Stanko Jambrek

The Great Commission in the Context of the Evangelical Churches of Croatia in the Second Part of the Twentieth Century

Oliver Olson

Mathias Flacius and the “Bible Institute” in Urach

Roko Kerovec

The Resurrection of Christ and the Eschatological Vision of the Kingdom of God as the Platform for Evangelistic Practice: The Challenges and Possibilities of the Evangelical Commission

Ervin Budiselićr

New Apostolic Reformation: Apostolic Ministry for Today

Mladen Jovanović

The Biblical Foundation of Evangelism

Thomas Sibley

Take a Fresh Look at Evangelism

Stanko Jambrek

This study deals with the biblical basis of the Great Commission and its reception in the evangelical churches of Croatia, in a global and local context. It offers a concise review of the fulfillment of the Great Commission in certain areas of work in the evangelical churches, among others, in planting churches, in the gestation of new denominations and in mission effectuation. Foundational issues that appear in its actualization are perviewed in the paper, and answers are indicated concerning the relationship between evangelism and social activity, evangelization of nominal Christians and proselytism.

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Oliver Olson

The history of the printing press at Urach near Tübingen is very important for the early history of Slavic publications, yet does not feature the name of Matthias Flacius (1520-1575). Flacius found ways to contribute to the success of the press. The fact that he was not a major contributor is due to the persecution inflicted upon him by Elector August of Saxony. Awareness of the Elector’s ruthless opposition to Flacius could contribute to the scholarly discussions about authorship.

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Roko Kerovec

The article investigates the possibilities and challenges to Evangelical evangelistic practice in the framework of the unbroken historical continuty between the resurrection of Christ and the eschatological realization of the kingdom of God on earth. This continutiy is conceived as a dynamic conclusion of the history of salvation and relies on the theological formula of the “inaugurated kingdom” which “is but is not yet” realized. The resurrection of Christ is, in this way, recognized as the realized segment of the kingdom, i.e. it takes over the “is” part of the formula and so defines the key message of the gospel because it guarantees and fulfills the full realization of the kingdom. This future realization is recognized as Christ’s return in glory and the universal resurrection, and thus absorbs the “not yet” part of the aforementioned theological formula. This construct operates as a historical paradigm, and evangelism is conceived and actualized within this framework. Certain ahistorical elements of Evangelical identity and strategies of evangelism are investigated against this background, for example: the intuitive indentification of the message of the gospel with the manner of salvation by faith alone, or assigning primacy to the personal experience of God’s immanent presence at the expense of the public, and the collective and inclusive direction of the message of the gospel. In the conclusion, the article touches on several advantages of Evangelical Christianity in the proposed paradigm and possibilities for evangelism, particularly in the Croatian context.

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Ervin Budiselić

This article analyzes the idea of Peter Wagner, the main representative of the New Apostolic Reformation, that apostles should and must govern local church congregations. The support for this claim is based primarily on Ephesians 2:20 where Paul said that the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” The question then is, whether people with the gift of apostolic ministry represent that foundation or the foundation is the apostolic teaching itself. Closely connected with this is the question whether the apostolic ministry/offic e continues today or not. The first part of the article analyzes the reasons for the occurrence of this idea in Wagner’s theology and the ultimate goals of the NAR movement. In the second part, it analyzes the biblical understanding of the apostolic ministry which is common for NAR theologians, and finally, compares these ideas with traditional ideas about apostolic ministry in Christianity. The author argues that while apostolic ministry in the Body of Christ continues even today and should be recognized as an offic e, the authority of apostles should be influential and spiritual, not governmental and hierarchical.

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Mladen Jovanović

Despite the enormous temporal distance, the need for the proclamation of the gospel today is not less critical than in the period of the beginning of the Church. The gospel can be proclaimed in many ways. The good news needs to be proclaimed primarily because the world is lost, because it is sinking in its own sin. Proclamation is indubitably the most essential task of every Christian.

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Thomas Sibley

The regrettable truth is that discussions about evangelism often divide the church. On one hand, such division seems to be a denial of the heart of the new age which the coming of Jesus brought about. Jesus prayed that we might be one, yet we divide over the process of making this “new age” known among men. Even though the gospel is good news both etymologically, and even more - substantially, there are times when just the mention of the term produces “heartburn”. On the other hand, heated and passionate discussion is understandable when aspects of evangelism are neglected, abused, or distorted. There are deeply committed believers who justifiably become angry when they observe people being manipulated either to embrace a particular expression of “the way” or manipulated into attempting to “sell” the gospel through activities and processes adapted from the consumerism of the west. Still, serious followers of Jesus are surely correct in insisting that Jesus must be obeyed when he commands his followers to “proclaim the gospel, be witnesses,” and “make disciples.”

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