I begin with a direct assessment. This is a fresh and compelling study in what is sure to be an increasingly important field. Miller has provided us with pioneering research in an emerging sector of World Christianity: the indigenous theology of Christians from a Muslim background. Miller deserves commendation for doing well a work that needed doing.
[...]
A key contribution of this study, then, is to elicit, search out, analyze, and order the “theology” being produced by these new groups of believers in Christ. The point is not that these CMB communities feature “professional theologians” or the publication of formal theological texts. No, rather, the point is that in reality the CMBs are “working out their faith” in practice, in church life, and in various forms of communication from popular-level books to online poetry. Thought, talk, and action about God (or even “for” God) constitute “theology.”
Around the world people are leaving Islam for Christianity in unprecedented numbers. This book seeks to look into the world of some of these converts, trying to discern the shape of their newfound faith. Why do they convert? What challenges do they face? And ultimately, what do they in their own complex and sometimes difficult circumstances claim to have understood about God that, while in Islam, they had not? In other words, what is the content of their contextual theology? In seeking to answer these questions, Miller looks into the world of an unintentional church plant in the Arab world consisting of believers from a Muslim background, visits with groups of Iranian converts in the diaspora, and examines the written testimonies of still other converts. In a world where Muslim-Christian relations are increasingly important and sometimes tendentious, this book examines the lived faith and contextual theology of people who have chosen to leave Islam and embrace Christianity.
Dear Colleagues,Alex Miller has recently publish an article on contemporary Christians in Tunis. Here is the abstract of the article: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.If you know anyone interested in Christianity in North Africa today, please do share this resource with them.The article can be downloaded from the Pharos Journal's site: http://www.pharosjot.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/pharos_article_12_vol_97_2016.pdfOr from Dr. Miller's academia.edu site:
William Rhea reviews Epidemic: Examining the Infected Roots of Judaism and Christianity, by Russ Houck. Houck’s book proposes that both Judaism and Christianity have fundamentally misunderstood their own religious texts. Christianity, in particular, is profoundly mistaken in regarding Jesus as fully divine and the Second Person in the Trinity. For these failings, Houck blames Constantine. Rhea responds by examining the biblical development of early Christology as well as the history behind the events at the Council of Nicaea. He seeks to demonstrate a fundamental continuity between the early church’s worship of the enthroned Jesus and the confession of Nicaea, as well as the futility of divorcing the Bible from the religions of which it is inseparably a part.
