Church History: The Challenge of the Present Moment

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Lecture audio: The Challenge of the Present Moment

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Lecture Notes Outline

-        Challenges in “Post-Christian” Societies

o   Christianity amid the World Wars

-  Dietrich Bonhoeffer & Corrie ten Boom

o   Declines in church attendance in Europe & North America

-  A new wave of apologists: G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer

o   Evangelism in a post-Christian context

-  Billy Graham crusades & friendship evangelism

o   Christian Rights and Non-Christian Ideologies

-  Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement

o   The Cold War & the Christian resurgence in eastern Europe

o   Assessing the present moment through a historical lens

-        Historical Turning Points in the Present Moment

o   Major milestones in Bible translation and unreached people groups

o   Flourishing of “kingdom movements” around the world

o   Growth of Christianity in Muslim-majority areas

o   Widespread persecution

o   Christianity in China

o   Christianity in America