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Responses to our November issue via letters, tweets, and Facebook posts.

Thank you for challenging many in the faith to think critically and walk in faith, abiding in Christ. Never tire of doing good.

@Mattheu

Outpacing Persecution p. 38

As soon as I saw the cover of the CT November issue, I dropped everything and read the “Incredible India” article. I have been going to India for the past 15 years to work with Rev. Khen Tombing, a St. Louis Covenant–trained tribal leader in Manipur. Over the past 25 years, Khen and his team have established over 60 churches, a high school with 2,500 students, and a military academy from which graduates who are Christian go into the Indian army.

It was noted that the early missionaries such as William Pettigrew and others did not mess with the culture. It is so sad when I see missionaries trying to impose Western culture, clothing, and lifestyles on the Indians.

Great reporting by Jeremy Weber and photography by Gary S. Chapman.

Ted Seymour President of Active Outreach Mission Fund Inc. Boca Raton, FL

Congratulations on your thoroughly researched and enlightening piece on India in the current issue of CT. Well done!

John Maust Media Associates International Carol Stream, IL

I have subscribed to CT since the early ’70s and found it thought provoking as well as greatly helpful in my 45 years as a missionary in India. Jeremy Weber and his team have done an outstanding job of reporting the growth of the church of Jesus all across India.

Graham Houghton Principal Emeritus South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies Bangalore, India

Our Favorite Heresies p. 19

This would brand as heretics all who agree with the statement “God knows all that happens, but does not determine all that happens.” This would imply that all except strict Calvinists are heretics. Did God create Satan as a being capable of rebelling, or did he determine that Satan would rebel? Did God create Adam as a human capable of obeying or disobeying, or did he determine that Adam would disobey?

You had an article some months ago on limiting the things we should call “heresy.” This list certainly does not follow that restriction.

Emma Lou Henning Warsaw, IN

The New Testament’s Take on Equality p. 28

Andrew Wilson’s “The New Testament’s Take on ‘Equality’ ” is full of false dichotomies and misstatements. Equality does not mean “sameness” or “everything and nothing.” Equality is not fundamentally individualistic. Indeed, it is only meaningful in groups and is the foundation for fairness and justice. One should not appeal to God’s salvific acts to undermine equality, God’s foundational principle for justice. One can no more say the New Testament does not really teach “equality” because it has only two occurrences of the word equality than one can say the New Testament does not teach “the Trinity.” Both the Old and New Testaments repudiate partiality or favoritism, treating equality as a foundational principle of justice based on God’s character.

Philip B. Payne Edmonds, WA

Man, @AJWTheology killed it in this month’s CT with “The New Testament’s Take on ‘Equality.’ ”

@partyoftaylor

An Evangelical’s Guide to the Enneagram p. 54

One of the key components of the [Enneagram is] that our greatest strength becomes our greatest weakness when we move from treating people as persons to treating them as objects. And, if all truth is God’s truth, then the insights can be helpful not only for diagnostics but for true transformation. I’ve studied the Enneagram for two years, reading many books (including Richard Rohr) and attending 100 hours of training with Suzanne Stabile. With all respect, I submit that the author only provided a shallow and biased introduction to the most helpful tool I’ve found in 40 years of ministry and biblical counseling. I welcome more conversations for us with a biblical foundation to find better ways to become Christlike and to more effectively engage the modern culture with the true gospel message.

B. Thomas Haygood Lindale, TX

Great overview of the Enneagram from an evangelical perspective.

@jasonkovacs

As a research psychologist with a strong background in personality theory and psychometrics, I’m concerned about the use of the Enneagram on several levels. Most importantly, the nine categories (at least as presented in Christianity Today) represent nine needs that all people experience to one degree or another under various conditions. Identifying individuals (including oneself) by one specific need risks masking the complexity of what Christ wants to accomplish in them. We all have these nine needs and if we focus on just one of them, we risk being defined by this need rather than by the multidimensional gifts and personality that God has given each of us.

David R. Dunaetz Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA

I Am Plural p. 60

Makes sense that God would design health as a relational community.

Kiel West

Shows us how little we really understand about how complex and diverse God has made us. Makes me worship.

@GenAmin

Correction: In “Why Africa Needed Its Own Study Bible,” we incorrectly stated the Africa Study Bible is the first study Bible written by African scholars for an African context. The article should have stated the Africa Study Bible is the first English-language study Bible written by African scholars for an African context. The French Bible d’Étude Africaine was published in March 2015.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

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