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    ISBN: 9781783689460
    Imprint: Langham Academic
    Format: Paperback
    Dimensions (mm): 229 x 152 x 9
    Publication Date: 14/08/2014
    Pages: 168
    Language: English

    In Academia for the Church

    Eastern and Central European Theological Perspectives

    Edited By
    Ábrahám Kovács
    and
    Zoltán Schwáb

    £14.99

    Tension between theory and practice in theological education is an unfortunate yet common occurrence, with educators sometimes finding themselves on one extreme or the other. Some academics can be so immersed in high-level theological discourse that they hardly interact with the main questions of the average church-goer, while others are so keen to be engaging and relevant they fail to be rigorous in their scholarship. Regardless of the reasons the results are the same – failure to present the good news with a powerful, credible voice. To address this tension between academia and the church, a group of Eastern European theologians came together in the spring of 2013 in Berekfüdő, Hungary. This publication is a collection of 10 edited papers presented at that conference. While topics are addressed from a European context the principles behind them are far-reaching, providing important insight for the global church and academy alike.

    Author Bios

    Ábrahám Kovács
    (Edited By)

    Dr Ábrahám Kovács (PhD, University of Edinburgh, UK) is Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at János Selye University, Slovakia.

    Zoltán Schwáb
    (Edited By)

    Dr Zoltán Schwáb (PhD, Durham University, UK) is the Tutor in Old Testament and Hebrew at Spurgeon’s College, London.

    Endorsements

    In this volume the readers will be able to encounter the reflections of evangelical theologians from Eastern and Central Europe around the topic of In Academia for the Church. Important topics such as discipleship and spiritual formation, new dimensions of mission in the city or to minorities, and working at interdisciplinary fields have been engaged in a critical and constructive manner.

    Tanya Petrova
    Vice-rector for Academics Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute

    I highly recommend this volume for ministers, educators, theologians and laymen from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe since the issues discussed in local context are truly global.

    Professor Botond Gaál
    Doctor of Hungarian Academy of Sciences,
    Debrecen Reformed Theological University

    This collection is a rare gem. . . This book models a robust theological dialogue that points to the potential for transformed and transformative practices – those of the church in mission as well as those of the theological academy.

    Rev Dr Darrell Jackson
    Senior Lecturer in Missiology,
    Morling College, Sydney

    Christian scholarship and academic excellence have to be viewed as part of biblical stewardship, and although the relationship between the Academy and Ecclesia does not exist without tensions, we must continually strive for creative balance, mutual accountability and respect in order to achieve optimal synergies and advance the performative dynamic of both. This diverse collection of East European contributions asks contextually relevant questions and points in the right direction. 

    Dr. Peter Kuzmic
    Eva B. and Paul E. Toms Distinguished Professorof World Missions and European Studies,
    Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

    Table of Contents

    1. Foreword
      1. Listening to One Another!
    2. Introduction
    3. Chapter 1
      1. History and Theology: Johann Philipp Gabler’s Legacy in Biblical Studies
      2. Tamás Czövek
        1. Johann Philipp Gabler
        2. Biblical Studies Void of Theology
        3. Biblical Studies Void of History
        4. Concluding Remarks
        5. Bibliography
    4. Chapter 2
      1. Should Theological Academic Environments Be More Spiritually Formative and Practical?
      2. Ksenija Magda
        1. The Task of Theological Academia
        2. What is Biblical?
        3. Some Concluding Propositions
        4. Bibliography
    5. Chapter 3
      1. From Knowledge to Understanding: Teaching Systematic Theology after Modernity
      2. Dóra Bernhardt
        1. After Modernity
        2. Systematic Theology after Modernity
        3. Conclusion
        4. Bibliography
    6. Chapter 4
      1. Developing Missional Leaders in the Reformed Church in Hungary: Missional Leadership in the City
      2. András Lovas
        1. The Problem to be Addressed: What Kind of Leadership?
        2. The Methodology and the Content of the Courses
        3. Relevant Issues from My Experience
        4. Some Concluding Remarks
        5. Bibliography
    7. Chapter 5
      1. A Growing Need for a Common Moral Vision: A Cry for Humble Co-operation between Theology and Other Disciplines
      2. István Pásztori-Kupán
        1. All are One?
        2. Sustainable Development: Plans and Illusions
        3. The Illusion of Moral Development
        4. The Illusion of a Morally Neutral Science
        5. A Possible Synergy between Theological Ethics and Sciences
        6. Bibliography
    8. Chapter 6
      1. The Place of the Theological Academy in the Church: A Case for Public Theology
      2. Tamás Béres
        1. The Church – How Christians Live Togethe
        2. The Relationship between Church and Academia
        3. Academia as an Opportunity – A Special Place for the Acceptance of
        4. Global Challenges
        5. An Answer to Today’s Worldwide Challenges: Public Theology
        6. How to Teach Theology Today? – Some Practical Examples
        7. Bibliography
    9. Chapter 7
      1. The Christian University: An Oxymoron or a Community of Faith and Knowledge
      2. Tibor Fabiny
        1. The Problem: Is There a ‘Christian University’?
        2. Experience – From a Personal Perspective
        3. The Vision – A Community of Faith and a Community of Knowledge
        4. Conclusion: A (Perhaps Utopian?) Vision of a Vibrant,
        5. Open-minded, Faith-oriented Community
        6. Bibliography
    10. Chapter 8
      1. Faith and Learning: Re-visiting the Idea of Christian University
      2. Corneliu Constantineanu
        1. The Re-emergence of Religion in the Social Arena
        2. The Search for Integration
        3. The Tension Requiring the Integration of Faith and Learning:
        4. Models of Integration
        5. A Christian University
        6. Conclusion: Christian University and Postmodern Culture
        7. Bibliography
    11. Chapter 9
      1. Choosing from Theology, theology, theology and THEOLOGY: A Plea Against Pigeonholing Theology in Universities
      2. Corneliu C. Simuț
        1. Who is Afraid of Theologians?
        2. What is Theology?
        3. Why Pigeonholing Theology?
        4. Concluding Remarks: The God of Pigeonholed Theology
        5. Bibliography
    12. Chapter 10
      1. Theological Education in Academia: A Convictional Theological Perspective on Evangelical Learning
      2. Parush R. Parushev
        1. The Challenge of Credibility and Relevance
        2. Challenges of Contextualization
        3. Education and Socialization
        4. Conclusion
        5. Bibliography
    13. Contributor’s Biographies

    Contributors

    Tamás Béres

    REV DR TAMÁ BÉRES is a university professor of Systematic Theology at the Lutheran Theological University in Budapest. Tamás wrote his PhD thesis on the role of myth in the theological work of Paul Tillich. Recently he defended his Habilitation thesis at Debrecen Reformed University, which was about ecotheology. For the past years he has addressed public theological questions in his professional activity.


    Dóra Bernhardt

    DÓRA BERNHARDT has an MA in languages and a ThM from Regent College, Vancouver, BC. She is currently teaching at the Department of English at the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary and finishing her PhD studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in Systematic Theology. She has acted as sessional lecturer at the Central and Eastern European Institute for Mission Studies.


    Corneliu Constantineanu

    Rev. Dr. Corneliu Constantineanu (†17 March 2021) gained his PhD from the University of Leeds and the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, UK. He was former Professor of Theology at Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania, after serving as Academic Dean of Evanđeoski Teološki Fakultet, Croatia, where he taught for more than sixteen years. He also served as Rector of the Pentecostal Theological Institute, Romania.


    Tamás Czövek

    Rev Dr Tamás Czövek (PhD, University of Wales, UK) is a lecturer at Pentecostal Seminary and John Wesley College, Budapest. He is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in Hungary.


    Tibor Fabiny

    DR TIBOR FABINY is Professor of English Literature and Hermeneutics at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary where he is Head of the English Institute and Director of the Center for Hermeneutics including the Jonathan Edwards Center - Hungary. He is also a lay theologian, a member of the Lutheran Church in Hungary and the President of the Hungarian Luther Alliance. He has published books and articles widely on Christian Hermeneutics, the English Reformation and Literature of the 16th–17th Centuries.


    András Lovas

    RE DR ANDRÁS LOVAS is senior pastor of Gazdagrét Reformed Church in Budapest, Hungary. He also mentors church planters and is involved in seminary training for urban ministry and church planting at Károli Gáspár Reformed University. András holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in missional leadership in the city, having graduated from Bakke Graduate University in 2006.


    Ksenija Magda

    Dr Ksenija Magda (PhD, London School of Theology and Brunel University, UK) is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at the Matthias Flacius Illyricus University Centre for Protestant Theology, Croatia.


    Parush R. Parushev

    REV DR PARUSH R. PARUSHEV, Doc Hab, (Bulgaria) is an ordained Baptist minister. He has doctoral degrees in applied mathematics (St Petersburg, Russia) and theology (Fuller, California) and Habilition in science and theology. Dr Parushev is currently the Rector and Dean of Research at the International Baptist Theological Seminary of the European Baptist Federation in Prague, Czech Republic. He is a senior lecturer in theology at IBTS and Free University Amsterdam and the founding Director of the Institute for Systematic Studies of Contextual Theologies (IBTS).


    Istvan Pasztori-Kupan

    REV DR ISTVÁN PÁSZTORI-KUPAN, MTh, PhD, Doc Hab, is a Professor of Reformed Systematic Theology and History of Christian Doctrine at the Protestant Theological Institute in Kolozsvár (Cluj), Transylvania, Romania. He obtained his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2003 and his Habilitation at the Reformed Theological University in Debrecen in 2010. His publications include a monograph about Theodoret of Cyrus, a Greek theologian of the fifth century, published in The Early Church Fathers series by Routledge in 2006. www.proteo.hu/pasztori


    Corneliu C. Simuţ

    Dr Corneliu C. Simuț (PhD, University of Aberdeen, UK) is Editor-in-chief for Perichoresis. He is Professor of Biblical Theology at Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania.


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