Mission and the Groaning of Creation
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Vol. 32, No. 4 October 2008 Mission and the Groaning of Creation hristian understanding of humankind’s place in the uni- subdued than in the twenty-first century. Human domination Cverse is rooted in the Hebrew Genesis story. Created “in has traumatized the fragile ecosystem, extinguishing species on the image of God,” the mother and father of the human race are a scale and at a rate unprecedented. instructed to “fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over When Paul observed that “the whole creation has been groan- ing in labor pains until now” (Rom. 8:22), he was not forecast- ing destruction of the planet by smugly hegemonic “Christian” civilizations that would emerge centuries later, in part because of his success as a missionary. It was the physics and chemistry of post-Enlightenment science that enabled Western societies to exponentially amplify both their domination and its effects, Continued next page On Page 171 The Greening of Mission Allan Effa 176 Missiology in Environmental Context: Tasks for an Ecology of Mission Willis Jenkins 185 Mission and Healing in Historical Perspective Christoffer H. Grundmann 188 Kwame Bediako and Christian Scholarship in Africa Andrew F. Walls 193 World Christianity and Christian Mission: Are They Compatible? Insights from the Asian Churches Peter C. Phan 196 Noteworthy 201 My Pilgrimage in Mission Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection John Driver The Ancient of Days: God Creating the Universe 204 International Association for Mission Studies William Blake, 1794 206 The Legacy of James Dougall . every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen. 1:27–28). Kenneth R. Ross Two chapters later, their ill-used curiosity leads to judgment 210 Book Reviews and a world filled with imperfection and death. Their progeny’s 220 Dissertation Notices assiduous obedience to the first injunction may be judged by the nearly seven billion humans who now inhabit the planet. 221 Index, 2005–08 As to the exercise of “dominion,” never has the earth been more 232 Book Notes with disastrously irreversible consequences. The science and ologists starting to realize that strategies for saving the world technology that gave us bright lights, high-speed travel, creature have been framed within a theological cocoon that prevented comforts, and an ever-increasing array and volume of possessions them from adequately understanding the end result of their turn out to have unwittingly locked us into a Faustian bargain. civilization’s notions of progress, development, and the social- The gospel of plenty, carried obediently to the uttermost parts material destiny of humankind. The planet is simply too small of the earth by its emissaries, is at last being appropriated by the to accommodate large numbers of human beings who think and vast populations of the non-Western world. Too late, those of us live as we do. who have been its chief beneficiaries and advocates now realize We are therefore pleased in this issue of the IBMR to lead that this “good news” could doom the planet. with two outstanding essays, written by younger thinkers, that Westerners, including missionaries, have been self-con- reflect on the missiological implications of creation steward- sciously certain of the superiority of their way of life, evident ship. In his lead article, Allan Effa provides a helpful survey of in their material accoutrements and in the powerful armies and evolving Roman Catholic, conciliar, and evangelical thinking economies of their nations. Missionaries—replete with incontro- and action on environmental concerns. Willis Jenkins follows by vertible material evidence—innocently thought that adoption of providing readers with a much-needed theological and ethical Christianity would have a “civilizing” effect on converted peoples, framework for addressing what is perhaps the most pressing mis- transforming the inner élan of societies and launching them on siological agenda of the twenty-first century. And as Christoffer a developmental trajectory that would one day enable them to Grundmann’s article reminds us, for two millennia Christians consume like us. Alas, so it has proved to be! And now, caught up have understood healing of the whole person to be integral to in a way of life from which there seems to be no voluntary escape, mission. On this point they have consciously reflected the mind we find ourselves complicit in human-induced climate change, of Christ, whose attention to the blind, the crippled, the deaf, with its concomitant degradation of habitat and destruction of and the leprous dominates the Gospel accounts of his short species. According to current estimates by the International Union life and ministry in Palestine. His first disciples were explicitly for Conservation of Nature, of the 40,177 species assessed, 784 commissioned to heal the sick (Luke 9:1–2; 10:9), and following are extinct, while another 16,119 are threatened with extinction his ascension, his disciples continued to pay special attention to (see www.iucnredlist.org/info/categories_criteria). The greatest those incapacitated by illness and injury. number of extinctions—256—has occurred on the continent of As we grow into our understanding of the missiological North America. But species have disappeared in other parts of implications of a stricken planet and move beyond mere concern the world as well—185 in Oceania, 50 in Sub-Saharan Africa, 36 with our own small bodies to concern for the larger living planet in South and Southeast Asia, 29 in South America, 16 in Europe, on which we sojourn and for which we are uniquely responsible, 11 in West-Central Asia, and 1 in Antarctica. The scale of our we join Paul “in hope that the creation itself will be set free from scorched-earth destruction makes Cambyses II or Genghis Khan its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of look like mild-mannered organic gardeners. the children of God” (Rom. 8:20–21). Only now are Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox missi- —Jonathan J. Bonk InternatIonal BulletIn of MIssIonary research Established 1950 by R. Pierce Beaver as Occasional Bulletin from the Missionary Research Library. Named Occasional Bulletin of Missionary Research in 1977. Renamed InternatIonal BulletIn of MIssIonary research in 1981. Published quarterly in January, April, July, and October by the Editor overseas MInIstrIes study center, 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, U.S.A. Jonathan J. Bonk (203) 624-6672 • Fax (203) 865-2857 • [email protected] • www.InternationalBulletin.org Associate Editor Contributing Editors Dwight P. Baker Catalino G. Arévalo, S.J. Philip Jenkins Gary B. McGee Brian Stanley Assistant Editor David B. Barrett Daniel Jeyaraj Mary Motte, F.M.M. Tite Tiénou Craig A. Noll Daniel H. Bays Jan A. B. Jongeneel C. René Padilla Ruth A. Tucker Managing Editor Stephen B. Bevans, S.V.D. Sebastian Karotemprel, S.D.B. James M. Phillips Desmond Tutu Daniel J. Nicholas Samuel Escobar Kirsteen Kim Dana L. Robert Andrew F. Walls Senior Contributing Editors John F. Gorski, M.M. Graham Kings Lamin Sanneh Anastasios Yannoulatos Gerald H. Anderson Darrell L. Guder Anne-Marie Kool Wilbert R. Shenk Robert T. Coote Books for review and correspondence regarding editorial matters should be addressed to the editors.Manuscripts Circulation unaccompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (or international postal coupons) will not be returned. Opinions W. Garrett Heath expressed in the IBMR are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. [email protected] The articles in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Bibliografia Missionaria, Book Review Index, Christian (203) 624-6672, ext. 309 Periodical Index, Guide to People in Periodical Literature, Guide to Social Science and Religion in Periodical Literature, IBR (International Bibliography of Book Reviews), IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature), Missionalia, Advertising Religious and Theological Abstracts, and Religion Index One: Periodicals. Charles A. Roth Jr. SubSCriptionS: Subscribe, renew, or change an address at www.OMSC.org/ibmr.html or write InternatIonal BulletIn CA Roth Jr Inc. of MIssIonary research, P.O. Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000. Address correspondence concerning subscriptions and 86 Underwood Rd. missing issues to: Circulation Coordinator, [email protected]. Single copy price: $8. Subscription rate worldwide: one Falmouth, Maine 04105-1418 year (4 issues) $32. Foreign subscribers must pay with U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank, Visa, MasterCard, or International Mobile: (516) 729-3509 Money Order. Airmail delivery $16 per year extra. The IBMR is available in print and e-journal editions. Fax: (914) 470-0483 onlinE ACCESS: Use the subscriber number and postal code from the mailing envelope for online access to the journal. [email protected] Visit www.OMSC.org/ibmr.html for details. Index, abstracts, and full text of this journal are available on databases provided Copyright © 2008 by ATLAS, EBSCO, H. W. Wilson Company, The Gale Group, and University Microfilms. Back issues may be purchased Overseas Ministries Study Center from OMSC or read on ATLAS, www.ATLA.com. Consult InfoTrac database at academic and public libraries. All rights reserved POSTMASTER: Send address changes to International Bulletin of Missionary Research, P.O. Box 3000, Denville, New Jersey 07834-3000. Periodicals postage paid at New Haven, CT. (ISSN 0272-6122) 170 INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH, Vol. 32, No. 4 The Greening of Mission Allan Effa ur understanding of Christian mission develops in human history and invites us to participate in those purposes.”1 Oresponse to issues and questions that arise in living out In other words, Christian mission involves commitment to and our faith. Theology is not formed in a vacuum but emerges in participation in the future that God is bringing about. Teilhard’s response to concrete situations or crises that stimulate study and hopeful picture of the cosmic future and his call to partnership reflection.