The Missional Church

The Missional ChurchPart 3: Historical Paradigms of Mission

Columba (521-597) Irish Celtic missionaryThe Christian faith is intrinsically incarnational; therefore, unless the church chooses to remain a foreign entity; it will always enter into the context in which it happens to find itself. Bosch 190-191

Church of St. Peter, AntiochChristianity is always embodied in a culturally conditioned form. For example:Aramaic-speaking Hebrew ChristiansGreek-speaking Hebrew ChristiansGreek-speaking Gentile ChristiansLatin-speaking Roman ChristiansGaelic-speaking Celtic Christians

host culture + gospel =a localized form of Christianitygospel (above)host culture

yields a culture transformed by the gospel (displacement of previous form of belief with Christian faith and practice within the host/receptor culture)Conversely: host culture (above)gospel

yields nominal Christianity or syncretism (combination of different forms of belief or practice)

culture is the sum total of ways of living developed by a group of human beings and includes: language, visual and musical arts, technologies, law, social and political organization, and religion.

In the first century, the fledgling Christian movement could either remain within the confines of the small Jewish world or branch into the ecumene. And Hellenism was the cultural form of the world into which Christianity was introduced. Bosch 211

The new religio-political dispensation:Introduced by Constantine in 313 with the Edict of Milan; Christianity became legal (religio licita) and favored, e.g., at Nicea in 325.Continued under Theodosius in 380 who issued decrees making Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire. Bosch 215How did these legal changes affect Christianity in the Roman Empire?

Augustine of Hippos De Civitate Dei (City of God) was also of importance.There are humans who live by human standards and humans who live according to Gods will. Bosch 220The City of God endures forever, and although it will never be realized fully on earth, it manifests itself as communio sanctorum (communion of saints) a pilgrim people, en route to the heavenly, eternal home.

How did the City of God become associated with the Roman Catholic Church? Bosch 220

Was Augustines view of the earthly city negative? Bosch 220-221

How would the notion of supremacy of the spiritual power over political authorities play out in the medieval period? Bosch 221

Raphaels Donation of ConstantineFrom the fifth century to the twelfth, the monastery was not only the center of culture and civilization, but also of mission. Bosch 230

Why were monasteries effective in the medieval period at advancing the gospel? Bosch 231-232

What was the monastic spirituality of the long haul? Bosch 232-233

Benedict of Nursia(ca. 480547)Was anything necessarily wrong with creating a Christian civilization? . with the rise of Christendom? Bosch 237

What are the pros and cons of Christendom?

Pope Leo III crowning Charlemagne as EmperorMissionary Paradigm of the Protestant ReformationRenaissance principle of ad fontes (to the sources).Waning of the medieval synthesis.Rise of textual criticism and critical biblical texts.Luthers emphasis on sola scriptura, sola gratia, and priesthood of believers. Bosch 241-243Anabaptist break with the medieval understanding between church and state. Bosch 240-241Reformers stressed the subjective dimension of salvation.God was for us, the God who, for the sake of Christ, had justified us by grace. Bosch 241Moreover, in the late medieval period, the individual was beginning to emerge from the collective. Bosch 242The Reformation theologized this development; the question about salvation became the personal question of the individual.

How might the doctrines of the depravity of humans, divine election, and justification by grace paralyze missionary effort? Bosch 242, 250

What was Luthers doctrine of the priesthood of believers, and how might this promote missionary effort? Bosch 243, 246

John CalvinSo, were Reformers like Luther and Calvin missiological? Bosch 244-245

What effect did abandoning monasticism as a Christian lifestyle have on the Protestant churches? Bosch 245

What was Lutheran theologian Philipp Nicolais (1556-1606) view of the Great Commission? Bosch 249-251

How was this different from Anabaptists? Bosch 246

The Pietist BreakthroughFor Protestant orthodoxy the proclamation of the gospel to all nations was, at best, only a desired aim; for Pietism it became the aim of the will. Bosch 252Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, nurtured in the pietistic circles of Spener and Francke in Halle, together with, Friedrich von Watterville, pioneered a Compact for the Conversion of Pagans.

Zinzendorf (1700-1760)For Zinzendorf, mission was not an activity of the church, but of Christ himself, through the Spirit. Bosch 253

What purpose did Zinzendorf have for his small bands of Moravian missionaries sent out to the ends of the earth? Bosch 287

What were the emphases of Pietism? Bosch 252-255

How did the mission of Pietists differ from that of Dutch Reformed and English Puritans? Bosch, 259

How is the modern missionary enterprise a child of the enlightenment?

William Carey (17611834How did Revivalism and Pietism respond to rationalism and empiricism of the Enlightenment?

George Whitefield, 1714-1770Gospel, Church & Culture:What has been the outcome of spreading Christianized Western culture rather than the gospel? Bosch 292-296What should be the policy of mission? Bosch 297-298

What were some effects on mission from the divide between the Fundamentalist-spiritual gospel, and the Modernist-social gospel?Bosch 313-327

Walter Rauschenbusch1861-1918Which historical paradigms of mission do you find most helpful, and why?

Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) Jesuit Missionary to ChinaMissional Creed

We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, who sent his Son into the world, and who now sends us to reflect His heavenly kingdom on earth.We believe in Jesus Christ, who was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and became man, the Light of Light who entered our darkened world to proclaim Good News to the poor, to heal the sick, and to set the oppressed free.

For us and for our salvationHe suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. On the third day he rose as Victor from the dead. He ascended into heaven where he is head of his body, the church, and will come again in glory andjudgment, and reign in his triumphal kingdom.We believe in the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, who leads us, the people of God on the mission of God, to further the kingdom of God. In this, we are called as Christs holy and apostolic church to bear witness to Gods love, mercy and justice, to proclaim Good News in word and deed, to make disciples of all peoples, for the redemption of all creation, to the glory of Gods holy name. Amen.