Worshiping, Witnessing, and Wondering
Christian Wisdom for Participation in the Mission of God
Imprint: Cascade Books
Focusing on educational ministries, Hastings offers a postcritical, synthetic approach to worshiping, witnessing, and wondering, grounded in scriptural ways of knowing God in Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Here, lives marked by worship, witness, and wonder are understood not only to be harmonious with the evolutionary endowments of perception, action, and cognition, nor as well-attested practices of corporate and personal religious life, but also as a tripartite gestalt contingent on divine agency and mediated through participation in Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Hastings describes worship, witness, and wonder as ways Christians participate with a sense of common cause in the mission of the God of love and life, who comes to us in Jesus Christ "clothed in his gospel" and in the power of the Holy Spirit, who has been "poured out upon all flesh."
Thomas John Hastings is Executive Director of the Overseas Ministries Study Center and Administrative Faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Editor of the International Bulletin of Mission Research (SAGE). He is the author of Seeing All Things Whole: The Scientific Mysticism and Art of Kagawa Toyohiko, 1888–1960 (Pickwick, 2015) and Practical Theology and the One Body of Christ: Toward a Missional-Ecumenical Model (Eerdmans, 2007), translator of Kagawa Toyohiko, A Few Words in the Dark: Selected Meditations (Bridges to Peace, 2015), and editor of the translation of Kagawa Toyohiko, Cosmic Purpose (Cascade, 2014).
“Hastings exhorts the fragmented American Protestant communities to hold fast to the vision of unity in Christ incarnate. . . . Inspired by the diverse global Christian communities, he reflects on how this vision might lead to the renewed catechesis of ‘worship,’ ‘witness,’ and ‘wonder as ways Christians participate with a sense of common cause in the mission of the God of love and life.’”
—Haruko Nawata Ward, Columbia Theological Seminary
“Tom Hastings is an important mentor and guiding light in Christian education, mission studies, and theology. This book is a gem, refracting with wisdom and care ways for us to grow in Christ, creating beauty and doing justice in a fragmented time for the church and the world.”
—Makoto Fujimura, artist, and Haejin Shim Fujimura, justice advocate
“No one interested in the progress of the churches in the Majority World can afford to miss this wonderful book. Backed by years of experience as a teaching missionary and a scholar, Tom Hastings pulls together the fruits of a lifetime. The reader will be inspired anew by wonder and witness for the sake of mission and worship. Horizons will be expanded and hope renewed by the insights that are here encountered.”
—George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary
“Drawing on his decades-long experiences as an American practical theologian serving in Japanese contexts, Hastings is ideally equipped to offer discernment and encouragement to those facing the enormous challenges of Christian formation and mission. . . . Borne of a brilliant reading of Scripture, tradition, and mission theology, Hastings’s wisdom will enrich the global church, whether in India, Indonesia, or Indiana.”
—Jacob Cherian, Southern Asia Bible College
“The combination of clarity and brilliance in this book is remarkable. . . . This book is a must-read for leaders who are thinking about the transformation of the church in a post-pandemic, polarized, and rapidly secularizing world. . . . Drawing on theology and the social sciences, he invites leaders to view worship, witness, and wonder as forms of participation in the mission of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Fresh, challenging, and inspiring.”
—Richard R. Osmer, Princeton Theological Seminary, emeritus
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