The purpose of this dissertation is to assess selected evangelistic writings, statements of faith, and witness training models of Southern Baptists, both hermeneutically and theologically.
Although the core of this assessment appears purely theological in nature, this dissertation also employs biblical, historical, and comparative treatments.
Specific attention is given to the implications of this research for Southern Baptists and their proclamation of the gospel.
Four chapters are used in order to conduct this dissertation's thesis.
The composition of this dissertation includes four methodological components: (1) exegetical treatments of three significant New Testament passages containing the apostolic gospel; (2) a doctrinal treatment of selected Articles within The Baptist Faith and Message (1925, 1963, and 2000), and a historical, as well as, theological examination of two major Southern Baptist Convention evangelism texts; (3) theological treatments of prominent Southern Baptist Convention witness training models; and (4) a concluding assessment for an application of the research in order to draw theological and biblical considerations about Southern Baptist evangelism.
The following chapter summaries will explain the implementation of research methodology for the dissertation.
Chapter 1 provides readers with an exegetical treatment of the gospel found in the New Testament, as well as an Old Testament derivative, in order to provide a biblical basis for interpreting the apostolic gospel.
This treatment entails word studies of the three major words utilized by the New Testament to convey the idea of the early church's proclamation (i.e., kappa h&d12; rhoupsilongammamualpha, &egr;upsilonalphanugammagamma 3&d12; lambdaiotaonu, mualpharhotauupsilonrhoiotaonu).
The focus of the chapter deals with exegeses of Acts 2:22--41; 3:12--26; and 5:29--32, which contain apostolic formulas of the gospel.
The majority of apostolic, kerygmatic formulas contained in the New Testament were presented in the context of public preaching.
In contrast, this dissertation examines the kerygmatic formulations of the Southern Baptist Convention in the context of personal witnessing encounters.
This chapter seeks to investigate that despite differences in audience context, the essential framework of the proclaimed message in the apostolic gospel and the Southern Baptist Convention's personal witness training models is comparative for the purposes of this study.
The Southern Baptist Convention possesses a deep heritage of theological work as it relates to the gospel and evangelism.
The theology of Southern Baptist evangelism methods is examined in Chapter 2.
Portions of The Baptist Faith and Message (1925, 1963, and 2000), as well as the writings of L.
R. Scarborough and Lewis Drummond, specifically With Christ After the Lost and The Word of the Cross, respectively, clearly demonstrate Southern Baptists' doctrinal and theological understanding of the gospel in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
A detailed account of their evangelistic legacy provides this study with a demonstration of the evangelistic presentations and theology of Southern Baptists in order to present an assessment of their theological understanding of the gospel.
While Southern Baptists employ several different forms of gospel proclamation, this study specifically examines the gospel proclaimed in the context of personal witnessing encounters.
The assessment of selected prominent personal evangelism presentations utilized by the Southern Baptist Convention comprises the content of Chapter 3.
Lay Evangelism School, Continuing Witness Training, FAITH: Evangelism through the...
