Profile: Harvie Conn

Every Christian needs to hear the basic truths of our Reformed faith - especially the gospel - frequently. But if true gospel obedience is to occur, we will need at some point to apply our understanding of Scripture to our lives. In the study of theology this is expressed through synthetic thinking and theologizing. It is just such theology that seperates the great theologians from the mediocre. Men like Bavink, Van Til, Frame, and Poythress have continued to grow Christianity through excellent theology. A less well known theologian, perhaps, that deserves mention with the above crowd is Harvie Conn. Harvie Conn was born in Canada in 1933, and obtained his American citizenship in 1957. Conn earned his Th.M. from Westminster in 1958, and was awarded a D.Litt.from Geneva College in 1976. The most interesting thing about Conn, however, is his mission: he began by starting a church-planting mission in New Jersey, before packing off to Korea, where he started what might be known today as an "inner-city" mission. There, working with prostitutes and pimps, Conn not only served the Kingdom, but also began to think seriously about missions and missiology. Conn returned to the states and taught at Westminster from 1972-1998. In 1999, cancer took Harvie Conn home to the Lord.

Harvie Conn was a truly deep thinker, whose impact on missions and missiology is almost incalculable. He first brought the city as a target for evangelism into the forefront of evangelicalism. He forged the disciplines of inner-city outreach and missiology. Harvey Conn was no arm-chair theologian: he worked his theology out regularly.

His publications are vast and should be read by every pastor, missionary, or evangelist. His most influential work is probably Eternal Word In A Changing World: Theology, Anthropology, and Missions in Trialogue (New Jersey: P&R; 1984). Read it!

Other works include the following:

Evangelism: Doing Justice and Preaching Grace (New Jersey: P&R; 1982)

Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City, & the People of God (co-authored by Manny Ortiz) (Illinois: IVP; 2001)

Contemporary World Theology: A Layman’s Guide (New Jersey: P&R; 1974)

Studies In The Theology Of The Korean Presbyterian Church (Westminster Seminary Bookstore)

The American City And The Evangelical Church: A Historical Overview (Michigan: Baker Books; 1994)

Articles:

“Luke’s Theology of Prayer.” Christianity Today, December 22, 1972: pp. 6-8.

“God’s Urban Surprises.” Urban Mission 14:4, June 1997: pp. 3-6.

“Refugees, the City, and Missions.” Urban Mission 15:2, December 1997: pp. 3-6.

“Blaming the Victim?” Urban Mission 15:4, June 1998: pp. 3-6.

“Looking at Some of Africa’s Urban Challenges.” Urban Mission 16:2, December 1998: pp. 3-6.

“Training the Layman for Witness,” Training for Missions, edited by Paul G. Schrotenboer. (Grand Rapids: Reformed Ecumenical Synod, 1977), 74-103.

“Contextualization: Where Do We Begin?” Evangelicals and Liberation, edited by Carl E. Amerding. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1977) 90-119.

“Contextualization: A New Dimension for Cross-Cultural Hermeneutic,” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 14 (January 1978): 39-46.

“Theologies of Liberation,” Tensions in Contemporary Theology. 3rd Rev. Ed., Stanley Gundry and Alan Johnson, eds. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), 327-434.

“Review of ‘Black Theology: A Documentary History, 1966-1979′,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 25 (June 1982): 238-40.

“The Gospel and Culture,” Gospel in Context 1 (January 1978): 19-21.