''The Forerunner'' is a print publication (1981-1994) and website (1996-present) that emphasizes reformation of society and biblical worldview. Contributing editors and correspondents from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and many other countries have contributed many of the articles. Students are encouraged to reprint the articles in student newspapers with the online version functioning as a "model publication." In 1993, The Forerunner International was founded by Jay Rogers and versions of ''The Forerunner'' were published in nations such as South Africa, Russia, Ukraine, China and

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The Forerunner exists today as a grass-roots organization which is dedicated to the training of student interns to produce media. The stated goal to help fulfill the

Great Commission In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the Resurrection appearances of Jesus, resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciple (Christianity), disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission i ...

(Matthew 28:18–20) through the arts.

History

''The Forerunner'' was founded by Bob Weiner and Rose Weiner and

Maranatha Campus Ministries Maranatha Campus Ministries was a Charismatic/Pentecostal-oriented Christian ministry founded by Bob Weiner which existed from 1971 to 1990. Its primary outreach was to college and university campuses. Beginnings Maranatha began in 1971 in Paduca ...

in 1981. It was conceived as a publication which would reach young people with the message of the Christian faith and especially

conservativism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

as a counterpoint to

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

. The method was calculated: to influence the thinking of students with biblical principles through the distribution of newspapers on the university campuses of America. By 1983, thirty-five conservative newspapers had been started on major secular campuses and the number doubled by 1985. Even at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

campus, which had long carried the reputation of being the most liberal of academic institutions in the U.S., students were following that trend: One survey proved that twice as many Berkeley students considered themselves conservative as did those in 1971. Today there are hundreds of conservative and Christian newspapers on otherwise liberal university campuses. ''The Forerunner'' addressed issues which were at the center of campus debate. The newspaper presented biblical alternatives to

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

statism. ''The Forerunner'' challenged the student audience to re-evaluate the liberal bias taught in the classroom.

Foreign language editions

By 1988, foreign language versions of ''The Forerunner'' were published by

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. Among them: * The Russian ''Predvestnik'

was produced in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, Ukraine. This student-run publication was founded in July 1991. * The Chinese ''The Mandate'

is produced by Churches Serving Internationals (CSI) to produce a Chinese publication, in English and Chinese, which reached Chinese students studying in the United States. The on-line version has made an impact on students and intellectuals throughout China. * The Spanish ''El Campeón'

a Spanish newspaper, was produced in cooperation with Champions for Christ (Campeones para Cristo) for Latin America. The goal was to distribute the newspaper in the high school and college campuses during evangelism outreaches in countries such as Peru, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama and Colombia. Some copies were also distributed in Cuba.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forerunner, The 1981 establishments in Florida 1994 disestablishments in Florida Conservative magazines published in the United States Christian magazines Defunct political magazines published in the United States Forerunner Forerunner Magazines published in Florida