The practice of religious conversion in the 21st century has revived academic interest in the subject. Most theories and frameworks for understanding religious conversion are still based on outdated models. Recent studies have focused primarily on converts’ testimonies, which is a valuable starting point for contextualizing religious conversion. However, much of this research has concentrated on individuals and their past religious worldviews. There is a significant gap in understanding the contextualization of religious conversion in relation to culture, theology, community, and other factors. In September, OCMS will address this gap through its MBL lecture series, focusing on the contextualization of religious conversion in the majority world. Full Programme Details here
Previous Lectures
Overview The lecture will explore scholarship on the modern Christian missionary movement which links mission to the European colonial conquest since the fifteenth century and gives attention to emerging voices seeking to ‘redeem’ mission from this conquest paradigm, especially those in the wider Evangelical tradition arguing for mission as ’incarnation’, ‘integral’, 'translation’, ‘holistic’, and ‘transformation’: A case will be made that history and a careful reflection of societies where modern Christianity is dominant oblige us to re-read the Gospel narrative and its imperative for followers of Jesus: compelling us to ponder if ‘mission’ is redeemable: Could it be more plausible to talk about the need to ‘repent’ of the mission paradigm?
Speaker Dr. David Zac Niringiye
About the speaker Dr. David Zac Niringiye holds a PhD in Theology and Mission History from the University of Edinburgh (UK), an MA in Theology from Wheaton College (USA), as well as a Physics Honours degree and Teaching Diploma from Makerere University in Uganda. He is a leader with national and international acclaim and has experience as a church leader, theologian, peace and social justice activist and an organizational development consultant. Bishop Zac who previously served as Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Kampala, is now engaged in full-time civic-political activism in his native country of Uganda.
Overview This is the second of two lectures with the theme: "The Gospel and the Common Good: Bearing Witness in Public Life and the Public Square." Both explore the connection between the Gospel and communal welfare, emphasising the role of theology in contemporary societal issues. The first lecture is: Theology as Narrative Discourse: Reframing our Understanding of the Gospel addresses how modern Christianity's overlook of the common good can be attributed to theological methodologies that misinterpret the biblical narrative. This one continues to explore and build upon the themes introduced in the first lecture, offering deeper insights into how the Gospel influences public life and the common good.
Speaker Dr. David Zac Niringiye
About the speaker Dr. David Zac Niringiye holds a PhD in Theology and Mission History from the University of Edinburgh (UK), an MA in Theology from Wheaton College (USA), as well as a Physics Honours degree and Teaching Diploma from Makerere University in Uganda. He is a leader with national and international acclaim and has experience as a church leader, theologian, peace and social justice activist and an organizational development consultant. Bishop Zac who previously served as Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Kampala, is now engaged in full-time civic-political activism in his native country of Uganda.
Speaker Dr David Zac Niringiye
About the speaker Dr Niringiye is a bishop in the Church of Uganda, a scholar-practitioner theologian, a peace and social justice activist, and an organizational development consultant. He is currently an Academic Visitor at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford. His research interests are in Theology and Mission History, Church and Society, and Religion, Culture, and Public Life. Among Dr Niringiye’s publications are: The Church: God’s Pilgrim People (Carlisle, UK: Langham Global Library, 2014); and The Church in the World: A Historical-Ecclesiological Study of the Church of Uganda with Particular Reference to Post-Independence Uganda, 1962-1992 (Carlisle, Cumbria UK: Langham Monographs, 2016).
