study on another Greek word from the New Testament, anamnesis, not to be understood as a memory of the past, but as an actualization of the gospel in an African cultural context. Christianity in Ghana, which started somewhat more than one century ago as a missionary movement, now already has turned into an establish- ment, which is faced by new religious movements, both from within the Christian tradition and outside. Dr. Dovlo describes this new challenge for 'mainstream' churches, who have become 'classical', not only in the positive, but also in the somewhat obsolete meaning of the word. Pieter Holtrop portrays the struggle of one of the oldest ecumenical bodies, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, to come to terms with the growing confidence and importance of non-Western theologies. 3 October 1997 IIMO celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Mrs. Leny Lagerwerf as staff-member, documentation officer and editor of EXCHANGE. Leny was between 1973-1994 the managing editor of our Journal. We are glad, that after her retirement, from 1 January 1998 on, she will continue to support the journal, which owes so much to her.- Karel Steenbrink Karel Steenbrink
To get new article updates from a journal on your personalized homepage, please log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.
