THE BLOOD OF MARTYRS

Missio ad Gentes in the Acts of the Apostles, 2019

The reading of this volume allows a thorough understanding of how mission represents not only the very nature of the Church (Ad Gentes, 2), but also its origin, purpose, and life, contributing to the reflection urged by Pope Francis on “how to render the work of the missio ad gentes more effective”, in the framework of the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019 (www.october2019.va). There are presently significant Christian missionary communities in places that are hostile to the faith, where the Christian witness experiences also the tragedy of martyrdom on a daily basis. They can refer to the living example of the Apostles to properly understand the missio ad gentes of the Church sent into the world for its salvation and transformation. Missio Ad Gentes in the Acts of the Apostles is addressed to these young Churches, as well as to the Churches of older tradition. May the Apostolic approach to the faith find space among them again. http://www.urbaniana.press/catalogo/missio-ad-gentes-in-the-acts-of-the-apostles/4323?path=catalogo#.XQv8s4gzbIX

It is now fifteen years since this book was first published, and it is thought that a new and cheaper edition may be useful. In these fifteen years I have seen, and I have heard from others, that action in many parts of the world has been influenced by the study of St. Paul's missionary methods; and I myself am more convinced than ever that in the careful examination of his work, above all in the understanding and appreciation of his principles, we shall find the solution of most of our present difficulties. We are talking today of indigenous churches. St. Paul's churches were indigenous churches in the proper sense of the word; and I believe that the secret of their foundation lay in his recognition of the church as a local church (as opposed to our 'national churches') and in his profound belief and trust in the Holy Spirit indwelling his converts and the churches of which they were members, which enabled him to establish them at once with full authority. It is not easy for us today so to trust the Holy Ghost. We can more easily believe in His work in us and through us, than we can believe in His work in and through our converts: we cannot trust our converts to Him. But that is one of the most obvious lessons which the study of St. Paul's work teaches us. I believe that we have still much to learn from his example. In the reviews which appeared when this book was first published I was surprised and pleased to find that little fault was found with my statement of the Apostolic practice. Accepting the statement of the facts as substantially true, critics almost invariably fixed on two points: (1) that the gulf between us and the people to whom we go is deeper and wider than that between St. Paul and those to whom he preached; (2) that he could rely upon converts from the synagogue to preserve his churches from dangers only too plain to us. The conclusion drawn was that what was possible for him in his day is impossible for us in ours. To the first of these criticisms I replied in a book entitled Educational Principles and Missionary Methods, in which I argued that the greater the gulf the greater was the value of the apostolic method. That argument is too long to summarize here. To the second I may say here briefly: (1) That the dangers which we anticipate, the dangers of lowering a standard of morals, or of a confusion of Christian doctrine by the introduction of ideas borrowed from heathen philosophy or superstition, were not less in his day than in ours; (2) that the breach between the Synagogue and the Christian Church arose so early and was so wide that as a matter of fact churches were soon being established which certainly were not 'off-shoots of the local synagogue', and yet the apostolic practice was maintained; (3) that at Corinth, and in Galatia, and in Ephesus, the presence of Jews or proselytes in the church did not prevent the dangers from arising; if St. Paul relied upon them, they failed him; (4) that the argument demands that we should admit that Mosaic teaching is a better foundation for Christian morality and theology than the teaching of Christ and of the Holy Spirit; (5) that St. Paul's faith in Christ and in His Holy Spirit would have

Missio Dei Journal: A Journal of Missional Theology and Praxis, 2019

2004

Theofilos: en tidskrift för studiet av teologi, filosofi och kultur, 2017

The words apostolic and missional are used often as synonyms to describe the church as “sent” and “on mission.” The missional church movement posits that the local congregation is a center or base of mission, and by nature is sent to its community and beyond. Moreover, this movement holds that the gift of apostles is still in operation and necessary for the church in the west to re-engage in mission to its post-Christendom context. This study asks: does apostolicity include, or even necessitate missionality? Should apostolicity be limited to the origin and beliefs of the church as rooted in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles? Should it refer simply to an historic institution built upon Jesus and the apostles with authority conferred successively to bishops through the laying on of hands? Should it refer simply to mission? This study begins by examining briefly the biblical meaning of apostolicity, then addresses an understanding of apostolicity in early church history and its connection with missionality in church history. Finally, it presents marks of apostolicity and addresses matters of the church’s orthodoxy and orthopraxy. The church is apostolic, and as this study attempts to show, apostolicity is not limited to missionality but includes it, and even necessitates it.

Christ Apostolic Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies Vol. 1 No. 1, 2016

The inauguration of the 1 st century Church and its empowerment was with no other purpose than soul winning which is encapsulated in evangelism/missions, politics and socialization. In this article, the attention is centred on the missions of the church. It is pertinent to bring to our consciousness that the proliferation of churches we have today is as a result of migration of church members. Little do we have accounts of newly converted souls from other religious backgrounds e.g. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, even Judaism and so on who become followers of Christ. Rather, the 'intra-' or 'inter-' Church growth by "emigration and/or immigration" i.e. movements within same denomination or from another denomination is what we celebrate. The Christ Apostolic Church over the years has been 'so much' concerned about pastoral and administrative ministries than in missions activities. In view of this, this paper seeks to call the awareness of the church to the effective usage of her potential missionaries by coming up with a scheme in collaboration with her Theological Seminary (CACTS, Ile Ife) and her Missions School (if there is any) in order to practically demonstrate true apostolicity in the area of Evangelism and Missions toward church growth in compliance to the "Go Ye" injunction (cf. Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8). The researcher adopts library method for data collection.

2008

This article analyzes the idea of Peter Wagner, the main representative of the New Apostolic Reformation, that apostles should and must govern local church congregations. The support for this claim is based primarily on Ephesians 2:20 where Paul said that the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” The question then is, whether people with the gift of apostolic ministry represent that foundation or the foundation is the apostolic teaching itself. Closely connected with this is the question whether the apostolic ministry/office continues today or not. The first part of the article analyzes the reasons for the occurrence of this idea in Wagner’s theology and the ultimate goals of the NAR movement. In the second part, it analyzes the biblical understanding of the apostolic ministry which is common for NAR theologians, and finally, compares these ideas with traditional ideas about apostolic ministry in Christianity. The author argues that while apostolic minist...

Scriptura, 2012

This paper examines how the early Christian mission is portrayed in the Book of Acts. While leading figures such as Peter and Paul and their ministries dominate the narrative, there is a substantial amount of evidence that many more people than the apostles were involved in spreading the Gospel under different, at times adverse, circumstances. Even the mission activities of prominent figures are deeply embedded in the mission of various churches, above all the church in Jerusalem. This inspiring portrait challenges some contemporary notions of mission and evangelism. While mission is primarily the mission of God (missio Dei), it is also the mission of the church (missio ecclesiae)-not only of its ordained ministry or particular societies devoted to mission, but the mission of all Christians so that many more Africans may go on their way rejoicing (Acts 8:39).

Church History, 2003