As the Christian church moved from its inception in an Eastern/Oriental culture westward across Asia Minor (Turkey) into Greco-Roman culture with primarily a Western philosophy, theology, and values, Jesus' message and Paul's teachings began to be interpreted according to those cultural norms. While Paul kept calling his churches back to their Jewish roots and Eastern values, the Jewish voice was lost when the Jerusalem church dispersed as Israel fell during the Jewish Revolt of 66-73 AD. The temple was destroyed, its clergy silenced, and Judaism seemed irrelevant to the growing Christian church. The church had become primarily Gentile in theology and philosophy and its Hebrew foundation was largely forgotten and lost. In Beyond Christian Folk Religion, Beckstrom, brings the reader back to Jesus' roots (Romans 11:17-23) and to the core of Paul's message.

This work is an attempt to critically assess the life and the theology of the small churches in India especially in the Teluguspeaking land of Andhra Pradesh in the South. For a close examination the author chose the Bible Mission which started as a break-away group from his own Church, the Andrha Evangelical Lutheran Church. The relationship of these small groups to the mission churches and their appeal to the non-Christians has been a much discussed subject in India in recent times.

"... Probes the 'hermeneutic of suspicion' in recent anthropological interpretations of religious phenomena, focusing on the work of Claude Levi-Strauss and Marvin Harris..." - Publisher.

This book boldy confronts the cultural changes that are transforming today's family. This book will help readers to shape their families in such a way that they become authentic expressions of God's good news.