Carl F. H. Henry’s Regenerational Model of Evangelism and Social Concern and the Promise of an Evangelical Consensus

• Main Author: Ireland Jerry M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2019-07-01
• Series: Perichoresis: The Theological Journal of Emanuel University
• Subjects: evangelism; social concern; kingdom of god; doctrine of revelation; preaching; carl henry
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2478/perc-2019-0020

Carl F. H. Henry has widely been acknowledged for his contributions to evangelical social concern. What has not been fully appreciated though is theological foundations that undergirded Henry’s priority model as it relates to the relationship between the church social and evangelistic mandates. For Henry, the key to both was the doctrine of revelation, and this foundation enabled Henry to uniquely argue for both integration and prioritization. As such, Henry presents a challenge to many contemporary models of evangelism and social concern that set the two on an even plane by locating them within a kingdom rubric. Despite accusations that his theological method fosters information over transformation, Henry hold forth a revelation centered approach with Augustinian roots capable of guiding the contemporary church on the elusive issue of finding a biblical approach to its mission.