BIBLE COLLEGE CONSULTATION: 8-10 JUNE 2021

STANDING FIRM FOR TRUTH IN BIBLE EDUCATION WITHIN AFRICA

Announcing the 10th annual consultation of Bible education leaders and lecturers! We are a growing network of scholars in Africa who serve the Lord at theological schools, seminaries, Bible colleges, and other Christian educational ministries. Our theme for 2021 centres on the concept of “standing firm” in Bible education within Africa.

The Apostle Jude calls the true church to “contend for the faith,” once for all delivered to the saints – a task that has been necessary in all ages. This charge was needed within the Church of Jude’s day, and it is also urgently needed within the Church in Africa today.

So we invite you to submit a proposal around this theme for a morning address or an afternoon workshop. Consultation addresses, presented to all participants in the morning sessions, should be grounded in Scripture and develop the main theme along practical lines. Consultation workshops, presented twice in smaller groups in the afternoon, should facilitate discussion about specific problems, issues, and/or needs in Bible education.

Suggested address themes could include the following (no order):

• Contending for the faith (Jude) against: prosperity, cults, ATR, Islam, etc.
• The character of a Contender/Defender: shaping faithful spiritual warriors
• Defending theological education against Western liberalism, secularism, etc.
• Protecting Bible educational institutions in Africa against compromise
• History of Gresham Machen (or others?) who resisted compromise
• Confessing the truths that unite us (and the errors we must reject)
• Creating synergies: Standing firm together as theological institutions

Suggested workshop themes could including the following (no order):

• How to develop lecturers who teach/model apologetic ministry
• Answering liberation theology (decolonialisation) with biblical contextualisation
• How to prepare students to stand against the Prosperity Gospel
• Dealing with the leaven of liberalism and other Western distractions
• How to encourage students to confront cults, false teachers
• Government accreditation and the challenge of false teachers
• How to confront/resist false teachers in the African public square
• Identifying which truths unite us and which errors we must reject together

Presentation and workshop proposals should be sent to Dr Brian DeVries (+27 [0]79 933 9884, brian.devries@mtc.ac.za) no later than 31 January 2020. Please include a brief outline and summary of your theme together with short personal bio of academic and ministry experience.

Note: the organisers of this annual event give priority to presenters who are actively involved in theological education within Africa and who have ministry experience in related contexts.

Stacks of free books and other media will again be distributed to all schools and participants.