Abner Dizon - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Abner Dizon
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2014
The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes... more The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes nearly 61% of the world. This region is important not only because it gave birth to all the world’s major religions, but also because Asia is where one finds “significant groups of all the world’s major religions” such as, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism . These cultural-religious groups make Asia a very diverse region consisting “not just one world but many worlds—sometimes intersecting, sometimes colliding, sometimes merging into each other.” This paper looks at both the challenges and opportunities in Christian mission in Asia.
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2012
Islam constitutes 22.9 percent of the world’s population with 1.6 billion people considering them... more Islam constitutes 22.9 percent of the world’s population with 1.6 billion people considering themselves Muslim. Christians on the other hand, number 2.23 billion or 32.3 percent of the world’s population (Mandryk 2010:2). Islam is the fastest growing world religion (Ankerberg and Weldon 2001:15) and is “the second-largest religion in Europe and the thirdlargest in the U.S.” (2001:15). In fact, its growth rate is faster than that of the world’s population. It grows at a rate of 1.9% while Christianity is growing at a 1.3% rate (Mandryk 2010:2). The Muslim world, along with Hindus and the culture of the modern cities, are “three great areas of our world which the churches have not really penetrated” (Schaller 1993:11).
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2014
The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes... more The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes nearly 61% of the world (Operation World 2011). This region is important not only because it gave birth to all the world’s major religions, but also because Asia is where one finds “significant groups of all the world’s major religions” such as, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism (Prescott 2000:421). These cultural-religious groups make Asia a very diverse region consisting “not just one world but many worlds—sometimes intersecting, sometimes colliding, sometimes merging into each other” (421). Asia caught the world’s attention in the 1980s and 1990s due to its amazing economic growth. Trend-watcher John Naisbitt reported in 1996 that the World Bank remarked that “nowhere and at no time in human history has humanity achieved such economic progress” as what was happening in Asia (Prescott 421). Naisbitt went on to predict that “as we move toward the year 2000 . . . Asia will b...
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2015
Christian writer C. S. Lewis once wrote: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our ... more Christian writer C. S. Lewis once wrote: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is . . . to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them” cited in Best Practices, 2014 (1977:3). “There’s a saying . . . ‘The greatest strength the devil has is that nobody believes in him’” (Engelhart 2014). A casual survey of peoples the world over reveals that most fall for one of two errors: Western culture tends to ignore the existence of demons while majority-world cultures seem dominated by a fear of demons. These opposing cultural tendencies seem to be found globally in Adventist contexts as well. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was raised up by God to bring the everlasting gospel “to every nation, tribe, language, and people” (Rev 14:6 NIV). By the very nature of this mission, Adventists find themselves behind enemy lines in various cultural and historical contexts. In the process of bringin...
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2019
In 1990, the Seventh-day Adventist Church launched a global strategy that called for the planting... more In 1990, the Seventh-day Adventist Church launched a global strategy that called for the planting of an Adventist congregation in “1,800 population segments of 1 million people or more that have no Adventist” before the year 2000 (Widmer 1990:5). Nearly three decades later, many of these population segments are still unentered. One major reason for the difficulty in entering these unentered population segments is that they are located in countries that do not issue missionary visas. Consequently, denominational work is difficult to start. In fact, 80% of the least evangelized people groups in the world live in countries where the government prohibits proselytizing (Adams and Lewis 1991:127). Such countries are often called restricted access nations, limited access nations, closed access nations, or creative access countries (127). Many of these creative access countries are in the 10/40 Window.
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2019
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2014
The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes... more The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes nearly 61% of the world. This region is important not only because it gave birth to all the world’s major religions, but also because Asia is where one finds “significant groups of all the world’s major religions” such as, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism . These cultural-religious groups make Asia a very diverse region consisting “not just one world but many worlds—sometimes intersecting, sometimes colliding, sometimes merging into each other.” This paper looks at both the challenges and opportunities in Christian mission in Asia.
Books by Abner Dizon
Here We Stand: Luther, the Reformation, and Seventh-day Adventists, 2017
The word "missions" does not generally come to mind when discussing the Protestant Reformation. T... more The word "missions" does not generally come to mind when discussing the Protestant Reformation. The consensus among missiologists is that Martin Luther has no interest in missions whatsoever. This chapter attempts to dispel that mistaken notion by showing that indeed Martin Luther has a missiology. It then brings out lessons for mission from a Seventh-day Adventist perspective.
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2014
The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes... more The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes nearly 61% of the world. This region is important not only because it gave birth to all the world’s major religions, but also because Asia is where one finds “significant groups of all the world’s major religions” such as, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism . These cultural-religious groups make Asia a very diverse region consisting “not just one world but many worlds—sometimes intersecting, sometimes colliding, sometimes merging into each other.” This paper looks at both the challenges and opportunities in Christian mission in Asia.
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2012
Islam constitutes 22.9 percent of the world’s population with 1.6 billion people considering them... more Islam constitutes 22.9 percent of the world’s population with 1.6 billion people considering themselves Muslim. Christians on the other hand, number 2.23 billion or 32.3 percent of the world’s population (Mandryk 2010:2). Islam is the fastest growing world religion (Ankerberg and Weldon 2001:15) and is “the second-largest religion in Europe and the thirdlargest in the U.S.” (2001:15). In fact, its growth rate is faster than that of the world’s population. It grows at a rate of 1.9% while Christianity is growing at a 1.3% rate (Mandryk 2010:2). The Muslim world, along with Hindus and the culture of the modern cities, are “three great areas of our world which the churches have not really penetrated” (Schaller 1993:11).
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2014
The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes... more The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes nearly 61% of the world (Operation World 2011). This region is important not only because it gave birth to all the world’s major religions, but also because Asia is where one finds “significant groups of all the world’s major religions” such as, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism (Prescott 2000:421). These cultural-religious groups make Asia a very diverse region consisting “not just one world but many worlds—sometimes intersecting, sometimes colliding, sometimes merging into each other” (421). Asia caught the world’s attention in the 1980s and 1990s due to its amazing economic growth. Trend-watcher John Naisbitt reported in 1996 that the World Bank remarked that “nowhere and at no time in human history has humanity achieved such economic progress” as what was happening in Asia (Prescott 421). Naisbitt went on to predict that “as we move toward the year 2000 . . . Asia will b...
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2015
Christian writer C. S. Lewis once wrote: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our ... more Christian writer C. S. Lewis once wrote: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is . . . to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them” cited in Best Practices, 2014 (1977:3). “There’s a saying . . . ‘The greatest strength the devil has is that nobody believes in him’” (Engelhart 2014). A casual survey of peoples the world over reveals that most fall for one of two errors: Western culture tends to ignore the existence of demons while majority-world cultures seem dominated by a fear of demons. These opposing cultural tendencies seem to be found globally in Adventist contexts as well. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was raised up by God to bring the everlasting gospel “to every nation, tribe, language, and people” (Rev 14:6 NIV). By the very nature of this mission, Adventists find themselves behind enemy lines in various cultural and historical contexts. In the process of bringin...
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2019
In 1990, the Seventh-day Adventist Church launched a global strategy that called for the planting... more In 1990, the Seventh-day Adventist Church launched a global strategy that called for the planting of an Adventist congregation in “1,800 population segments of 1 million people or more that have no Adventist” before the year 2000 (Widmer 1990:5). Nearly three decades later, many of these population segments are still unentered. One major reason for the difficulty in entering these unentered population segments is that they are located in countries that do not issue missionary visas. Consequently, denominational work is difficult to start. In fact, 80% of the least evangelized people groups in the world live in countries where the government prohibits proselytizing (Adams and Lewis 1991:127). Such countries are often called restricted access nations, limited access nations, closed access nations, or creative access countries (127). Many of these creative access countries are in the 10/40 Window.
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2019
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2014
The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes... more The continent of Asia comprises only 23.5% of the world’s surface, yet its population constitutes nearly 61% of the world. This region is important not only because it gave birth to all the world’s major religions, but also because Asia is where one finds “significant groups of all the world’s major religions” such as, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism . These cultural-religious groups make Asia a very diverse region consisting “not just one world but many worlds—sometimes intersecting, sometimes colliding, sometimes merging into each other.” This paper looks at both the challenges and opportunities in Christian mission in Asia.
Here We Stand: Luther, the Reformation, and Seventh-day Adventists, 2017
The word "missions" does not generally come to mind when discussing the Protestant Reformation. T... more The word "missions" does not generally come to mind when discussing the Protestant Reformation. The consensus among missiologists is that Martin Luther has no interest in missions whatsoever. This chapter attempts to dispel that mistaken notion by showing that indeed Martin Luther has a missiology. It then brings out lessons for mission from a Seventh-day Adventist perspective.