The Role of History in Pastoral Care for Christians from a Muslim background

A paragraph from my latest article:

It is common for apostates from Islam, and especially for converts to Christianity, to be construed as betraying their people. This reality comes across quite clearly in the many autobiographical books written by CMBs, that there was a genuine struggle for them in formulating and explaining that while they had left Islam, they were still loyal citizens of their nation. The intention of the two pastors in selecting Church history was, I suspect, to provide the CMBs with the historical resources whereby an intelligent and informed answer could be given to the question, “Why have you betrayed your people by leaving Islam.”

Get the PDF at academia or read it in two parts at the New Wineskins blog (part 1, part 2).

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Movements from Islam to Christianity

In the 1960s we saw the beginning of a historically unprecedented series of movements from Islam to Christianity. In this lecture I present a summary of some key elements of three of them–Indonesia, Iran, Algeria–and then offer an overall analysis of three categories of factors facilitating conversion in the modern and late modern context.

This is the second of my four Copenhagen lectures.

Delivered at St Nathaniel’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Links for *Living among the Breakage*

I am glad to share that my colleague and friend Miriam Jacob decided to start a blog to share information about my 2016 book Living among the breakage: Contextual Theology-making and ex-Muslim Christians.

So now you can find almost all the links to reviews and commentaries here on this single page: LINKS

Check it out, and explore the other tabs on the blog.

Oxford History of Anglicanism, Vol 3

I am happy to share with you all that volume 3 of the Oxford History of Anglicanism is now available. My own chapter is ‘Anglican Mission in the Middle East up to 1910’.

Volume 3 focuses on the partisan era and Anglicanism’s expansion into a global community up to 1910. Volume 4 concentrates on Anglicanism in the contemporary period and its history after the 1910 EdinburghWorld Missions Conference.

More info on volume 3 can be found at the OUP website and much of my own chapter can be read at books.google.

The New Christians of North Africa (Tunis)

Pharos Journal of Theology, which is published by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, has recently published an article of mine on the new Christians of North Africa, specifically in Tunis. Here is the abstract:

In the last few decades a substantial number of Tunisians have converted to Christianity. This article seeks to better understand their context and based on two weeks of fieldwork in Tunis in the summer of 2014, this article outlines the history of three of the principal churches in the city—one Catholic, one Anglican, and one Reformed—describes some facets of their worship and spiritual life, and then, based on interviews with church leaders and members, explores key challenges facing the churches. Utilizing the framework of Shoki Coe’s contextual theology, the findings are then analyzed in order to better understand the priorities, aspirations and ministry strategies of the local churches.

You can download the PDF from the journal’s website or from my own academia.edu page.

“Evangelicals in Northern Africa and Egypt”, chapter in Evangelicals around the World

I am pleased to share that my chapter on evangelicals in Northern Africa and Egypt which was published in Evangelicals around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century (Thomas Nelson, 2015), can now be read in part at books.google.com. You can also buy the book at Amazon.

Also, my chapter on the topic can now be read in PDF form HERE.