Journal of European Baptist Studies, 2017

in which the official publication presented its material indicates a closeness on several matters between Soviet Baptists and Russian Orthodox Christians. Two factors are suggested as influential in this: Communist rule and a shared Slavic spirituality. With Fran Blomberg’s work we move from Soviet Russia to contemporary Denver, Colorado and a Church expression known as ‘Scum’. In her doctoral work Blomberg argued that five practices in particular could be developed in the context of the church to help young adults recognise and resist the pull of a consumer mentality on themselves and their relationships. In this article she drills down into one of these practices, ‘contentment’, as an expression of the ‘old-time’ habits that have ‘yielded fruit in the lives of young adults immersed in a culture of discontent’. Caleb Hutcherson takes us in a completely different thematic and geographical direction. He writes: ‘As a theological educator involved in Arab evangelical theological education, understanding the philosophical influences shaping education in Arab contexts is crucial to my task.’ As a consequence, his article focuses upon the eleventh-century Muslim philosopher and theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, a person who many consider ‘to have left a larger imprint on Islamic thought than any other Muslim except the prophet Muhammad’. In this exploration Hutcherson’s Editorial 5 concern is to try and draw out the significance of the nature of this imprint for contemporary Christian theological education in context. The above articles demonstrate something not simply of the history but of the ongoing diversity and quality of the IBTS PhD programmes and provide an account of varied and interesting research activity. Revd Dr Stuart Blythe (Rector IBTSC Amsterdam) Jones, A ‘Mistake’ which Became a Triumph 7 A ‘Mistake’ which Became a Triumph: The Achievements of the IBTS Doctoral Programme 1998-2014 Keith G. Jones Introduction In 1949 the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board began ‘an experiment in Christian internationalism’ 1 which has so far enjoyed three distinct phases. The institution they established has been known by various terms, from the Baptist Theological Seminary (BTS) to the International Baptist Theological Seminary of the European Baptist Federation (IBTS) and, today, the International Baptist Theological Study Centre, Amsterdam. 2 These differing titles, the adjustments in ownership and the management of the institution can all be explored in detail in works by Carol Woodfm and Keith G. Jones. 3 The original establishment of the institution was at Riischlikon, Zurich from 1948 until 1996. Then the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board transferred the assets and ownership to the European Baptist Federation, which led to the development of the Jeneralka campus in Praha, 4 Czech Republic, until 2014. The EBF then moved the institution to the Baptist House in Pos