Living for Christ in a Hostile World: the Christian Identity and its Present Challenges in 1Peter
Short Article by Stephen Fagbemi
Transformation 2009 (Vol. 26, No. 1, Page 1. )

This paper explores an aspect of the Christian identity in the First Epistle of Peter; how it contributes to or informs the central message of the epistle, and its implications for Christian praxis. How were the recipients of 1 Peter addressed? What was the reason for the identity and in what way(s) was their identity to inform or relate to their daily lifestyle and mission? How might this inform a perspective on the implications of the Christian identity in the world today?

Refugee Realities: Refugee Rights versus State Security in Kenya and Tanzania
Short Article by Edward Mogire
Transformation 2009 (Vol. 26, No. 1, Page 15. )

Refugees, who were traditionally conceived and presented as humanitarian issues, are now increasingly viewed as security threats. The language of threat now dominates refugee discourses and policymaking as well as scholarly analysis. Focusing on Kenya and Tanzania, this paper explores how refugees have been reconstruction as security threats and the impact this reconstruction has had on refugee rights and protection. The paper argues that whereas the perception of refugees as a threat is not without merit and there is therefore need for measures to address this threat, it is possible for this to be done without violating refugee rights. In other words, the protection of state security and refugee security are not and should not be mutually exclusive.

Asian Centres of Learning and Witness before 1000 CE: Insights for Today
Short Article by Steve Cochrane
Transformation 2009 (Vol. 26, No. 1, Page 30. )

This article briefly examines six centres of learning and witness representing Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Zoroastrian and Muslim faiths. It explores the implications of five potential insights arising from these historical models for the Asian contexts of today. These insights are approached from the perspective of the Christian world view, but are equally applicable to other faiths. An attempt has been made to do two main things. First is to highlight historically the importance of pre-modern centres of learning and witness that can perhaps also be called universities, or ‘proto-universities’. There has also been the desire to encourage the ‘Global South’ in their history of education, and suggest implications for the future.

Orthodox Christian Approach to the Bible
Short Article by Elena Ene D-Vasilescu
Transformation 2009 (Vol. 26, No. 1, Page 40. )

The most common understanding of Orthodox Christianity and the attitude of its members to the Bible is that they do not read it (if they do this at all) critically. This brief article attempts to address this issue and to show that the view expressed above is a misunderstanding. In doing so, it will touch on the role of Tradition in interpreting the Bible and will also discuss the method used in such an endeavour.

Transformational Leadership Behaviours and Empathy with Action
Short Article by Mary Miller
Transformation 2009 (Vol. 26, No. 1, Page 45. )

My research identified the correlation between ‘empathy with action’ with other known leadership dimensions that have been previously identified in leadership research (Miller, 2005). This article discusses these correlations with the aim of identifying and understanding more of the spectrum of behaviours that enable transformation to be an aspect of the relationship between the leader and others. It is hoped that the reader who is interested in the transformational process for oneself and for one’s organization will be able to understand the process more completely in order to utilize for oneself the behaviours being discussed.

Reviews
Reviews by Various authors
Transformation 2009 (Vol. 26, No. 1, Page 61.

Reviews
Book Review by Various authors
Transformation 2008 (Vol. 25, No. 4, Page 273. Buy this issue.

Sources of Social and Political Theology
Article by Chukwudi E. Eze
Transformation 2008 (Vol. 25, No. 4, Page 169. Buy this issue.)

This paper analyses selected recent African theological works on the conceptual relationships between church and society. The author highlights what can be universally learned from the African writings with reference to debates about faith and its relationship to ideals of social and political justice. Some recent books by African theologians have taken up the challenge of directly confronting questions that arise from the relationships between Africa’s religions and their wider social and political environment. The paper shows how according to these theologians the church in Africa must be judged by what it does and by what it does not do vis-à-vis the larger societies of which it is a part.

Japenese Christianity in the Meiji Era
Article by Shuma Iwai
Transformation 2008 (Vol. 25, No. 4, Page 195. Buy this issue.)

This paper examines the perspective of Shintoistic Christianity of Ebina Danjo (1856-1937), a Japanese theologian, during the Meiji period, and how his view influences Japanese churches today. Based on the review of literature, this paper investigates the historical background of Christianity in Japan during that period, followed by key issues of Ebina’s thoughts on Christianity with respect to his Bible interpretation, nationalism, and view of the Logos. Through the analysis of his perspective of Shintoistic Christianity, this paper presents some missiological implications.

‘Wipe the Dust off your Feet’:
Article by Michael J Gilmour
Transformation 2008 (Vol. 25, No. 4, Page 205. Buy this issue.)

This article looks at the missionary – widely defined – as a character in late eighteenth-century literature. Specifically, it asks why authors would choose to include stories about failures in missionary endeavours. The paper argues that the answer lies in the pervasive influence of biblical stories on colonial religious discourse. The authors treated here view the failed missionary as a harbinger of the gospel’s ultimate success because Jesus himself said as much to his apostles, warning of opposition and rejection prior to the kingdom’s ultimate victory. Whether consciously or not, biblical precedents shape the expansionist, Christian rhetoric of these eighteenth and early nineteenthcentury writers in such a way that they can accommodate both missionary successes and disappointments in their narratives, without doubting their religious superiority over the non-Christians they describe.