Missions and the Liberation of Theology
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Vol. 34, No. 4 October 2010 Missions and the Liberation of Theology here is no indication that those credited with penning (Book of Common Prayer [1979], p. 853). While there is no consen- Tthe Jewish and then the Christian Holy Writ—political sus across the Christian world on what is meant by “inspired,” leaders, priests, chroniclers, poets, prophets, sages, amateur a majority of believers would probably assent to the Christian historians, and apostles—imagined that they were contributing Reformed Church’s affirmation that “the Bible is the authoritative to a body of writing Word of God. It contains all that people in any age need to know that would one day for their salvation. We call the Bible God’s Word, believing that, be incorporated into by the power of the Holy Spirit, God speaks to us through this a single volume uni- book” (www.crcna.org/pages/beliefs.cfm). versally known as If Constantine can be credited for his substantial role in giving The Bible. Nor could Continued next page they have known that religious and political leaders of a later era— of whom Constantine On Page may serve as a conve- 195 Mission Is Ministry in the Dimension of nient representative— Difference: A Definition for the Twenty-first would engage in a Century prolonged, factious, Titus Presler and at times ethi- cally unseemly effort 198 Noteworthy to determine which 205 The Missiology of Old Testament Covenant writings should be Stuart J. Foster allowed between the 208 Beyond Contextualization: Toward a Twenty- covers of this sacred first-Century Model for Enabling Mission book, and which ones R. Daniel Shaw should be excluded. 215 Asking the Big Questions: A Statistical Analysis As unsavory to mod- Photograph © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons of Three Missiological Journals ern sensibilities as was Gregory J. Liston the process itself—to Emperor Constantine the Great say nothing of the 221 The Legacy of George Leslie Mackay carnal motives and methods of its principals—the result was the James R. Rohrer book that we Christians now honor in word, if less frequently 229 The Legacy of Carl Thurman Smith in deed: The Holy Bible. Wong Man Kong Typical of Christian reverence for their sacred scriptures is 233 Book Reviews the declaration found in the Catechism of the Episcopal Church: Dissertation Notices “Q. Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God? A. We 243 call them the Word of God because God inspired their human 244 Index authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible” 248 Book Notes us our Bible, equally notable is his role in providing a remarkably poraries, whether or not they believed in him, so the Good News broad setting for the use of this Bible. From the ecclesiastical scraps through the translated words of the Bible and the observed lives of exasperatingly fragmented Christian sects, he in effect forged of missionaries takes on flesh and dwells among peoples in real a single church body that could function in the vast expanse of time, space, and language. territory bordered by Britain and Spain in the west, Armenia But missionaries, such as the two featured in our Legacies, and Mesopotamia in the east, Hungary and Romania in the are not merely passive channels of inherited theologies. Since north, and northern Africa and Egypt in the south. Depending the days of St. Paul they have lived, sometimes uncomfortably, upon one’s perspective, this was contextualization at either its on the theological frontiers, searching the Scriptures for insight best or its worst—perhaps both. As Paul Stephenson observes, into questions and issues unanticipated by either themselves or “It is because of Constantine’s actions that we have begun to their inherited theologies. Stuart Foster, who has been a part of speak of the Church, still rather incongruously” (Constantine: the Mozambique Bible Society’s Lomwe whole-Bible transla- Unconquered Roman Emperor, Christian Victor [2010], p. 277). The tion project for twenty-four years, argues that Old Testament resulting “unified” church became the willing instrument of a covenant missiology, in its “bold use of pagan customs to com- violent slave state. municate about God,” is integral to the long, complex process The gestations of both the Holy Scriptures and the imperially of conversion. Fraught with risk, yes; but the risk is necessary sanctioned Christian church were arduous and pitifully human and, in any case, as unavoidable for missionaries as it was for processes. Ever since then, the challenge of deducing from the Jesus himself—if outcomes that Daniel Shaw here calls “beyond Bible’s disparate parts a cohesive, sensible, and replicable guide contextualization” are to be realized. to thought and practice has been the task of utterly human Over the centuries individuals and communities have theologians. Mediating this teaching (i.e., the Gospel) to peoples turned to the Bible for both ultimate meaning and everyday whose linguistic and cultural worlds are bewilderingly distinct direction. This process is both easier and more difficult than can from the worlds of either those who originated the Bible’s parts be imagined. Theology—the hard work of making contextually or those who since then have interpreted its contents has been relevant sense of what the Bible teaches about God’s interest in the principal calling of Christian missionaries. As Titus Presler how we human beings live out our lives in his world, and why comments in his article in this issue, “The Christian missionary this matters—is central to the missionary task. But only through enterprise is the world’s most extensive and longest sustained mission can theology be liberated from its otherwise inevitable engagement with human difference.” cultural bondage. Even though the Bible in its original languages and cultural —Jonathan J. Bonk settings is difficult enough to comprehend and correctly apply, conveying its message across the spectra of time, cultures, and Cover image: Colossal Head of Emperor Constantinus I Magnus. Marble, languages is as necessary as it is daunting. Just as God through Roman artwork, 4th century CE. Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican City. Unknown Christ could be seen, known, and understood by Jesus’ contem- sculptor, photograph © Marie-Lan Nguyen, 2006. 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 Dwight P. Baker Contributing Editors Assistant Editors Catalino G. Arévalo, S.J. John F. Gorski, M.M. Graham Kings Wilbert R. Shenk Craig A. Noll David B. Barrett Darrell L. Guder Anne-Marie Kool Brian Stanley Rona Johnston Gordon Daniel H. Bays Philip Jenkins Mary Motte, F.M.M. Tite Tiénou Stephen B. Bevans, S.V.D. Daniel Jeyaraj C. René Padilla Ruth A. Tucker Managing Editor William R. Burrows Jan A. B. Jongeneel James M. Phillips Desmond Tutu Daniel J. Nicholas Angelyn Dries, O.S.F. 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(iSSn 0272-6122) 194 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 34, No. 4 Mission Is Ministry in the Dimension of Difference: A Definition for the Twenty-first Century Titus Presler ission is ministry in the dimension of difference. This mission, itself a new concept as applied to the church’s work Mdefinition of mission assists reflection in a number of rather than simply to the life of the Trinity, had everything and ways.