Gotfried Oosterwal
Gottfried Oosterwal, D. Lift. and D. Litt. et Phil., is director of the Seventh-day Adventist Institute of World Mission and professor of missions and church growth at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Articles by Gotfried Oosterwal
Cargo Cults and Seventh-day Adventism
October 1962
Since the end of the past century a great many religious movements have been reported from areas where native tribes came into contact with European civilization.
From 1870 to 1890 the Ghost Dance movements swept through the Indian…
The Unpardonable Sin (Part 2)
May 1968
In the synoptic Gospels it is especially the enemies of Christ and the not-yetconverted who are in danger of committing the unpardonable sin. A number of periscopes in the New Testament seem to indicate that…
The Unpardonable Sin (Part 1)
April 1968
Few passages in the New Testament produce more anxiety than those concerning the unpardonable sin. Every pastor has been confronted with doubts from members coming to him for comfort and counseling on this problem. They do not come to him…
Adventist Mission: After a Hundred Years
September 1974
AFTER a hundred years of over seas mission the Adventist Church has grown from a small community of about 6,000 believers in 1874 to a worldwide movement of nearly 2.4 million believers to day; from an exclusively America-based group to a…
The Mission of the Church
July 1972
1. The church has been called into existence for missionary purpose. Therefore its whole life and liturgy, work and worship, has a missionary intention if not a missionary dimension. Mission is the church's very raison d'etre.…
Patterns of SDA Church Growth in North America
June 1978
In 1970 the Department of World Mission at Andrews University initiated a Seminar on Church Growth with the objectives of (1) acquainting the minister with the factors that stimulate or hinder the growth of the church; (2) helping…
The Mission of the Church
February 1978
1. The church has been called into existence for missionary purpose. Therefore its whole life and liturgy, work and worship, has a missionary intention if not a missionary dimension. Mission is the church's very raison…
Health and Religion
February 1979
How shall we work the cities—from within?
June 1980
Our world today is an urban one. Until recently, urbanization had been typical only of Europe and North America, where 80 to 85 per cent of the population lives in cities. Today, however, this trend is universal. In Latin America,…
Every Member a Minister? From Baptism to a Theological Base
February 1980
Traditional Seventh-day Adventist teaching on baptism has centered on three aspects: (1) baptism as a personal act of faith, as opposed to the concept of infant baptism; (2) baptism as an outward sign of the believer's renunciation of sin…
Mission still possible?
December 1986
This year, 1986, the world population reached 5 billion. That is more than 25 times as many people as were alive in the days of Christ and the apostle Paul. And five times as many as in the days of our church's pioneers. Of those 5 billion…
Gospel, culture, and mission
October 1989
Whenever God reveals Himself He does so in the cultural dress of the people who are the recipients of His message. That was true in Old Testament times. It was also true in the New. God uses the language of the people, employing…