Book Details
- Author: Arie Leder
- Publisher: Essence Publishing (2006)
- Category: Theology, Church/Ministry
Discerning Reader Editorial Review
Reviewed 02/04/2009 by Chad Vandervalk.
Recommended. Exemplary collection on Reformed missiology.
There are some books which just never seem to make it into mainstream consciousness, not because they are bad but because they simply do not get noticed. For God so Loved the World edited by Arie C. Leder is one of them. It is a collection of essays published in honour of Roger S. Greenway, a professor of World Missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary from 1990 until he retired in 2001.
This book is a collection of some very wide ranging topics and presents an essentially Reformed look at these topics. It is divided into three parts: 1) Challenges for Contemporary Missions, 2) Theological and Historical Reflections on Missions, 3) The Bible and Missions.
There are essays written on everything from Church building in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, to Theological Reflection in Augustine’s Confessions, to Missions and Greek Syntax in Matthew 28:19.
One of the essays I would like to highlight is “Ritual Continuity and Discontinuity in Mission: A Contribution from the Old Testament” by the editor himself. This essay walks us through the importance of ritual for the development of the religious identity of Israel.
"Because Israel’s discontinuity with her shared past with the nations was crucial to her identity as God’s own unique people, Aaron and his descendants were instructed to teach Israel to 'distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean' (Lev 10:10) through the generations."
This separation, argues Leder, does not end in the New Testament, and is still required in our churches today.
"The Church is a new 'space' in which those defiled descendants of Adam whom the Lord cleanses through the blood of the lamb, both Jews and Gentiles, may life clean and holy lives."
The creation of this new “space” is essential for worshippers to understand what it means to be a part of this community, a community which is separated from the general culture. This, argues Leder, is done through its worship ritual. The symbolic acts of worship help to show the worshipper that there is something different about this community, something that is opposed to the world around it. Leder leaves us with very important questions.
"Discontinuity and continuity are crucial concerns for the convert. How shall he relate to his former past and the family, social, and ritual structures associated with his past? How shall the new faith reshape his family, social, and above all, worship activities? Ritual is central to these activities, religious rituals that link the convert to what is basic for this life and the next. It is the missionary’s responsibility not only to recognise the dynamics involved, but also to be a sympathetic and firm escort from one ritual life to another."
This collection of essays will help the reader grasp a Reformed understanding of missiology and the role of the church in God’s redemptive work in the world. I cannot recommend it more highly.
