Communicating God's Word in a Complex World reaches out to the growing number of missionaries, pastors, Bible translators and teachers, mission and theological educators and students dealing with communicating the gospel. This is increasingly difficult in today's pluralist and global contexts. What was God's message, and how has spreading that message changed through the generations? The answer to that question requires a hermeneutical process that seeks to understand the biblical text and the context in which it was originally presented.

R. Daniel Shaw and Charles Van Engen say that contemporary proclaimers of God's word can model their approach after that of the writers of scripture, who reinterpreted and restated their received texts for their audiences. Thus, Gospel communication is impacted by the way humans know God. This, in turn, is informed by contexts. Communicating God's Word in a Complex World draws lessons from the biblical authors themselves as a guide for how best to present God's message.

By Daniel R. Shaw and Van Charles E. Engen - Foreword by Lamin Sanneh

Part 1 Part I-Faithful Communication: God's Intention in Communicating to Human Beings: Textual Issues
Chapter 2 The Intent of Faithful Communication
Chapter 3 The Source of Faithful Communication
Chapter 4 The Message of Faithful Communication
Part 5 PART II-Appropriate Communication: The Communicators' Presentation of God's Intended Message: Theoretical Issues
Chapter 6 Theologically Appropriate Communication
Chapter 7 Communicationally Appropriate Communication
Chapter 8 Culturally Appropriate Communication
Part 9 PART III-Relevant Communication: The Receptors' Understanding of God's Intended Message: Contextual Issues
Chapter 10 Seeking Relevant Communication
Chapter 11 Enabling Relevant Communication
Chapter 12 Pursuing Relevant Communication
Chapter 13 Conclusion: God's Word in a Pluralist World