Category: Missional Church

Converts or Proselytes? The Nature of True Conversion

Posted on December 2, 2007

We hard-pressed to find a better missiologist in our day than Andrew Walls. Though Walls has not written prolifically, he makes up for it in the profoundity of his work. He has written two landmark books that explore the relationship between history, missions, and theology: The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in Transmission of Faith and The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History along with a number of articles.

Former missionary to Sierra Leone and Nigeria, Walls later served as director of the Centre for the study of Christianity in the Non-Western world, at the University of Edinburgh. In an article appearing in IBMR 2004, Walls explores the difference between proselytes and converts in the Early Church.

Supercaptialism and the Soul of the City

Posted on November 23, 2007

Richard Florida recently pointed to Judy Judt’s review of Robert Reicht’s new book Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life. In this review she warns of the overconfidence that has historically accompanied successful capitalist societies. With surges of economic growth and national peace, cities can become complacent about social needs. She points out that: “The wealth gap in the US is now at its widest since 1929: in 2005, 21.2 percent of US national income accrued to just 1 percent of earners.”

Is Judt overstating the case in her review of Supercapitalism? If not, given this general urban complacency, how should we respond? What is the future of the soul of our cities?