Undermined The Cause Of Christ

The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a changing culture By Will McRaney, Jr. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Academic, 2003, 268 pp., $19.99 paper.

IVP Books, publisher of Andy Crouch’s Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling, calls the literature a “rallying cry for a new generation of culturally creative Christians.” Named one of the best religion books of 2008 by Publisher’s Weekly, Crouch begins his preface stating that he “wrote Culture Making on a hunch that the language of “engaging the culture,” let alone the “culture wars,” fell far short of what we were really meant to do and be as Christians in the world. I also sensed that most churches were neglecting the centrality of culture to the biblical story and the gospel itself,” (p. 5). While the book is intended for a Christian audience, Crouch

One of the many things that puzzle people even today; is how Jesus was portrayed and how he became a part of history throughout the centuries. Fortunately, within the book Jesus Through the Centuries, written by Jaroslav Pelikan, readers are able to get a sense of what societies viewed Jesus as and how he was/is important to many aspects of the world such as; the political, social, and cultural impact he had left. As Pelikan discusses this very topic and theme in his book, we see how there’s a connection between his audience in this book and Jesus’s are closely similar. When he got his motivation to write about Jesus through the Centuries, Jaroslav had an open audience, which was intended for anyone of all ages, races, and beliefs to read

Christine Caine’s speech at Passion is geared toward ending modern-day slavery and sex trafficking, and she makes her argument through the rhetorical development of the Christian Identity. Caine seeks to encourage her audience to adopt Christian values to change communities around the world. In positioning herself as a Christian, Caine works to establish credibility by using the Bible, assuming her audience will find the embodiment of truth within her speech. Caine makes her argument without using any statistical information to center the focus of her argument on scripture. Through referencing this scripture and offering anecdotes, Caine’s position then becomes powerful by equipping her audience with the ability to become directly involved

image of Christ, and Murdoch suggests that Christians adjust their attitudes to resonate with the

From John Winthrop to Martin Luther King Jr., the Bible has shaped much of our government and history. As the best selling book of all time that is often referenced in politics and daily life, both liberals and conservatives argue that it is imperative that students know about the text in order to better understand intellectual conversation. Many literary references to the text are also found in Western culture; therefore, it is

Many people believe that that the motivation of the Christian church is to radically “change the world”. However, through his book To Change The World, James Davison Hunter explains how this common believe is a misconception. Rather, he shows readers that, from a sociological perspective, while Christians thrive in many areas of life by reaching others individually, they fundamentally components of creating cultural change.

Peter Wehner’s article, “What Wouldn't Jesus Do?” highlights the peculiar political climate of the 2016 election, as some of the most despised candidates to have ever run for presidency campaign. Wehner writes this article in an attempt to persuade those who are Christian (specifically Evangelical) to not support the candidate Donald Trump and gives reason through both fact and opinion. While some of the arguments are valid, Wehner writes an overly one-sided piece. He provides few facts and bases all of his claims off his own thoughts and opinions, leading to an extremely biased article that lacks consideration and panders to a specific crowd.

The culture depicted in Miriam Toews’ A Complicated Kindness is a counterculture to modern society and Christianity. Countercultures can have either a negative or positive impact on its members. In the case of East Village, it creates a constricting environment where citizens are unable to expand their mind. It is a fundamentalist Mennonite community where the church is the head of power. The citizens focus most of their energy on being faithful followers of the church to ensure their place in heaven when the rapture comes. As a result, people aren’t given the tools they need to succeed outside of their culturally isolated community. They take the bible literally with no room for interpretation. With the lack of change in the

Macdonald, (2010) suggested that the bible is a cultural work of art because it is used in storytelling, preaching, drama and visual posters. The bible tells God’s story in how he created the world, the fall, redemption and the new creation. The bible has a sequence of events, songs, proverbs, prophetic books, writing of wisdom and letters. In the bible there is a comparison between connecting scripture and constructing culture. It is able to change one’s life and one’s culture because

Jesus Christ sought to improve the individual, the component of society, and as result, his teaching ideally aims to advance the well-being of society as a whole. The four Gospels and the book of Acts thoroughly demonstrate the extensive sociological knowledge that was present in Jesus’ teaching. His message facilitates personal reform, rather than change in the social structure alone. Although Jesus establishes the church as a social institution, he does so, only after a number of individuals become his followers.

When does evangelization through Western Christian music provide the exact opposite of evangelization among indigenous cultures? Robin P. Harris, James R. Krabill, and Vida Chenoweth provide arguments based on the concept that Christian missionaries cannot fully preach the gospel through the utilization of Western Christian scriptural songs. While all three individuals provide logical arguments, I, under the acquirement of my viewpoint on the unspoken power of music on individuals, disagree with their sentiments.

In contrast with Liberalism is the Evangelical emphasis on the altruism of the Scripture. Evangelism does an excellent job in molding Christianity to modern times without losing the importance of the Scripture. Although one weakness with Evangelism is Finney's "insistence that the will is totally unconditioned and random," which means that more focus is placed instantaneous change of will instead of a transformation in oneself in the life-long aspect of being a Christian (Lane 254). What this means for Evangelism is that while there is emphasis on the Bible and Christ as our savior, there is a complete understanding on what happens during the conversion to Christianity.

Lohfink, Gerhard. Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Kindle.

The first, and most domestically prevalent, circumstance deals with Christianity and how it truly shapes the daily lives of its followers. Before college began, my family and I would attend church every Sunday at 9:30 am. This Sunday could be easily used for sleeping, watching football, working or traveling, but we saw it as the Lord’s day and attended mass. Christianity also shapes the behavior of its followers by integrating honorable priests, meaningful homilies and lessons from biblical scriptures and other ageless writings.