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Announcing the Reign of God: Evangelization and the Subversive Memory of Jesus
This book offers a program for Christian evangelism based on the teachings of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This is a superb resource volume for those wishing to test the soundness of their understanding and practice of Christian evangelism. It is solidly grounded in the ministry of Jesus and illumined by testimonial statements and experiences drawn from a cosmopolitan variety of witnesses. . . [Arias's] key contribution is the rehabilitation of the Kingdom of God as the controlling perspective for the proclamation of the gospel in word and deed. In a style helpful to scholar and nonscholar, he combs biblical sources, especially the Synoptic Gospels, in search of Jesus' own practice. The hermeneutical outlook is clearly dictated by Arias's own battle-tested experience in Bolivia, where he was bishop of the Methodist Church and where he underwent imprisonment as a consequence of his evangelistic practice. After reading this book, dichotomies are - proclamation or social responsibility - intra-church or extra-church evangelization - the conversion of individuals or conversion of communities. [This book] should become at least a minor classic. --Jorge Lara-Braud, Theology Today Chapter The Good News of the Kingdom The Presence of the Kingdom The Imminence of the Kingdom The In-Breaking of the Kingdom The Eclipse of the Kingdom Announcing the Kingdom as Gift Announcing the Kingdom as Hope Announcing the Kingdom as Challenge End of the Eclipse? Mortimer Arias was Methodist bishop in Boliva, Professor of Hispanic Studies and Evangelization at the School of Theology, Claremont, and a member of the World Council of Churches' Commission on world Mission and Evangelism. With his wife, Esther, he coauthored the popular book The Cry of My People.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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July 20, 2017
Mortimer Arias’ Announcing the Reign of God is a biblically based call for a return to holistic evangelism rooted in Christ’s own kingdom language. Arias’ thesis is that we have come to a critical point in evangelization, and responding to this crisis with a vision of the reign of God will be the solution. Indeed, Arias claims we need to view evangelization from the perspective of the kingdom, “no more and no less than announcing the reign of God!” Therefore, this essay will be a critical evaluation of Arias’ work and its contribution to today’s study of evangelism. It will discuss the incarnational, holistic, eschatological, confrontational, and apostolic aspects of evangelization, and what it means to make disciples, and to be evangelical and prophetic in our kingdom approach. Ultimately, Arias’ work will be evaluated as helpful with little that detracts from his overall message.
First, the message of the kingdom is rooted solidly in Jesus Christ. He came announcing the gospel, the good news of the kingdom of God as his sole purpose. Our deficit today is in announcing any other “plan of salvation” apart from Christ’s evangelization. Jesus’ evangelization was not only kingdom centered, but holistic. It involved teaching, preaching, and healing for the whole person (physical, intellectual, spiritual). Further, Christ’s evangelism was liberating (Lk. 4:18-19), bringing about God’s peace, justice, joy, and liberation. Most importantly, Christ’s work was not about verbal proclamation alone, but the good news was a living entity, transformed people (healed, forgiven, restored) who made up a community which itself was a manifestation of the kingdom. All in all, Christ’s evangelization was incarnational and discipling. Thus, Arias is clear. Christ’s gospel is all about the kingdom of God. This theme is all over the Gospels, and anyone who takes evangelism seriously will see it in the Great Commission, the Lord’s prayer, and throughout Christ’s ministry and passion. This message has always been there if we look close enough. It is our fundamental mission, part of the church’s subversive memory.
Further, Arias enumerates evangelization in the kingdom as both present and imminent, here and yet to come. First, it is present through Jesus himself (and later his Church), in grace, forgiveness, and life. “The kingdom of God comes as grace, and it has to be received as a gift.” Further, Arias clarifies the kingdom’s presence as God’s reign: grace in action. This grace affirms, defends, restores, and celebrates human life. To enter into the kingdom is full, abundant, eternal life - now and forever. Arias aptly strikes at the heart of kingdom of grace: Jesus’ open table - in Christian fellowship, hospitality, and the Eucharist - where actions do not accompany words, but demonstrate God’s gracious rule in action. Second, the kingdom is imminent in the Lord’s prayer providing, “a hope to sustain us in the present and to mobilize us toward the future.” The Church’s mission is to celebrate and proclaim the kingdom, that has come, is coming, and will come at the end of time. In the midst of sin, darkness, sickness, and death we pray for God’s healing and redemption. Thus, the in-breaking of God’s new order confrontationally demands a response: repentance, conversion, and covenant discipleship. The proper response is a total reorientation of life toward the kingdom of God (attitude, actions, relationships) that demands total allegiance, to receive God’s kingdom, personally and socially.
All well and good, but Arias contends that the Church has drifted away from Christ’s evangelization of the kingdom. Pauline theology and the rest of the New Testament experienced an eclipse of the kingdom motif. The message of the Gospel encountered an apostolic shift from the kingdom to Christ. The contextualization of the gospel, Arias claims, reduced the reign of God to one aspect, mistaking the part for the whole. For example, we have proclaimed a personal experience of salvation, without Christ’s total lordship over social and global dimensions of the kingdom. We have reduced the kingdom to the institutional church, or a particular social order (e.g. nationalism), or preached apocalyptic escapism. Thus, Arias’ call is to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in awakening us to this subversive memory of Jesus, recovering the full biblical gospel of the kingdom.
To do that, Arias proposes that we announce the kingdom as gift (evangelical), hope (prophetically), and challenge (discipleship). To do this we must announce the gift of grace in our attitudes, relationships, and church structures. Practically, this means engaging in ministries of forgiveness, healing, and compassion (“those sinned-against”). This brings about God’s reign of peace. This is the beauty of Wesleyan theology, the open table of the Lord’s Supper offers all of these: God’s grace, forgiveness, healing, and compassion. We must recover “eucharistic hospitality” in our churches. In addition, we prophetically announce the hope of the kingdom and denounce anything that opposes God’s eschatological purposes for humanity, and console all with hope.
Most importantly, Arias contends that the church’s mission must be to recover kingdom discipleship. Waldron Scott succinctly says, “evangelism should be subordinate to discipleship”. This was Jesus’ way, and is what evangelism is all about: the logos of the kingdom, and the legacy of his disciples. Discipleship is an eschatological fellowship, people who have experienced forgiveness, fellowship, and are committed to God’s reign. Thus, announcing the kingdom as challenge means an invitation to participate in the blessings, to celebrate the hopes, and engage in the tasks of the kingdom. It is not just the blessing of new life, but costly, demanding, requiring our all.
Therefore, even though written in 1984, Arias provides a clarion call to return to biblical evangelization! Not only that, but the author inspirationally presents biblical evangelization as being faithful to the kingdom.
First, the message of the kingdom is rooted solidly in Jesus Christ. He came announcing the gospel, the good news of the kingdom of God as his sole purpose. Our deficit today is in announcing any other “plan of salvation” apart from Christ’s evangelization. Jesus’ evangelization was not only kingdom centered, but holistic. It involved teaching, preaching, and healing for the whole person (physical, intellectual, spiritual). Further, Christ’s evangelism was liberating (Lk. 4:18-19), bringing about God’s peace, justice, joy, and liberation. Most importantly, Christ’s work was not about verbal proclamation alone, but the good news was a living entity, transformed people (healed, forgiven, restored) who made up a community which itself was a manifestation of the kingdom. All in all, Christ’s evangelization was incarnational and discipling. Thus, Arias is clear. Christ’s gospel is all about the kingdom of God. This theme is all over the Gospels, and anyone who takes evangelism seriously will see it in the Great Commission, the Lord’s prayer, and throughout Christ’s ministry and passion. This message has always been there if we look close enough. It is our fundamental mission, part of the church’s subversive memory.
Further, Arias enumerates evangelization in the kingdom as both present and imminent, here and yet to come. First, it is present through Jesus himself (and later his Church), in grace, forgiveness, and life. “The kingdom of God comes as grace, and it has to be received as a gift.” Further, Arias clarifies the kingdom’s presence as God’s reign: grace in action. This grace affirms, defends, restores, and celebrates human life. To enter into the kingdom is full, abundant, eternal life - now and forever. Arias aptly strikes at the heart of kingdom of grace: Jesus’ open table - in Christian fellowship, hospitality, and the Eucharist - where actions do not accompany words, but demonstrate God’s gracious rule in action. Second, the kingdom is imminent in the Lord’s prayer providing, “a hope to sustain us in the present and to mobilize us toward the future.” The Church’s mission is to celebrate and proclaim the kingdom, that has come, is coming, and will come at the end of time. In the midst of sin, darkness, sickness, and death we pray for God’s healing and redemption. Thus, the in-breaking of God’s new order confrontationally demands a response: repentance, conversion, and covenant discipleship. The proper response is a total reorientation of life toward the kingdom of God (attitude, actions, relationships) that demands total allegiance, to receive God’s kingdom, personally and socially.
All well and good, but Arias contends that the Church has drifted away from Christ’s evangelization of the kingdom. Pauline theology and the rest of the New Testament experienced an eclipse of the kingdom motif. The message of the Gospel encountered an apostolic shift from the kingdom to Christ. The contextualization of the gospel, Arias claims, reduced the reign of God to one aspect, mistaking the part for the whole. For example, we have proclaimed a personal experience of salvation, without Christ’s total lordship over social and global dimensions of the kingdom. We have reduced the kingdom to the institutional church, or a particular social order (e.g. nationalism), or preached apocalyptic escapism. Thus, Arias’ call is to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in awakening us to this subversive memory of Jesus, recovering the full biblical gospel of the kingdom.
To do that, Arias proposes that we announce the kingdom as gift (evangelical), hope (prophetically), and challenge (discipleship). To do this we must announce the gift of grace in our attitudes, relationships, and church structures. Practically, this means engaging in ministries of forgiveness, healing, and compassion (“those sinned-against”). This brings about God’s reign of peace. This is the beauty of Wesleyan theology, the open table of the Lord’s Supper offers all of these: God’s grace, forgiveness, healing, and compassion. We must recover “eucharistic hospitality” in our churches. In addition, we prophetically announce the hope of the kingdom and denounce anything that opposes God’s eschatological purposes for humanity, and console all with hope.
Most importantly, Arias contends that the church’s mission must be to recover kingdom discipleship. Waldron Scott succinctly says, “evangelism should be subordinate to discipleship”. This was Jesus’ way, and is what evangelism is all about: the logos of the kingdom, and the legacy of his disciples. Discipleship is an eschatological fellowship, people who have experienced forgiveness, fellowship, and are committed to God’s reign. Thus, announcing the kingdom as challenge means an invitation to participate in the blessings, to celebrate the hopes, and engage in the tasks of the kingdom. It is not just the blessing of new life, but costly, demanding, requiring our all.
Therefore, even though written in 1984, Arias provides a clarion call to return to biblical evangelization! Not only that, but the author inspirationally presents biblical evangelization as being faithful to the kingdom.
March 25, 2022
Mortimer Arias, born in 1924, was the bishop of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Bolivia from 1969-1976. Afterward he taught missions and evangelism at Perkins, Iliff, and Claremont. He also taught at the Latin America seminary in Costa Rica. His book, Announcing the Reign of God: Evangelism and the Subversive Memory of Jesus was written in 1984, during a period of extreme violence in Latin America. That part of the world was home of the proxy wars between the United States and the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan was pouring arms and mercenaries into Latin America to fight both communist and democratic movements. Repressive governments in El Salvador and Guatemala were systematically killing their own citizens, including Christian leaders who advocated for the poor. Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated by government agents as he stood at the altar leading worship. Liberation theology focused on the power of Jesus for bringing justice and jubilee to the masses. Both the Roman Catholic Church and American Evangelical movements used the repressive regimes in Latin America to get an edge on in their own ecclesiastical political wars. The Reagan administration used the religious right to support its political aims in overthrowing the Sandinista government of Nicaragua.
Arias draws on the spiritual and intellectual giants of Latin America to compile his book. We see the influence of Jon Sobrino and Gustavo Gutierrez all through Arias’s writing. We also see the influence of Jim Wallis, Jurgen Moltmann, Leslie Newbigin, and E. Stanley Jones.
In his introduction, Arias identifies the trouble for “modern evangelism.” It faces a crisis of credibility, motivation, definition, and method. His aim is to identify an evangelistic endeavor that is biblical, evangelical, holistic, humanizing, conscientizing, liberating, contextual, engaged, incarnational, and conflictive. His book succeeds with the ambition goal.
…but not without taking the reader through the thick weeds of German and American theological tomes. His efforts to engage the breadth of European and North American religious scholars makes Announcing the Reign almost unreadable for the average Christian. It would be a more powerful book if 60% of it were in footnotes. Having noted that, I’ll pick out the things Arias wrote that were (and remain) most powerful for Christians who want to share Christ with others.
The key premise of the book is that THE key focus of Jesus was in proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ good news was that the Kingdom was here, near, and distant… simultaneously. It brought and was bringing justice, liberation, abundant life, healing, joy, goodness, forgiveness, and rebirth. Both individuals and systems were being upended and reformed by it.
Of course it was advancing into our lives and world with great difficulty and conflict because too many people were enjoying the privileges of the current order of things. Systems were firmly in place to protect the privileged.
The modern church, as a steward of Jesus’ message, was failing. The message of the biblical kingdom has been reduced in modern times to institutional religion, the afterlife, the individualistic saving of souls by prescription, or mere political causes and reforms. Arias calls upon the reader to recover the core message of Jesus: the joy and goodness of the Kingdom of God. “Evangelism,” rooted in the Greek word for “announcement of something good and joyful” should have the kingdom pronouncements of Jesus as its essence.
Arias points out that the Kingdom in the gospels involved teaching, challenge, signs of new life, social upheaval, and demonstrations of power over entrenched diseases and injustices. With Jesus, the good news is holistic, the “Kingdom” is all encompassing. The “Kingdom” is mentioned 122 times in the synoptic gospels, 99 times on the lips of Jesus. (pg. 8)
Arias points out that the Kingdom of God has numerous qualities and characteristics, often lacking in evangelistic work in churches today. It is marked by grace, not condescension or condemnation. The proclamation of the Kingdom (as Jesus presented it) has the power to stop people in their tracks and put them on a different course of living. It initiates change in a person’s story by starting with the liberating act of forgiveness, addressing what is often hidden guilt and shame in each person, thus freeing the individual to discover new powers and gifts hidden by God in their lives. Biblical evangelism, centered on proclaiming the “kingdom” triggers new life in individuals and communities and opens communities to people previously excluded.
In chapter 3, “The Imminence of the Kingdom,” Arias explores many of the parables and sayings of Jesus in the gospels. His reliance on academic scholars for their conventional understandings of these parables is the weakest part of the book. The power of scripture, especially the parables, is watered down and set beyond the reach of the average Christian. I wish Arias would have done exegesis himself on the parables of Jesus (the core of his teachings about the “kingdom” and given us some fire rather than so much scholastic dust.
Arias introduces us to a distinction between the prophetic scriptures and apocalyptic scriptures. While disturbed by his simplistic and restricted understanding of apocalyptic literature, I fully agree with the main point he was making: prophetic literature presents us with a relational God who calls upon us to make a choice. This is in contrast to a God who has already decided the fate of the world and leaves the preacher with nothing to do but announce catastrophe. (chapter 3)
In chapter 4, Arias addresses some of the problems with “kingdom language.” He acknowledges the patriarchic, triumphalist leanings of the word “kingdom.” In this rather eclectic chapter, he then goes on to show how the Kingdom of God will be opposed by the entrenched systems of this world, whose caretakers will attack the Kingdom of God and its proponents with violence. There is abundant evidence for this, both in the Bible and in Latin America of the 1980s. The violent attacks of the 1980s are recounted in detail in chapter 7. Chapter four also introduces us to the choice put before people: go with the Kingdom of God or go with its opponents, there can be no neutrality.
The crux of the whole book comes in chapter 5, “The Eclipse of the Kingdom.” Again, in a rather dry, academic approach, Arias describes how Jesus’ message of the Kingdom gets eclipsed in the writings of Paul, who emphasizes instead the proclamation of Jesus himself. In modern times, this has sometimes led to a Jesus cult, where people adore Jesus but ignore his message. We have substituted swooning over Jesus for obeying his teachings. Christians have reduced Christianity to words and labels rather than actions and sacrifice.
Two other very strong ideas that Arias presents are 1) the need to convert people inside the church, because insiders have lost a sense of Jesus' definition of the "Kingdom" and 2) the need to have a community of joyful people who work together to proclaim and live out Jesus' teachings. The message and the community are both essential to the work and design of Jesus.
In chapters 6-8, Arias confronts the reader with the need to give one’s life over totally in obedience to Jesus’ teachings and definitions of the Kingdom. He calls upon the modern church to position itself so that the teachings of Jesus himself about the “kingdom” are no longer eclipsed.
In summary, the role of the evangelist is to center the entire evangelistic endeavor on “the Kingdom,” as taught and exhibited by Jesus. Such an approach offers this world and its peoples the only true hope there is. Such an approach calls upon all of us to make a choice and see the life-giving, hopeful future of a life of full and total commitment.
Arias draws on the spiritual and intellectual giants of Latin America to compile his book. We see the influence of Jon Sobrino and Gustavo Gutierrez all through Arias’s writing. We also see the influence of Jim Wallis, Jurgen Moltmann, Leslie Newbigin, and E. Stanley Jones.
In his introduction, Arias identifies the trouble for “modern evangelism.” It faces a crisis of credibility, motivation, definition, and method. His aim is to identify an evangelistic endeavor that is biblical, evangelical, holistic, humanizing, conscientizing, liberating, contextual, engaged, incarnational, and conflictive. His book succeeds with the ambition goal.
…but not without taking the reader through the thick weeds of German and American theological tomes. His efforts to engage the breadth of European and North American religious scholars makes Announcing the Reign almost unreadable for the average Christian. It would be a more powerful book if 60% of it were in footnotes. Having noted that, I’ll pick out the things Arias wrote that were (and remain) most powerful for Christians who want to share Christ with others.
The key premise of the book is that THE key focus of Jesus was in proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ good news was that the Kingdom was here, near, and distant… simultaneously. It brought and was bringing justice, liberation, abundant life, healing, joy, goodness, forgiveness, and rebirth. Both individuals and systems were being upended and reformed by it.
Of course it was advancing into our lives and world with great difficulty and conflict because too many people were enjoying the privileges of the current order of things. Systems were firmly in place to protect the privileged.
The modern church, as a steward of Jesus’ message, was failing. The message of the biblical kingdom has been reduced in modern times to institutional religion, the afterlife, the individualistic saving of souls by prescription, or mere political causes and reforms. Arias calls upon the reader to recover the core message of Jesus: the joy and goodness of the Kingdom of God. “Evangelism,” rooted in the Greek word for “announcement of something good and joyful” should have the kingdom pronouncements of Jesus as its essence.
Arias points out that the Kingdom in the gospels involved teaching, challenge, signs of new life, social upheaval, and demonstrations of power over entrenched diseases and injustices. With Jesus, the good news is holistic, the “Kingdom” is all encompassing. The “Kingdom” is mentioned 122 times in the synoptic gospels, 99 times on the lips of Jesus. (pg. 8)
Arias points out that the Kingdom of God has numerous qualities and characteristics, often lacking in evangelistic work in churches today. It is marked by grace, not condescension or condemnation. The proclamation of the Kingdom (as Jesus presented it) has the power to stop people in their tracks and put them on a different course of living. It initiates change in a person’s story by starting with the liberating act of forgiveness, addressing what is often hidden guilt and shame in each person, thus freeing the individual to discover new powers and gifts hidden by God in their lives. Biblical evangelism, centered on proclaiming the “kingdom” triggers new life in individuals and communities and opens communities to people previously excluded.
In chapter 3, “The Imminence of the Kingdom,” Arias explores many of the parables and sayings of Jesus in the gospels. His reliance on academic scholars for their conventional understandings of these parables is the weakest part of the book. The power of scripture, especially the parables, is watered down and set beyond the reach of the average Christian. I wish Arias would have done exegesis himself on the parables of Jesus (the core of his teachings about the “kingdom” and given us some fire rather than so much scholastic dust.
Arias introduces us to a distinction between the prophetic scriptures and apocalyptic scriptures. While disturbed by his simplistic and restricted understanding of apocalyptic literature, I fully agree with the main point he was making: prophetic literature presents us with a relational God who calls upon us to make a choice. This is in contrast to a God who has already decided the fate of the world and leaves the preacher with nothing to do but announce catastrophe. (chapter 3)
In chapter 4, Arias addresses some of the problems with “kingdom language.” He acknowledges the patriarchic, triumphalist leanings of the word “kingdom.” In this rather eclectic chapter, he then goes on to show how the Kingdom of God will be opposed by the entrenched systems of this world, whose caretakers will attack the Kingdom of God and its proponents with violence. There is abundant evidence for this, both in the Bible and in Latin America of the 1980s. The violent attacks of the 1980s are recounted in detail in chapter 7. Chapter four also introduces us to the choice put before people: go with the Kingdom of God or go with its opponents, there can be no neutrality.
The crux of the whole book comes in chapter 5, “The Eclipse of the Kingdom.” Again, in a rather dry, academic approach, Arias describes how Jesus’ message of the Kingdom gets eclipsed in the writings of Paul, who emphasizes instead the proclamation of Jesus himself. In modern times, this has sometimes led to a Jesus cult, where people adore Jesus but ignore his message. We have substituted swooning over Jesus for obeying his teachings. Christians have reduced Christianity to words and labels rather than actions and sacrifice.
Two other very strong ideas that Arias presents are 1) the need to convert people inside the church, because insiders have lost a sense of Jesus' definition of the "Kingdom" and 2) the need to have a community of joyful people who work together to proclaim and live out Jesus' teachings. The message and the community are both essential to the work and design of Jesus.
In chapters 6-8, Arias confronts the reader with the need to give one’s life over totally in obedience to Jesus’ teachings and definitions of the Kingdom. He calls upon the modern church to position itself so that the teachings of Jesus himself about the “kingdom” are no longer eclipsed.
In summary, the role of the evangelist is to center the entire evangelistic endeavor on “the Kingdom,” as taught and exhibited by Jesus. Such an approach offers this world and its peoples the only true hope there is. Such an approach calls upon all of us to make a choice and see the life-giving, hopeful future of a life of full and total commitment.
January 26, 2020
Required text for "Evangelism" Workshop for Commissioned Ministers, hosted by Christian Church Southwest - tests the soundness of what a person may think evangelism is, based on the Gospels-- From the Publisher: This book offers a program for Christian evangelism based on the teachings of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is solidly grounded in the ministry of Jesus and illumined by testimonial statements and experiences drawn from a cosmopolitan variety of witnesses. . . the rehabilitation of the Kingdom of God as the controlling perspective for the proclamation of the gospel in word and deed. Arias combs biblical sources, especially the Synoptic Gospels, in search of Jesus' own practice. The hermeneutical outlook is clearly dictated by Arias's own battle-tested experience in Bolivia, where he was bishop of the Methodist Church and where he underwent imprisonment as a consequence of his evangelistic practice.
February 4, 2024
Fun(ny) fact(s): We read this book for our Intro to Christian Witness and Mission class where it sparked some hot takes.
Favorite quote/image: "People read their lives with the eyes of the Bible, and they read the Bible with the eyes of their lives. They can see themselves in the Bible, in the persons and events of the people of God; they can discover the liberating power of God through history, both in path and present. And they can hold onto the promise and the vision of the kingdom and the challenge to search for justice, love, freedom, and dignity according to God's purpose." (pg. 105)
Honorable mention: "Jesus' kingdom evangelization, in its present dimension as the in-breaking action of God through human lives and societies, takes the shape of prophetic denunciation of personal and public sin; of confrontation of powers and institutions; of unmasking ideologies and traditions; of challenge to unbelief, prejudice, and hostility; and of challenge also to triumphalistic belief. Finally, it takes the form of repentance, conversion, and radical discipleship." (pg. 53)
Why: Although I disagree with Arias on several points and struggle with his provocative yet often imprecise use of language, I appreciated his call to remember what Jesus' evangelization really was and his challenge to all Christians to announce the reign of God, especially in fighting against oppressive structures on behalf of all people.
Favorite quote/image: "People read their lives with the eyes of the Bible, and they read the Bible with the eyes of their lives. They can see themselves in the Bible, in the persons and events of the people of God; they can discover the liberating power of God through history, both in path and present. And they can hold onto the promise and the vision of the kingdom and the challenge to search for justice, love, freedom, and dignity according to God's purpose." (pg. 105)
Honorable mention: "Jesus' kingdom evangelization, in its present dimension as the in-breaking action of God through human lives and societies, takes the shape of prophetic denunciation of personal and public sin; of confrontation of powers and institutions; of unmasking ideologies and traditions; of challenge to unbelief, prejudice, and hostility; and of challenge also to triumphalistic belief. Finally, it takes the form of repentance, conversion, and radical discipleship." (pg. 53)
Why: Although I disagree with Arias on several points and struggle with his provocative yet often imprecise use of language, I appreciated his call to remember what Jesus' evangelization really was and his challenge to all Christians to announce the reign of God, especially in fighting against oppressive structures on behalf of all people.
August 2, 2017
Arias attempts to recover the original motivation and message of Jesus's evangelistic efforts and the evangelistic efforts of the apostles. After all, whatever Jesus's message and practice of evangelism was should be ours, too. Essentially, what that means for Arias is recovering an understanding of the Kingdom (or Reign) of God--the fullness of that message and owning the language for today.
Whether you agree with everything Arias says or not is nearly inconsequential. If you don't agree that the kingdom of God is the core message of Christ, that's okay. The fact remains that we should recover a full understanding of the kingdom of God. Wrestling with the concept and what it means for us today is good for us. Why else should we evangelize if the kingdom of God is not real, is not here, is not coming? If we evangelize for some other reason then the gospel becomes secondary (since so much of the gospel, the good news, is the kingdom of God) and the faith into which we convert people becomes hollow.
If you're uncomfortable with the notion of evangelism itself, then this is a great book for you. Arias's understanding of the kingdom of God includes a heavy emphasis on social action and liberation and justice, with a rationale for why social action is and is part of evangelism.
Good read.
Whether you agree with everything Arias says or not is nearly inconsequential. If you don't agree that the kingdom of God is the core message of Christ, that's okay. The fact remains that we should recover a full understanding of the kingdom of God. Wrestling with the concept and what it means for us today is good for us. Why else should we evangelize if the kingdom of God is not real, is not here, is not coming? If we evangelize for some other reason then the gospel becomes secondary (since so much of the gospel, the good news, is the kingdom of God) and the faith into which we convert people becomes hollow.
If you're uncomfortable with the notion of evangelism itself, then this is a great book for you. Arias's understanding of the kingdom of God includes a heavy emphasis on social action and liberation and justice, with a rationale for why social action is and is part of evangelism.
Good read.
July 3, 2021
I just finished "Announcing the Reign of God," by Mortimer Arias.
I didnt keep notes while I read this book. I thought it was good. It was a Kingdom approach to evangelism. He waited to halfway through to let on he was a mild liberation theologian. Mild because he upheld the reality of Satan and the powers, he believes in the kingdom now and the consummated Kingdom in eternity; which is unlike some of the social gospel movement. Also what was odd was most liberation theologians are Roman, he was a Methodist.
One thing I really appreciated was his open table (eucharistic) evangelism. I fully agree. We have missed the boat, west and east, Roman, Greek and Protestant, when it comes to who Jesus wants to eat with. An open table should be penultimate to the ultimate which is found in relation with Jesus.
I didnt keep notes while I read this book. I thought it was good. It was a Kingdom approach to evangelism. He waited to halfway through to let on he was a mild liberation theologian. Mild because he upheld the reality of Satan and the powers, he believes in the kingdom now and the consummated Kingdom in eternity; which is unlike some of the social gospel movement. Also what was odd was most liberation theologians are Roman, he was a Methodist.
One thing I really appreciated was his open table (eucharistic) evangelism. I fully agree. We have missed the boat, west and east, Roman, Greek and Protestant, when it comes to who Jesus wants to eat with. An open table should be penultimate to the ultimate which is found in relation with Jesus.
Read
June 14, 2010If you're interested in the missional church, read this prescient book written by former Bolivian bishop Mortimer Arias in 1984. Full Title: Announcing the Reign of God, Evangelization and the Subversive Memory of Jesus.
Quote: "The annunciation of the kingdom of God demands the denunciation of the kingdoms of men and of powers, which are destroying human life and exploiting creation...Our evangelization falls short of the mark if we limit ourselves to naming the personal sins and commending the personal virtues without pointing to collective sins, structural powers, and societal trends."
Quote: "The annunciation of the kingdom of God demands the denunciation of the kingdoms of men and of powers, which are destroying human life and exploiting creation...Our evangelization falls short of the mark if we limit ourselves to naming the personal sins and commending the personal virtues without pointing to collective sins, structural powers, and societal trends."
Read
December 31, 2007haven't read...but on my list
July 21, 2014
Somewhat disjointed and dated, but the theology is sound.
January 21, 2016
A thoughtful challenge to my theology and understanding of what I believed about God. Definitely worth keeping on my bookshelf and rereading in the future.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews