Interview with Karl Dahlfred, Theology Drives Methodology (Part 2)

Last updated on: January 10, 2013 at 7:34 pm by Brad Vaughn

Interview with Karl Dahlfred, Theology Drives Methodology (Part 2) 2013-01-10T19:34:48-07:00 Brad Vaughn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here’s the second part of Karl Dahlfred’s reply to my questions. After you read his answers, let me know your thoughts on how Theology Drives Methodology might critique various mission methods.

You seem to approve of Nevin’s critique of that Finney’s methods (and their modern descendants), namely, they make Church redundant. Recently, Scot McKnight makes the case that individualistic “soterian” gospel presentations (e.g. Four Spiritual Laws, Roman Road, etc.) have a similar effect in that there is nothing inherent to these soterian presentations that make church participation essential. How would you respond to this particular critique from McKnight?

I have not read McKnight’s critique myself, so I will just respond to the question of whether individualistic Gospel presentations such as the ones you mentioned make the church redundant. While it can’t be denied that many times God has been pleased to use such Gospel summaries to lead people to Himself, there is an underlying assumption in all of these summaries that also showed up in Finney. Finney viewed salvation as a crisis moment where one could be saved when presented with the right arguments to convince the mind. There was no sense in Finney of conversion being a process.

Nevin admitted that crisis conversions do happen, but that the most common route to salvation is the process of learning from the Scriptures in the context of the church community. I would agree with that, especially in the post-modern West or pre-Christian Buddhist and Muslim cultures where there is little to no biblical literacy in the culture at large. We are not saved by how much we know, but we do have to know something to be saved. And if you hear a Gospel summary for the first time, without having any background in Christianity beforehand, is that really enough to be saved? There are exceptional cases, of course, but usually it takes a while for people to get their minds around the Gospel. How are they going to do that? Most often it is with people, specifically with Christians. And that means church.

The use of such Gospel summaries doesn’t necessarily make the church redundant as they can be used in a church context, where conversion is viewed as a process. However, the very format of such summaries does suggest that association with a church is not necessary before conversion, and is merely a helpful extra after conversion. These summaries can also create the idea that everything you really need to know about God is contained in these 10 little pages. Everything else, including church, is in the realm of secondary non-essentials (and thus, in many people’s minds, non-important)

What are some modern missiological methods that you think reflect the same type of thinking found in Finney?

There are lots of examples. Church Planting Movements. Insider Movements. Church Growth theory, a la Donald McGavran. Over-devotion to contextualization, especially the mindset that the more native we go with our ceremonies, the quicker people will come to faith. There are good points to be learned from among all these methodologies, but the mindset that goes along with them is often the same as Finney’s, namely that if we just use this method faithfully, then that will be the key to seeing a rapid harvest of souls come into the church. Ever since Finney, evangelicals have been chasing after the latest and greatest method that will complete the Great Commission in their lifetime.

Any other books or articles you would suggest people check out on this matter of connecting theology and methods?

I have not found a lot of literature out there specifically addressing the relationship between theology and methodology, other than brief general statements saying that what we believe impacts how we live.

Concerning the altar call and sinner’s prayer in particular, Iain Murray’s “Revival and Revivalism” gives a very in-depth historical overview of the changes that took place in theology and methodology between the first and second great awakening. Murray’s short booklet “The Invitation System” is also very helpful as he dissects a Billy Graham crusade in London. And David Bennett’s “The Altar Call: Origins and Present Usage” is a solid well-written history and critique of the altar call from its invention in the later 18th century to today.

Mission Methods

Theology

Ecclesiology

Previous Post

January 9, 2013

Some Reviews of T4T

Next Post

January 14, 2013 Two Kinds of Contextualization and Why It Matters: Defining the Relationship Between the Biblical Text and Cultural Context (Part 1)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Biblical Theology Book Reviews China Chinese Church Chinese Culture Chinese Language Collectivism Contextualization Culture (General) Ecclesiology Evangelism Gospel Honor & Shame (Face) Interpretation/Exegesis Justification/Righteousness Missiology Mission Methods One Gospel for All Nations Other Practical Contextualization Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes Resources Romans Salvation (General) Saving God's Face Seeking God's Face The Cross in Context Theological Contextualization Theological Education Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who took Jesus’ body and placed it in a tomb?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter John Nicodemus Joseph of Arimathea

Books by This Author Books by Brad Vaughn

See All Titles »