Seeking Reconciliation

CONTENTS:

Forword 1
Introduction 5

The Theology of Reconciliation and its Importance in the Theology of Mission 9

The Socio-Historical Context of the Church in Malaysia 23

The Socio-Political Context of Malaysia as Reflected in the Findings of a Survey on Attitudes of Malaysian Christians to the Church's Role in Malaysian Society 39

Seven Key Issues Identified and Explored 45

Identity and the Ethos of Peacemaking 61

Conclusions and Recommendations 77

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Peter Rowan is from Northern Ireland and is the UK National Director of OMF International, a role he shares with his wife Christine. They have four children and worked in East Asia with OMF for 10 years where Peter taught mission studies.

This is an abridged version of Peter Rowan’s Regnum book, Proclaiming the Peacemaker. With a history of racial violence and in recent years, low‐level ethnic tensions, the themes of peaceful coexistence and social harmony are recurring ones in the discourse of Malaysian society. In such a context, this book looks at the role of the church as a reconciling agent, arguing that a reconciling presence within a divided society necessitates an ethos of peacemaking. Such an ethos is created and sustained when Christians understand that their identity has been transformed in Jesus Christ. With a combination of theological, historical and sociological perspectives Rowan sets out to demonstrate that being an agent of reconciliation is linked to how effective we are in bearing witness to an identity given by Christ. Praise for Proclaiming the Peacemaker: This book may not be too welcomed by Malaysian Christians, not because it is wrong‐headed, but because it is so right and prophetic!
Bishop Emeritus Hwa Yung, Methodist Church in Malaysia

This volume is persuasive in content, faithful in spirit both to Scripture and the needs of the hour and succeeds in being readable while sustaining a high academic standard in the service of a practical objective. I warmly commend this volume and its author.
Professor Stephen N Williams, Honorary Professor of Theology, Queen’s University, Belfast