These videos follow members of Bethlehem college & seminary Minneapolis, Minnesota, the United States as they embark on a practical application driven study course of Applied theology and applied Christian History. They didn’t want a dry academic course or study tour. No, they wanted to call their students to dig deep into theological truth, real historical events and then ask the questions,
1. What is God teaching me about himself through what they are studying?
2. What can the church learn today from historical events that occurred in Ireland's/Europe's past?
To that end, they were keen to think about MISSION. At the heart of Patrick’s story, Celtic Christianity, original monasticism, the fall of the Roman Empire and the myriad of issues that impacted the church as a result, to our minds, are all about God advancing His kingdom in this particular window of history.
God is still doing the same today. He is pressing forward in advancing His kingdom. The goal is the same – calling lost people of every nation into His family. The opposition remains the same – prevent mission at all costs.
On this and similar study tours we looked at the life of Patrick, Celtic Christianity, its Hebraic roots and the events of the 5th century. The tour encouraged them to think about ‘missiology’ and the ‘contextualization’ of mission. Patrick / Celtic Christianity gives us a fantastic example of how missional contextualization was done in the 5th Century in Ireland. We encourage debate on the same question today - How can the church be true to Biblical truth while effectively contextualizing the gospel in today’s context. Is there anything we can learn from the characters, events, and controversies in this era of Christian history that could be used to help the church reach the lost today.
The answer is yes and we invite you to explore these issues with us while on tour.
Similar study, discipleship and church retreat tours can be tailored for your college, church or interest group.
