Contextualization in the New Testament - by Dean Flemming (Paperback)

About the Book

To provide a model for today's missionary efforts, Dean Flemming examines how the New Testament authors--particularly in Acts, Paul's letters and the Gospels--contextualized the gospel for particular cultures and/or communities.

Book Synopsis

Winner of a Christianity Today Book Award

Honored as one of the "Fifteen Outstanding Books for Mission Studies" by International Bulletin of Missionary Research

From Cairo to Calcutta, from Cochabamba to Columbus, Christians are engaged in a conversation about how to speak and live the gospel in today's traditional, modern and emergent cultures. The technical term for their efforts is contextualization. Missionary theorists have pondered and written on it at length. More and more, those who do theology in the West are also trying to discover new ways of communicating and embodying the gospel for an emerging postmodern culture. But few have considered in depth how the early church contextualized the gospel. And yet the New Testament provides numerous examples.

As both a crosscultural missionary and a New Testament scholar, Dean Flemming is well equipped to examine how the early church contextualized the gospel and to draw out lessons for today. By carefully sifting the New Testament evidence, Flemming uncovers the patterns and parameters of a Paul or Mark or John as they spoke the Word on target, and he brings these to bear on our contemporary missiological task.

Rich in insights and conversant with frontline thinking, this is a book that will revitalize the conversation and refresh our speaking and living the gospel in today's cultures, whether in traditional, modern or emergent contexts.

Review Quotes

. . . a fresh, timely and much needed resource. . . . a must-read for those who desire to reach persons--in their own contexts--with the gospel.

"Contextualization in the New Testament is a welcome addition to New Testament and missiological scholarship for several reasons. First, Dr. Flemming has brought current New Testament scholarship into an effective dialogue with missiological and cultural specialists. Second, in a balanced way he has rightly taken contextualization as a New Testament missional concept for Paul and his first-century colleagues beyond the neutral sense of communication of the gospel into the realm of proclamation as an intentional engagement with cultural and political discourses. Third, this move promises some very fruitful rethinking of what, in the context of conflicting cultural and religious 'stories, ' doing mission meant then and indeed what it should mean now. Finally, Dr. Flemming's lucid style allows easy access to a profound discussion that will impact our understanding of the church's gospel task both ancient and present."

Active mission practitioners, missiologists, and theologians will benefit from and enjoy this excellent volume.

Flemming has provided an excellent resource which will prove useful to both those preparing to work in other cultures and those engaged in gospel work in today's "postmodern" and increasingly globalized societies.

About the Author

Dean Flemming (Ph.D., Aberdeen) teaches New Testament at European Nazarene College, Büsingen, Germany. He formerly taught at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary in the Republic of the Philippines.