Updates, Events, and Publications
ASBURY ALUMI RELEASES LATEST PUBLICATION
Dr. William P. Payne (PhD. ’01), released his latest publication Divine Footprints.
Is there a unifying key that enables Christians to interpret the Bible and see the guiding hand of God in history? Professor William Payne says there is. He calls it the missional hermeneutic. It is a grand design. Design implies a designer. Others call it the mission of God. Always and forever, God is pursuing his plan. Payne contends that the Scriptures and human history show God’s purposes, illuminate his unfolding plan, and point to his end goal. This book unpacks the missional hermeneutic and teaches readers how to apply it to Bible interpretation and historical analysis. For example, his lengthy chapter on Acts masterfully uncovers how God and the heavenly powers interacted as the church took the gospel from Jerusalem to the heart of the Roman Empire per God’s directions. Other chapters show how God messages history and works through it to accomplish his will. Payne calls it seeing God’s footprints. In short, this book shows you how to grasp the big picture and align yourself with God’s work.
For more information, click HERE
NEW CENTER FOR CHURCH MULTIPLICATION VIDEO HIGHLIGHT
CCM is excited to share a brand-new overview video created last month that captures the heart of church multiplication at Asbury. Whether you’re a longtime supporter or new to the CCM community, this short video offers a compelling glimpse into the mission, vision, and stories driving the Center for Church Multiplication (CCM). Watch it now on our website!
RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK OF A 2010 ALUMNI
Stavan Narendra John received his MDiv at Asbury Theological Seminary and graduated in 2010. He went on to pursue an MTh (or ThM) from South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS) in 2015, and a PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies/Middlesex University in 2022.
His book on Thomas F. Torrance’s Theology of the Ascension was recently published by Cascade Books on Ascension Day.
The ascension is a crucial doctrine, integrally related to the incarnation. When it is underemphasized, it results in an impoverishment of our theology of Christ, the church, human beings, and eschatology. T. F. Torrance’s theology offers a compelling vision and holistic doctrine of the ascension that, notwithstanding its flaws, deserves a careful and detailed examination. Torrance develops a holistic account of the ascension by considering the ontology, spatiality, and present ministry of the ascended Jesus. What results is a theological construction that affirms the ascended body of Christ and understands the Lord to be currently serving as our human representative in a ministry of priestly intercession, prophetic declaration, and ascended kingship. Torrance is able to do this without succumbing to literalism (space travel), demythologization (metaphorical reading), or Pelagianism (human effort-based sanctification and glorification). This book interprets and then develops Torrance’s theology of the ascension in critical dialogue with contemporary theological interlocutors.
The book can be found on Amazon HERE and WIPF and Stock Publishers HERE
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