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May 30, 2001

Wonders and Waterbuffaloes

ANCC, Hertfordshire, England (May 2001)

2 Corinthians is the best case-study in missionary spirituality ever published; it reaches its climax with Paul's paradoxical declaration, 'When I am weak, then I am strong' (2 Cor 12:10).

This paper consists of two parts. In Part 1 I examine Paul's concept of power in weakness in 2 Corinthians, with particular reference to 'The Fool's Speech' (11:1 - 12:10). In Part 2 I look at how this is applied in the lives and ministries of two very different characters: John Wimber and Kosuke Koyama.

John Wimber was a fundamentalist American pastor, founder of the Vineyard Church and author of Power Evangelism and The Dynamics of Spiritual Growth. Kosuke Koyama is a liberal Japanese theologian, author of Waterbuffalo Thelogy, No Handle on the Cross, Three Mile an Hour God and Mount Sinai to Mount Fuji.

Wimber and Koyama are worlds apart in terms of background and style, but I believe their approaches are not irreconcilable. They both exemplify the 'power in weakness' dynamic of authentically Christian mission.

This dissertation is available only in PDF format.

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Posted by sahelsteve at May 30, 2001 03:05 PM