Benno van den Toren

Today's cosmopolitan, multicultural, and multifaith environments call for new approaches to apologetics. The world still needs the good news of Jesus Christ, but to relate the transcultural gospel to diverse and ever-changing contexts, we must free Christian apologetics from dominant Western habits of mind ill-suited to interreligious dialogue. We must listen and speak with both humility and confidence. Benno van den Toren and Kang-San Tan provide a global, intercultural introduction to Christian apologetics. They present a model of apologetics as crosscultural dialogue and accountable witness, then explore how it plays out in relation to specific contexts and the major world religions—including primal religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, secularism, and late-modern spiritualities. Building on recent developments in apologetics and missiology, as well as their experience teaching internationally in Europe, Asia, and Africa, Van den Toren and Tan offer an approach that is conversational, patient, holistic, and embodied. Filled with examples from Scripture and real-world experiences, Humble Confidence gives readers a travel guide to help find the most effective avenues for true dialogue in their own settings.

For years the fact that the debate on science and religion was not related to cultural diversity was considered only a minor issue. However, lately, there is a growing concern that the dominance of ‘Western’ perspectives in this field do not allow for new understandings. This book testifies to the growing interest in the different cultural embeddings of the science and religion interface and proposes a framework that makes an intercultural debate possible. This proposal is based on a thorough study of the ‘lived theology’ of Christian students and university professors in Abidjan, Kinshasa and Yaoundé. The outcomes of the field research are related to a worldwide perspective of doing theology and a broader scope of scholarly discussions.

A multinational team of scholars focuses on the interface between Christian doctrine and evolutionary scientific research, exploring the theological consequences for the doctrines of original sin, the image of God, and the problem of evil. Moving past the misperception that science and faith are irreconcilable, the book compares alternative models to those that have generated faith-science conflict and equips students, pastors, and anyone interested in origins to develop a critical and scientifically informed orthodox faith.

Cette tude demande quelle est l'importance de la doctrine et de la th ologie dans l' re de mondialisation. Elle traite les th mes classiques de la nature de la th ologie, de la r v lation et de la Bible et montre qu'on y trouve maintes ressources pour s'engager dans la t che th ologique dans notre monde multiculturel. Ce livre est utile en tant que manuel d' tudes pour les cours d'introduction la th ologie et la doctrine. Il int - ressera galement des missionnaires, vang listes et pasteurs qui sont confront s avec la question de comment l'Evangile peut tre proclam de mani re fid le la r v lation divine d'un c t et apte aux diff rents contextes culturels, religieux et sociaux de l'autre.

This is a call for a new understanding of apologetics, moving away from appeals to trans-cultural rationality, arguing for a new form of cross-cultural dialogue. Christian apologetics is in crisis. Old concepts do no longer hold and post-modern development pose new questions. Benno van den Toren argues for an apologetic witness that is an exercise in cross-cultural dialogue aimed at persuading our conversation partners of the relevance of a life centred on the reality revealed in Jesus Christ. Some significant steps have been made toward the development of such a new apologetic practice. The aim of this book is to provide theological and philosophical basis for a new paradigm for Christian apologetic dialogue with our post-modern and multi-cultural world and to work out its practical relevance.

This is a call for a new understanding of apologetics, moving away from appeals to tran-cultural rationality, arguing for a new form of cross-cultural dialogue. Christian apologetics is in crisis. Old concepts do no longer hold and post-modern development pose new questions. Benno van den Toren argues for an apologetic witness that is an exercise in cross-cultural dialogue aimed at persuading our conversation partners of the relevance of a life centred on the reality revealed in Jesus Christ. Some significant steps have been made toward the development of such a new apologetic practice. The aim of this book is to provide theological and philosophical basis for a new paradigm for Christian apologetic dialogue with our post-modern and multi-cultural world and to work out its practical relevance.

This is an English version of a book first published very successfully in the Netherlands, where it has been used particularly in the training of Alpha leaders. Many keen Christians tend to trot out stock answers without hearing the deeper questions. If we can develop the sensitivity to hear different needs, experiences and interests, and learn to respond without offering watertight solutions, then a true dialogue can develop. The book includes many practical examples of how a subject can be treated in different ways, based around dialogues on suffering, on other religions, on relative and absolute truth, Good dialogue is a valuable life skill in all encounters. Each chapter ends with guides to further reading and questions for reflection and discussion.

This book explains the main elements of the Christian faith in a warm and approachable way, giving special attention to questions that are raised about the Christian faith in a multicultural and postmodern setting. Chapters include: Global Christianity; The Identity of God; The Human Being; Christ and Salvation; The Holy Spirit and the Church; and The Meaning and End of History. The following themes also recur throughout the book: the global impact of Jesus Christ; the communal nature of God's plan for the world; the meaning of Christian belief in a multi-religious world; and the reality we encounter in Jesus Christ.