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Here Christ Is King Copyright © 2011 J. Henry Wolfe All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. INSIDER MOVEMENTS: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE VIABILITY OF RETAINING SOCIO-RELIGIOUS INSIDER IDENTITY IN HIGH-RELIGIOUS CONTEXTS ____________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ____________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ____________________ by J. Henry Wolfe May 2011 APPROVAL SHEET INSIDER MOVEMENTS: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE VIABILITY OF RETAINING SOCIO-RELIGIOUS INSIDER IDENTITY IN HIGH-RELIGIOUS CONTEXTS J. Henry Wolfe Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ M. David Sills (Chair) __________________________________________ George H. Martin __________________________________________ James D. Chancellor Date ______________________________ To [redacted] “Many women have done excellently, But you surpass them all.” TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . viii LIST OF TABLES . ix LIST OF FIGURES . x PREFACE . xi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 Background . 9 Statement of the Problem . 12 Purpose Statement . 14 Assumptions and Explanation of Terms . 15 Christian . 15 Church . 16 Contextualization . 18 Syncretism . 21 High-Religious Contexts . 23 Socio-Religious Forms . 24 Methodology . 25 Limitations and Delimitations . 26 iv Chapter Page 2. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSIDER MOVEMENT METHODOLOGY . 29 People Movements, Church Planting Movements, and Insider Methodology . 30 People Movements . 30 Church Planting Movements . 35 Insider Movements . 39 Church Planting Issues in High-Religious Contexts . 49 Theological Resistance . 50 Cultural Resistance . 51 Persecution. 52 The Groundwork for the C-Continuum . 55 Theoretical Suggestions Addressing the Shift of the Cultural Problem . 57 Reports of Experimentation. 66 C5: Logical Conclusions of Dynamic-Equivalence . 83 The C-Continuum. 87 Conclusion . 95 3. BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION FOR INSIDER MOVEMENTS . 98 God’s Inspired Casebook . 100 Fulfillment Theology . 105 General Revelation . 111 Fulfillment Theology in Insider Literature . 114 v Chapter Page Fulfillment and General Revelation in Acts 17:22-31 . 121 A Narrow View of Fulfillment . 129 General Revelation as Preparation for the Gospel . 135 Kingdom of God . 138 Kingdom Circles . 140 God Given Identity and Community? . 145 Samaritan Insiders? . 149 Acts 15 . 153 Flaws in the Kingdom Circles . 158 Conclusion . 164 4. MISSIOLOGICAL FORMATION OF INSIDER MOVEMENTS . 170 Models of Contextualization . 172 Robert Schreiter’s Constructing Local Theologies . 176 Stephen Bevans’s Models of Contextual Theology . 179 Gilliland’s Synthetic Model of Contextualization . 185 The Critical Model of Contextualization . 190 The Dynamic Equivalence of Charles Kraft . 191 Form and Meaning in the Contextualization Process . 208 Strengths and Weaknesses of Insider Methodology. 214 A Biblical View of Culture . 218 Incarnational Ministry . 224 Starting Point Plus Process . 226 vi Chapter Page Conclusion . 234 5. HISTORICAL CASE STUDY: SADRACH’S COMMUNITY OF FAITH . 238 The Javanese Context . 239 Javanese Cultural and Religious Context. 245 The Spread of Christianity in Java. 250 Sadrach’s Insider Movement . 261 Sadrach’s Biography and Community Development. 262 The Organization of Sadrach’s Community. 278 Contextualization and Syncretism in Sadrach’s Community. 281 Lessons Learned from Sadrach’s Insider Movement . 293 Conclusion . 303 6. CONCLUSION . 307 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 314 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BMS Baptist Mission Society CPM Church Planting Movement EMQ Evangelical Missions Quarterly GKN Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (Dutch Reformed Churches) IBMR International Bulletin of Mission Research IJFM International Journal of Frontier Missions IMB International Mission Board (SBC) ISFM International Society for Frontier Missions HUP Homogeneous Unit Principle MBB Muslim Background Believer NBBC Non-Baptized Believers in Christ NGK Nederduitsche Gereformeerde Kerken (The Netherlands Reformed Churches) NGZV Nederlandsche Gereformeerde Zendingsvereeniging (Dutch Reformed Mission Union) VOC Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (United East India Company) ZGKN Zending van de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (Mission of the Dutch Reformed Churches) viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. The C-Continuum . 3 2. Church growth statistics for the mission churches . 277 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Oikos church network . 42 2. Aggregate church network . 43 3. Components of a true church in an emerging Christ-centered community . 93 4. The Kingdom Circles . 141 5. Lewis’s Kingdom Circles . 142 6. Acts 15 and the kingdom of God . 162 7. Bevans’s map of the models of contextual theology . 180 8. Bounded set Christianity. 197 9. Fuzzy set Christianity. 198 10. Map of modern Indonesia . ..
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