Mission, Culture, and Diversity in a Globalised Context

Module Description:

A biblical survey of the idea of ‘mission’ will examine selected passages from Genesis, Exodus, the Psalms, Job, Jonah, and the Prophets (especially Deutero-Isaiah). The context and content of the mission of Jesus will also be studied, as well as the various New Testament paradigms of mission found in Lucan, Pauline and Johannine communities.

The module will analyse the general trends in Christian mission history from approximately the European age of exploration to the present day (late fifteenth century to the twenty first century, with a particular emphasis on the Irish missionary movement.

A brief survey of the theology of mission to the present day will cover the three major Christian traditions, eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Participants will be invited to identify and explore key features in an emerging ecumenical paradigm of mission and draw them together into a coherent vision under four headings: the source of mission (the missio Dei); the goal of mission (Reign of God); agents of mission (Holy Spirit; entire church; specific ecclesial groups); forms of mission (witness and liberation, proclamation and inculturation, inter-faith dialogue, community building).

Indicative Bibliography:

Bevans, S.B., and R. P. Schroeder, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (New York: Orbis Books, 2004).
Bosch, D.J., Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. American Society of Missiology Series, no. 16 (New York: Orbis, 1991; repr. 2004).
Comby, J., How to Understanding the History of Christian Mission (London: SCM, 1996).
Hasting, A. (ed.), A World History of Christianity (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eermans, 1999).
Hogan, E., The Irish Missionary Movement: A Historical Survey, 1930-1980 (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1990).
Kirk, A.J., The Mission of theology and Theology as Mission Valley (Forge, PA.: Trinity Press International, 1997).
Jenkins, P., The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

• Analyse the historical trends in Christian mission from the fifteenth century to the twenty first.
• Appraise the significance of the Irish missionary movement from the mid nineteenth century to the present.
• Differentiate diverse theologies of mission that have operated in the course of the history of Christianity down to the present day covering the three major Christian traditions of Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant.
• Explain the emerging ecumenical paradigm of mission.

Methods of Assessment and Student Workload:

Annual examination and essay.