The 2014 annual meeting of the Yale-Edinburgh Group concluded last week with an inspiring collection of 60 papers from colleagues around the world, revolving around the theme of ‘Gender and Family in the History of Missions and World Christianity’. The conference was co-sponsored by the University of Edinburgh, Yale Divinity School, and the Overseas Ministries Study Center. Over one hundred delegates were in attendance. Continue reading
This article was originally posted here.
There is a growing recognition by the media and by scholars that Calvinism is growing in China these days.1 The news has gained the attention of a number of Americans, particularly since the 16th century Reformer John Calvin is likewise having a comeback in the US in the so-called ‘New Calvinism‘ movement.2 At least one scholar has called the movement in China ‘Chinese New Calvinism’.3 Unfortunately, I think this view is problematic.
You can read my own interpretation more fully in an academic article I just published on Calvinism in China,4 but I wanted to summarise my basic points here, since I think it is an important distinction:
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This article was originally posted here.
Last Tuesday, Elizabeth Koepping gave a valedictory paper at the weekly World Christianity seminar here in the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.1 Prof. Brian Stanley responded to her paper by saying that it was ‘truly disturbing… in a good way’, in that it exposed the problem of spousal violence that exists amongst Christians, validated by the Bible, and often ignored or hidden by church leadership. Her field and documentary research was conducted in multiple contexts: Taiwan, Australia, Ghana, etc. – and Scotland. But the underlying reality was the same: domestic violence is pervasive, within and without the church. Moreover, she suggested that theologically the church must reclaim the understanding of the Imago Dei in both man and woman in order to combat these atrocities. Continue reading