Power to persuade: The rhetoric of cross-cultural Christian evangelism

The theme of this dissertation is Christian evangelism. With a focus on the Great Commission, rhetoric is considered and twelve related articles to be used in the Assemblies of God ministerial training schools of Asia/Pacific are presented.; Evangelism endeavors by the Assemblies of God in the Asia/Pacific region have produced remarkable results without the benefit of an intentional study of classical and contemporary communication theories but the evidences of a maturing Christian ministry training strategy suggests the need for the development of such an emphasis. The articles which conclude this document were written for an imagined Christian student with career ministry aspirations living in a developing nation of the region. This imagined person lives and ministers on the seam between traditional values defined by his or her birth culture and the developing technological and city centered materialistic society of the present. A first generation Christian, this typical student is strongly motivated to persuade others to become Christians and desires practical training for this purpose which recognizes the student's limited formal educational opportunities.; Foundational to the series of articles is a three chapter section which examines the theology of Christian persuasion, the current challenges of preparing indigenous persuasive communicators to lead the churches of the Assemblies of God in the Asia/Pacific region, and possible methods for the development of those leaders.; This attempt to evaluate existing theories of rhetoric and propose an integration of classical rhetoric theories and current persuasion strategies in the context of evangelical mission assumes the importance of proclaiming the good news about Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.