Abstract This article examines the complex negotiation of religious identity among Arabic-speaking Evangelicals in Israel, focusing on their struggle for official recognition as a religious community. In Israel, religious communities are responsible for personal status law, making affiliation with a recognized religious community essential. Civil marriage is unavailable. While Evangelicals theologically reject the notion of being Christian by birth rather than by personal faith, they must navigate a legal system that fundamentally contradicts their self-understanding. Through fieldwork conducted in Nazareth, this study analyzes how the Convention of Evangelical Churches in Israel, established in 2005, pursues official recognition while grappling with theological tensions. Despite distancing themselves rhetorically from “traditional” Christianity, Evangelicals pragmatically adopt many of its elements. This reveals how the prevailing religious framework in Israel – a reinvention of the Ottoman millet system by British colonial authorities, and continued by Israel – continues to shape Christian identity beyond individual faith convictions.

Abstract Using mission diaries and sheet music preserved in the Genadendal Music Archive, the article explores how Moravian music was adapted and transformed in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century mission community of Genadendal in the South African Cape Colony. On the one hand, the article argues that Moravian practices of musical teaching and music-making in the mission of Khoisan populations must be understood as a forced cultural transfer which operated under colonial circumstances, which included claims of ‘white supremacy’. On the other hand, it documents an active role of the Khoisan in adopting Moravian music practice. Considering the example of choral singing by Khoisan children and the enduring tradition of the “ Posaunenchor ”, the article invites the reader to consider to what extent music practised by the Genadendal community can be seen as an African music tradition.

Abstract This article presents an exploratory study of one of the most significant emerging mission movements in contemporary China, Mission China 2030 (MC 2030), with a particular focus on its continuity and divergence from the Back-to-Jerusalem (BTJ) movement. Through a structured analysis, this study examines the historical origins, theological foundations, and strategic approaches of MC2030, highlighting its efforts to mobilize the Chinese church for global evangelism. While BTJ emphasized an indigenous and eschatologically charged vision, MC2030 reflects a pragmatic shift, embracing strategic planning and fostering international partnerships, particularly through its connection to the Lausanne Movement. Ultimately, the study underscores the movement’s eclectic nature, integrating elements from BTJ, the Lausanne Movement, and the legacy of Western missionaries, while navigating the challenges of government restrictions and the evolving global mission context.

Abstract This article contextualizes the Chinese reception of Moltmann’s “new political theology” within Chinese academia by revisiting the “Beijing Summit” of October 2014, when Moltmann travelled to Renmin University of China to dialogue with ten leading Chinese academics in the humanities and social sciences. Debates raised concerned the recent Chinese reception of Carl Schmitt (1888–1985); President Xi Jinping’s Chinese Dream of National Rejuvenation; state responses to terrorism; and the “new political theology” introduced by Moltmann (1926–2024), Johann Baptist Metz (1928–2019), and others in post-WWII Germany. The article juxtaposes Moltmann’s and Schmitt’s political theologies in their respective receptions in Chinese scholarship, summarizes and presents a brief contextual analysis of the 2014 Summit with Moltmann, and probes the critical potential of Moltmann’s ideas for theological discourse in Chinese academia.

Abstract In the 1970s, four overseas Taiwanese Christians launched the “Formosan Christians for Self-Determination Movement” (FCSDM) in the United States to promote the self-determination of the people of Taiwan. This article draws on three policy documents released by the FCSDM to argue that these Christians apparently embedded the Christian understanding of human rights within the secular political discourse of self-determination and sovereignty. In so doing, they strove to appeal to people from a broader spectrum of religious and national backgrounds rather than merely addressing Taiwanese Christians in their call for Taiwan’s self-determination.

Abstract After several decades of relative silence in the Netherlands on the topic of church and racism, the Black Lives Matter Movement and the public debate on reparations for colonial enslavement have brought the issue back on the agenda of church and theology. Fuelled by the Programme to Combat Racism (PCR), previous ecumenical discussions on this topic in the 1970s provide a good starting point for reflection today. This paper first provides some basic background on the PCR and then describes three theological positions in relation to reconciliation that shaped the discussions around racism. Based on these historical insights, the article summarizes the experiences and insights of the PCR in three major points, and discusses their relevance for today’s conversation on church, diaconia, and racism. The paper argues that commitment, the transfer of power, and the value of discomfort provide important theological and practical insights for today’s debate.