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doi: 10.1177/00918296231189113pmid: N/A
The concepts of honor and shame have been extensively explored in cultural anthropology, psychology, biblical studies, and missiology. Yet there is still comparatively little written about how Muslim women, as distinct from Muslim men, experience honor and shame, and even less that amplifies the voices of Muslim women themselves. This article examines how honor is perceived and experienced by Muslim women around the world, based on their discussions with Christian women. It then explores implications for Christian engagement with Muslim women.
doi: 10.1177/00918296231189118pmid: N/A
Recent theology, biblical studies, and missiology have increasingly focused discussions on issues involving honor, face, and shame. These studies often highlight how traditional western perspectives on the self, social honor, and emotions of self-assessment (i.e., pride, guilt, shame) differ from those in the Majority World. A critical piece of effective engagement with such issues involves a change in orientation regarding these common attitudes and understandings. This article outlines some of the significant issues involved in a personal journey of such an about-face transformation and provides key suggestions that can enable willing participants to undergo a similar type of change.
doi: 10.1177/00918296231189123pmid: N/A
Envy is perceived and handled differently in the West than in Africa. Defined as “a negative . . . response to someone else’s superior quality,” envy is largely considered psychological in the West, and is often suppressed to avoid the stigma of a negative “emotion.” In contrast, Africans often express envy openly, at least to outsiders. Open expression of envious desire for what the West has underlies contemporary formal education in Africa, that as a result has little local fit. Unlike in the West, envy in Africa translates into witchcraft. My experience in Africa tells me that this is not magical or supernatural in the western sense of these terms, but rather is a way of responding to powerful and potentially destructive envy. Freedom from envy comes through faith in Christ, thus making clear the need for mission, discipleship, and culturally relevant theological education. My observations on envy in Africa are based on my own experience—born and reared in a White British community but having participated in village life in East Africa using indigenous languages, from 1988 to date, in the course of missionary work. Being deeply a “westerner,” with profound exposure to Africa, enables my translating what is less known in the West (African ways of life) into the “familiar,” that is, western scholarship. This is on the basis that good translation should always be into what is “known”. Although geographically and historically my exposure to African ways of life is very limited, I am inclined to refer to “Africans” rather than more specific ethnicities (tribes) that I know well, so as not to imply that the people whom I have gotten to know over many decades through closely sharing in their lives are uniquely peculiar.
doi: 10.1177/00918296231189125pmid: N/A
Recent scholarship on prosperity theology in Africa has recognized that there has been a tendency to homogenize and flatten its richness and diversity and that more work is needed to understand the nuances of prosperity theology in its local manifestations. This article explores a podcast series produced by Tanzanian Luphurise Mawere from her home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it outlines the theology of the podcast and highlights the creation mandate as the dominant feature of it. Second, it locates Mawere’s theology in the mosaic of prosperity theologies in Africa, arguing that her theology ought to be viewed as a legitimate part of prosperity theology in Africa, despite significant differences with other prosperity theologies. Finally, it considers the contribution of Mawere’s theology to African prosperity theology and the study of it, and suggests how it might be applied by mission practitioners.
doi: 10.1177/00918296231189194pmid: N/A
The present article challenges Walter C. Kaiser, Jr’s influential proposal for evangelical Old Testament missiology. Out of concern to avoid an understanding of “Israel as God’s favored or pet nation,” Kaiser argues that God’s promise to Abraham in Gen 12:3 is for the sake of all nations, and as such, “the first Great Commission mandate of the Bible.” In its three exegetical sections, the article seeks to overturn Kaiser’s Gentile-centric interpretation of the apostle Paul; his reading of the Primeval History in Genesis as a story of universal curse; and his understanding of the blessing of Abraham as remedial. More basically, it asserts the priority of Israel within God’s ways and works.
doi: 10.1177/00918296231194372pmid: N/A
Around the world social polarization and conflict is being increasingly experienced both in the general society and within church. There is evidence that many Christians are being more influenced by their social affinity groups than by their sense of identity in Christ, contributing to social tensions. This essay addresses the challenge of making disciples who are not conformed to the world but rather transformed (Rom 12:2). An approach is proposed that first defines the nature of discipleship and the importance of fostering a biblical “in Christ” identity among followers of Jesus. Social identity theory is employed both in biblical interpretation and in understanding Christian identity that transcends other identities. Adult learning theories are then used to propose an approach of “disequilibration and reframing” to foster identity formation. Three types of transformative encounters as pedagogical methods are described.
doi: 10.1177/00918296231190918pmid: N/A
This article is an address given at the 50th anniversary banquet of the American Society of Missiology, held at St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame on 17 June 2023. A brief history of publishing in the American Society of Missiology is presented.
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