Gospel Proclamation of the Ascended Lord

Abstract

As missionaries proclaim the gospel among people of the major religions, especially in shame-based societies, they find a great deal of resistance and confusion. The traditional Western church formulation of substitionary atonement in particular does not make sense and even seems morally and aesthetically repulsive. Instead, missionaries find that many people come to faith in the gospel through their experience of Jesus in visions, healing, miracles, inner peace, prayer, etc. The article suggests that we recognize how people are following the same path that St. Paul did, first personal experience of the ascended Lord and then intellectual conviction about his suffering, death, and resurrection. They are seeking divine help in sanctification, rather than divine forgiveness through justification. The article concludes with alternative approaches from Scripture that we have largely ignored in our proclamation.