Most new expansions of the church have been accompanied by a new understanding of some aspect of the gospel and/or the meaning of being a Christian in a given time and context. For example: The realisation that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well as the Jews transformed the early decades of Christian history. Martin Luther’s rediscovery of salvation by faith alone was the driving force behind the Protestant Reformation. William Carey’s stance against the hyper-Calvinism of his day and his promotion of mission societies revolutionised attitudes to mission in that the use of means became a new theological idea. Consequently, if a movement is to survive with continuing vitality, it can be demonstrated that continuous theological rethinking is vitally important.
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