Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission

by Dean Flemming

Winner of a Christianity Today Book Award Honored as one of the "Fifteen Outstanding Books for Mission Studies" by International Bulletin of Missionary Research From Cairo to Calcutta, from Cochabamba to Columbus, Christians are engaged in a conversation about how to speak and live the gospel in today's traditional, modern and emergent cultures. The technical term for their efforts is contextualization. Missionary theorists have pondered and written on it at length. More and more, those who do theology in the West are also trying to discover new ways of communicating and embodying the gospel for an emerging postmodern culture. But few have considered in depth how the early church contextualized the gospel. And yet the New Testament provides numerous examples. As both a crosscultural missionary and a New Testament scholar, Dean Flemming is well equipped to examine how the early church contextualized the gospel and to draw out lessons for today. By carefully sifting the New Testament evidence, Flemming uncovers the patterns and parameters of a Paul or Mark or John as they spoke the Word on target, and he brings these to bear on our contemporary missiological task. Rich in insights and conversant with frontline thinking, this is a book that will revitalize the conversation and refresh our speaking and living the gospel in today's cultures, whether in traditional, modern or emergent contexts.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Cultural, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2005

About the author

My bio is at: http://www.amazon.com/Dean-E.-Flemmin...

Reviews

[Ethan Preston · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. The only reason I rate it lower is because I felt it was way longer than it needed to be. Much space was spent on things that weren't really what the book was about. Besides that though it is a helpful and interesting book. Flemming explores how the authors of the New Testament contextualized the gospel to their diverse circumstances and reflects on how we can learn from them today. Flemming walks the line between outright theological pluralism and theological monotony on the other. While this is probably the right place to be, I did not feel he always gave the best justification for his position on contextualizing. He argues that we shouldn't summarize the faith in propositional statements but rather in the gospel narrative so that it can be contextualized, but then criticizes an Asian theologian for downplaying the uniqueness of Christ because it goes against Paul's statements of Christ's uniqueness. I'm not totally clear on the difference between a narrative and propositional statements (a narrative is made up of propositions, no?), but it did not seem that Flemming was totally clear or consistent at this point. Still an interesting read, just a bit long for what it was trying to accomplish.

[BJ Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a textbook for my Contextualization class towards my MDiv in Global Studies. Although I love the idea, Flemming's application lacks. There were multiple times when I was completely taken aback at how poorly he understood the Jewish or early church context of the scripture he was addressing. One of my papers (A) was supposed to be about how Paul used contextualization in his sermons in Acts. However, I spent the bulk of the paper demonstrating how Fleming misunderstood the historical and cultural context of one of those cities (Antioch of Pisidia) and how this completely changed much of the message and intentions of Paul's sermon from how Flemming was using it. This was just one of the similar examples I could have used.

Flemming is absolutely right that to properly recontextualize scripture into the context of a new culture, we need to know well both the biblical context and the culture we are trying to reach. Now... if only he would practice what he preaches.

[Kat Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you would expect with any textbook, this is a heady read and takes a lot of focus. The first few chapters killed me. However, once I got into a began to really enjoy it. Having finished it, I give this 5 stars and think it’s a great resource. This is one that I rented for school but will definitely be buying my own copy soon.

[Josiah Muhr · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is some good content here, but you will have to wade into some dense reading to find it. While I feel what is being discussed here is interesting, it would have beneficial if it was written in a more approachable way.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but wordy

Pretty lengthy book for the content. It could have been condensed much more. Sometimes it felt like he was commentating on the entire book that strayed away from the main point.

[Chase Bright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a long reading considering the specificity of the topic, which made it somewhat redundant after some period of time. Yet, I appreciated Flemming’s desire to leave no page unturned concerning the biblical exhortation of contextualization throughout the New Testament.

[Peyton Marple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very academic. But helpful and applicable to the course I was reading it for.

[Ben Adkison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly really helpful. Occasionally a little suspect (mainly the last chapter in a few places). Perhaps slightly overly verbose, but overall worth the read.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enormously important book. Dean Flemming's book on contextualization stems from wider discussions in missiology, but develops the discussion through the lens of New Testament studies. Overall, the book is a tour de force and an excellent synthesis of many different fields of study; made even better by compelling application. If I had to make a critique, I would say that Flemming sometimes seems unsure of whether or not there is an unconextualized core to the gospel. One moment he makes the statement that even the creedal passages in scripture that many look to as the core are contextualized and we can't get to the core of the gospel, and other times he says when doing contextualization we need to hold onto the core of the gospel.

[Lindsay Olesberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The New Testament writings model for us a process of doing theology in context, of engaging their cultures and offering their audiences a fresh and fitting articulation of the good news." p. 296
I would highly recommend this book to all who are interested in hermaneutics, theology, and cross-cultural communication. The chapters on the book of Acts and Revelation are particularly excellent.

[Dan Seely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flemming masterfully interacts with the text of Scripture to demonstrate how the various authors, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, contextualized the message of the gospel for their particular target audience and how their contextualizations serve as models for Christians today to contextualize their presentation of the gospel. Phenomenal.

[Brian Chilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flemming's book is of incredible value. The book demonstrates the importance of contextualizing the message of the gospel to the culture receiving the message. Flemming also challenges the Western believer to evaluate his/her beliefs in lieu of their culture. What is biblical and what constitutes cultural bias? This book is highly recommended for Christian readers.

[Sara Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book demonstrating how the New Testament is an example of contextualization. I especially enjoyed the examination of Paul's preaching in Acts and his writings. I had not realized the extent to which he had contextualized the content and method of his message.

[Matt Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good overview in many ways, although there is a discernable anti-Jewish bias