Bock

India Jan 26

I spent the early part of January in India at a Seminary teaching a DMin class on Luke in 5 days. This group from the Evangelical Seminary in Bangalore was an amazing combination of folks. Some walked through the bush for days to get to a train in order to get to the class which meets for two weeks each year (I was their guest biblical studies prof for this year).

I spent the early part of January in India at a Seminary teaching a DMin class on Luke in 5 days. This group from the Evangelical Seminary in Bangalore was an amazing combination of folks. Some walked through the bush for days to get to a train in order to get to the class which meets for two weeks each year (I was their guest biblical studies prof for this year). India is becoming quite important globally. It was humbling to have people from here who are so dedicated to sharing the gospel in a country where the Christian population is no more than a few percent out of 1.2 billion. Helping them to contextualize Christianity in a largely Hindu and Islamic context was my task. We concentrated on the ways to think about mission in such a context. India has also been the scene of a great deal of persecution recently (the Mumbai incident around Christmas was but one incident of many over the last year). So there is a great deal to pray about when it comes to India. Bangalore is a city of 8 million and one of two growing technological hubs in India (Hydrabad is the other). Many of the calls you make for computer software support end up here. Thecountry is a mix of old and new, as Indian culture now must cope with the major influx of Western values in certain areas. It was a fascinating trip in which electricity sometimes worked (mostly did except in the ealry mornings when factories gear up), but my cell phone never failed, another odd mix. We will be keeping an eye on what is happening in this key country.

7 Comments

  • The Anthropologist

    Jesus and Politics at The Village Church
    Sorry to sabotage the post, but I’m dying to hear the rest of the conversation. I attended The Village Church’s “Culture and Theology: Jesus and Politics” last night and it was amazing. It was unfortunate that we ran out of time, due to all the great dialogue.

    Is there anyway you could post the remaining portions of your lecture? I felt like the foundation was laid, and I’m interested to hear the next steps of you argument.

    Specifically, the role of government, Christian politicians, how to vote.

    It was an amazing evening, thanks.

    • bock

      Village Church dlb

      Anthropologist:

      I think the plan is to have me back to finish what was started. This topic is something that is difficult to post– that is why we set it up for discussion, not just lecture.  So I would say, keep your ears open for the return engagement and thanks for taking the time to write.

  • JOY JOHN

    SERMON of Dr.BOCK
    Dr. Bock
    I am Joy John from Asian Christian Academy(Academic Dean).
    Could I get an audio version (or text) of your sermon on Culture and theology : Jesus and Politics? Who arranged the program in in India ? Can I get in touch with that person? By the way I met Dr. Siga Arles, we had a great time. We are planning to have him for some sessions with us in the next academic year.
    Hope things are fine with you
    Wishing you God’s best
    Yours in His love
    JOY JOHN

  • KETAN RINDANI

    India: A Mission Field with Huge Scope
    Dr Bock,

    It is sad that even though India was one of the first countries to hear the Gospel (Thomas came to India and was martyred in Madras), probably less than 5% of the country is Christian. In fact, most of these are Catholics.

    The need of the hour is to train up evangelists by giving them a strong grounding in Apologetics and Christian Counselling/Psychology and send them to the mission fields. My prayer is that each and every person in my country India will come to know and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour.

    Thanks for your post.