Visions of the Good Life: Salvation, Church, and Mission in the Secular West

by Hans Schaeffer (Other), Jan Martijn Abrahamse (Other), Karen Zwijze-Koning (Other), Stefan Paas (Other)

Overview

There is something wrong with us and the world we find ourselves in. In the Christian tradition, the concept of God's salvation describes the divine intervention to overcome this brokenness. However, such language might easily be misunderstood in the increasingly secular West. To make the reality of the doctrine of salvation understandable, relevant, and attractive for Europeans in the West, we might begin to think of it more in terms of relationship, well-being, and wholeness. Using a Biblical term, salvation is about the Shalom of the Reign of God. This volume explores the lived salvation practices of faith communities and missions, and their conceptualisations in the West: how is the good life perceived and practiced?

Contributors are Clive Marsh, Jan Martijn Abrahamse, Dejan Aždajić, K. Francis Adebayo, Philip Bartholomä, Janel Kragt Bakker, Nigel Rooms, Karen Zwijze-Koning, Hans Schaeffer, Berdine van den Toren-Lekkerkerker, Jack Barentsen, Chris James, Sake Stoppels, Annemieke de Jonge, Bert Roor, Evelien van Duffelen, Harvey Kwiyani, James Butler, Kathy Ross, Ross Lockhart, and Stefan Paas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789004724952
Publisher:	Brill Academic Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/25/2025
Series:	Theology and Mission in World Christianity , #36
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Hans Schaeffer is professor of Practical Theology and Research Director at Theologische Universiteit Utrecht (TUU). He is director of the Centre for Church and Mission in the West at the TUU and Editor-in-Chief of Ecclesial Practices (Brill).

Jan Martijn Abrahamse is Associate Professor of Theology at Ede Christian University of Applied Sciences (CHE) and a visiting fellow at the Centre for Church and Mission in the West (Theological University Utrecht).

Karen Zwijze-Koning is a postdoctoral researcher in Practical Theology at the Theologische Universiteit Utrecht (TUU). She holds a PHD in organizational communication and works with churches in the Netherlands on church renewal and collaborative goal deployment.

Stefan Paas is Professor of Missiology at Theologische Universiteit Utrecht and Professor of Missiology and Public Theology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. In his recent work he studies the relationship between missiology and soteriology, specifically in the secular West.