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Church: World Observations

Reading the Bible With the Global Church

At some point the video of my lecture at Redcliffe College will be available online. In the meantime, here is a brief thought to be going on with:

when we read the Bible with the Global Church, we are also getting a glimpse of the Christianity of the future. Despite all of the sound and fury in the west over issues such as women bishops, the disputes between NT Wright and John Piper or Rob Bell’s theology, the demographics of the Church show that these issues are really only sideshows for the global onward march of Christianity. Though power and influence still lie very much in the western world, the future of the Church will eventually be determined by the majority of believers.

Photo stolen from John Hamilton.

 

2 replies on “Reading the Bible With the Global Church”

you write

the future of the Church will eventually be determined by the majority of believers.

really? because it seems that the future of the church is actually determined by its head, Christ, and not its members. and i’m not simply quibbling over words- this is an important theological assertion. if you’re right, then where is Christ?

Good point, Jim. One one level I agree with you and on another I wonder if you are just being pedantic. Yes, ultimately, it is Christ who is Lord of the Church and who will determine its destiny. On the other, he seems to give us a great deal of freedom to make our own decisions and to determine our own future.

In either case, my main point, that the issues which occupy the western church (or at least the blogsphere) are little more than sidelines in the reality which is the global Church, is still valid.

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