THEOLOGY OF MISSION

Lecture 4

Personal Copy
YASSER V. MAGLUYAN
Mount Carmel College Baler
 FIVE HISTORICAL
PARADIGMS OF MISSION
Paradigms (Küng):

 1. the apocalyptic paradigm of primitive Christianity

 2. the Hellenistic paradigm of the patristic period
 3. the medieval Roman Catholic paradigm
 4. the Protestant (Reformation) paradigm
 5. the modern Enlightenment paradigm
 [6. the emerging ecumenical paradigm]

NOTE:
 According to Hans Küng, each of these [six] periods reveals a peculiar
understanding of the Christian faith.

 To this Bosch adds that each also offers a distinctive understanding of

Christian mission.
 “In each of these eras Christians, from within their own
contexts, wrestled with the question of what the
Christian faith and, by implication, the Christian
mission meant for them. Needless to say, all of them
believed and argued that their understanding of the
faith and of the church’s mission was faithful to God’s
intent.”(D. Bosch, 182)
Paradigm = “an entire constellation of beliefs,
values, techniques, and so on, shared by the members
of a given community.”

 “models of interpretation, explanation, or

understanding.

 In all scientific disciplines, including theology, we

arrive at a particular point in history when a previous
model of interpretation does not serve its purpose any
longer and is replaced by a new one.
 Paradigm Shifts in Theology

 Important differences between theology and the

natural sciences.

 In the natural sciences - the new paradigm

usually replaces the old; in theology “previous”
or “old” paradigms can live on for centuries.
 The “old” paradigm seldom disappears completely.

 In Küng’s diagram of paradigm shifts in theology, he

indicates that the Hellenistic paradigm of the
patristic period still lives on in parts of the
Orthodox churches;

 the medieval Roman Catholic paradigm in

contemporary Roman Catholic traditionalism,

 the Protestant Reformation paradigm in 20th

century Protestant confessionalism, and

 the Enlightenment paradigm in liberal theology.

 In almost all denominations today we find, side by side,
fundamentalist, conservative, moderate, liberal, and radical
believers.

 People are often committed to more than one paradigm at

the same time.

 E.g. Martin Luther still harbored important elements of the

paradigm he had abandoned.

 Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) remained within the

medieval Roman Catholic paradigm yet at the same time
heralded a new era.
Our theologies are partial, and they are culturally and
socially biased.

We are committed to our understanding of revelation,

yet we also maintain a critical distance to that
understanding.
 Paradigms in Missiology

five historical paradigms of mission will be discussed

not for “archaeological” purposes, that is, to satisfy our
curiosity, but to understand better what mission might
mean for us today.
 The magnitude of today’s challenge can really only be appreciated if
viewed against the backdrop of almost twenty centuries of church
history. In addition, we need the perspectives of the past in
order to appreciate the scope of the present challenge and
to be able really to understand the world today and the
Christian response to its predicament. Like the Israelites of old
– who needed to remind themselves, in every period of crisis, of their
deliverance from Egypt, their wanderings in the desert, and their
ancient covenant with God – we too need to be reminded of our
roots, not only in order that we might have consolation but
even more that we might find direction […]. We reflect on the
past not just for the past’s own sake; rather, we look upon it as a
compass – and who would use a compass only to ascertain from
where he or she has come? (Bosch)
 The Apocalyptic Paradigm of
Primitive Christianity
 The basic mood of earliest Christianity =
enthusiastic experience of newness, of now
experiencing the dawn of the world’s salvation.
 the ‘last days’ had dawned, because the Jewish view was
that the intervention of God and the creation of the
‘new earth’ meant the end of the world.
 Christians (like some contemporary Jews) lived in an
apocalyptic expectation of the end of the
world.
 This was expected very soon, along with dramatic
human and cosmic catastrophes (Mark 13).

 The kingdom of God urgently proclaimed by Jesus

(Mark 1.15) could not be long in coming. Jesus himself
had announced it for the immediate future (Mark
9.1).

 the crucified Jesus had already returned to the world of

the living as the firstfruit of the dead; for the Jewish
thought of the time, that could only mean the beginning
of the end.
(1) The Early Christian Mission

 At first, the early church’s missionary engagement

remained confined to Israel, as Jesus own ministry had
been.
 Jerusalem remained the center of the new
community, the members of which continued to visit
the temple regularly.
 To abandon Israel now would be unfaithful to the
intention of Jesus.
 During the early stages there was clearly no intention
to form a separate religion.

 The members of the Jesus community continued to

worship in the temple and the synagogues.

 The situation only changed after the Jewish War and the
destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
 But what about the Gentiles?

 The first Christian community was not opposed to the

conversion of Gentiles. Contemporary Judaism
proselytized.

 Many of the first Gentile converts to Jesus were

proselytes and “God-fearers.”

 Yet the Jewish Christian community did not, in these

early stages, go out to win Gentiles.
 Two “kinds” of Jewish Christians:
the “Hebrews” and the “Hellenists”.

 The Hebrews who spoke Aramaic were faithful

to the Temple and the Law and did not embark on
a mission to the world outside Israel.

 The Hellenists spoke Greek (or were bilingual)

were critical of the Temple and the Law.
Hellenists = believed that the Easter
experience had by-passed Torah and Temple.

 “the Spirit” rather than the Law that would

guide the believers’ life.
 It was this attitude (reflected the attitude
and ministry of Jesus) that brought them
into conflict with the Jewish
authorities and precipitated the murder of
Stephen.

 had to leave Jerusalem and began to preach

among the Samaritans and Gentiles.
 Acts 8:1-4

“And Saul approved of their killing him.That day a severe

persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the
apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea
and Samaria, 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made loud
lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church by
entering house after house; dragging off both men and women,
he committed them to prison. 4 Now those who were scattered
went from place to place, proclaiming the word.”
 The Hellenists = no longer required
circumcision and the observance of the ritual law.

 During the so-called ‘Apostolic Council’ in the

year 48 (Ac 15:1-29) an agreement was reached.

 Christianity should be propagated among the

Gentiles without Jewish additions, but that
among Jews it must continue to be combined with
Jewish observance of the Law;
 It was in Antioch that the decisive breakthrough
occurred.

 Antioch = the third largest city, after Rome and

Alexandria, and capital of the combined Roman
province of Syria and Cilicia during this period.

 became the first great city in which Christianity gained,

and “it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called
‘Christians’ “ (Ac 11:26).
 Through the ministry of Paul and
Barnabas the Antioch church became a community
with a concern for people they had never met – people
living on Cyprus, the mainland of Asia Minor, and
elsewhere.

 They decided to send missionaries there and

commissioned their two most gifted and experienced
leaders (Barnabas and Saul) to go (Acts 13: If).
 (2) Some Major Ingredients of the
Missionary Ministry of the Early Church
 (1) Early Christian mission involved the person
of Jesus himself.

 claimed that the kingdom of God came upon people in

what he himself said and did.

 But he refused to perform decisive miracles. He healed

individuals, but refused to put an end to the misery of
leprosy or blindness.

 We spoke about God’s reign but refused to drive the

Romans from the country.
 (2) the early Christian movement was a radically
revolutionary movement.

 rejected all the gods in the Greco-Roman world.

 in doing this it demolished the metaphysical

foundations of prevailing political theories.
 Christianity was very subversive indeed.

 Jesus was the Lord of all lords.

 The idea of “religion as a private affair,” of

divorcing the “spiritual” from the “physical,”
was an unthinkable attitude in light of the all-
embracing nature of God’s reign ushered in by Jesus.
(3) The revolutionary nature of the early
Christian mission manifested itself in e.g. the
new relationships that came into being in the
community.

 All, whether Jew or Roman, Greek or barbarian, free

or slave, rich or poor, woman and man accepted one
another as brothers and sisters.

 They loved all and tried to be of service to all.

 It was not practiced as a stratagem to lure outsiders to
the community, but simply as a natural expression
of faith in Christ.

 The Church, as the vanguard of the new

creation, has to reflect the values of God’s
coming world.

 Members = find their identity in Jesus Christ rather

than in their race, culture, social class, or sex. In short,
the Christians, like Jesus, tried to erect signs of
God’s incipient reign.
(4) Like Jesus, the early Christians ministered in
weakness.
 8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not
driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed; (2 Cor 4:8-9).

 9 So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power
of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses,
insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for
whenever I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor 12:9-10).

 See also David J. Bosch, “The Vulnerability of Mission,” in James A. Scherer and Stephen B. Bevans, eds., New Directions in Mission
and Evangelization 2: Theological Foundations, (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994), 73-86.
 (3) Paul’s Way of Evangelization

 In Romans 15:19 Paul writes, “From Jerusalem and as

far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good
news of Christ.”

 A little further he adds, “But now, with no further place

for me in these regions. . .” (Rm 15:23).
 In terms of modern political geography, Paul said
he had proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ,
founding churches along the way, from Israel
through Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Greece, as
far as portions of Bulgaria, Albania, and the
former Yugoslavia.

 Paul is now making plans to travel to and through Italy,

specifically Rome, in order to conduct a mission
in the regions of Spain. He states, “I will set out by
way of you [Rome] to Spain” (Rm 15:28).
 The popular image of Paul is of an energetic, tenacious,
individual preacher.

 As a matter of fact, Paul did not work alone.

All his missionary activity was

teamwork.
 What was the missionary method of Paul?

(1) He moved with a group of seasoned missionary

colleagues:

 Timothy, Titus, Barnabas, Mark, Luke, Silvanus,

Prisca, and Aquila;

 less familiar names of Paul’s. companions: Sosthenes,

Apollos, Epaphras, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater,
Tertius, Aristarchus, Demas and Jesus Justus.
(2) Paul would move to the prominent urban
centers of the Eastern Mediterranean, e.g. Corinth,
Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Damascus,
Iconium and Lystra.

 Frequently the city where Paul and his co-missionaries

would settle was the capital of a Roman province.

 Paul and his colleagues did urban

missions.
 In selecting as the sphere of his work the centers of
Roman administration, St Paul was led by the desire to
obtain for himself and for his people the security
afforded by a strong government.

 As a Roman citizen he could in the last resort

expect and receive the protection of Roman
officials against the fanatical violence of the
Jews.
 Under the Roman government he found not only
toleration and an open field for his
preaching, there was also the influence of
the worldwide empire.

 the idea of the common citizenship of

people of many different races in that one
empire and the breaking down of national
exclusiveness.
All of these things prepared people’s
minds to receive Paul’s teaching of the
kingdom, and of the common
citizenship of all Christians in it.
 The centers in which Paul established his
churches were all centers of Greek
civilization.

 Everywhere Roman government went hand

in hand with Greek education.

 This education provided Paul with his

medium of communication.
 Paul preached in Greek and wrote in
Greek, and all his converts who could read
were expected the read the Scriptures in
Greek.

 For Paul the one language was as

important as the one government.
(3) Upon arrival in a city, Paul and his associates,
would first go to the local synagogue to
proclaim the gospel.

 Nearly all the places in which Paul established

churches were centers of Jewish
influence.

 Paul did not enter these great cities as a mere

stranger. He came as a member of a family.
 When Paul entered the synagogue on the
Sabbath day, he had an audience, which
understood the underlying principles of his
religion, and was familiar with the texts
on which he based his argument.
 If no synagogue existed they would look for
“God-fearers” (Gentiles who were attracted to
the theology and morality of Judaism but who
had not become full converts.)

 In case there were no God-fearers, Paul and his

companions would go to the marketplace to
proclaim the gospel
(4) While Paul seems to have remained in the capital
cities, his fellow workers dispersed themselves
throughout the other towns and villages of the
region in order to establish local congregations there.

 For instance, the church at Colossae was not

established personally by Paul – it was founded by his
fellow worker Epaphras.
 Paul never visited the community at
Colossae.

 Paul intended his congregation, the newly

founded church, to become at once a center
of light from which the good news might spread
into the country round.
(5) Paul would remain in one place until
the work he set out to do was done.

 (He was in Corinth a year and a half; in Ephesus two

years and two months: rather short periods of time.)

 At times (or more often) he was forced to leave

because he became embroiled in a controversy.
(6) Paul and his partners then moved on to repeat the
process in a new region.

(7) Paul listened to the Holy Spirit – e.g. Acts 16:6-

10. The Spirit guides Paul where to go and where not to
go!
What missionaries can learn from St. Paul:
1. Missionary ministry is teamwork (international teams)
2. Should focus more on the big cities
3. Evangelizers should be present in the Areopagus (e.g.
world of communication, commitment to peace,
development and liberation of people, human rights, the
advancement of women, IP’s, and children, and integrity
of creation);
4. Forming local leaders = missionary priority
5. Trust the Holy Spirit and the local people;
6. Should not settle down and remain mobile;
7. Missionaries are guided by the Holy Spirit
 Planning, Funding, Special Training

 In the early centuries Christianity spread without the

benefit of advance planning, fund raising, or special
training.
 Roland Allen maintains that Paul did not plan his
apostolic journeys.

 It was the Spirit who guided Paul in his work. It

even happened that the Spirit forbade Paul to preach
in a certain district:.

 6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they
had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the
Spirit of Jesus did not allow them (Ac 16:6-7).
 On funding and training, Winston Crum said:

 “there are no references in the New Testament nor, to

my knowledge, in the pre-Nicene fathers to the
raising of funds for the support of missionaries. In
fact, the Didache warns that any apostle who
requests money for himself is a “false
prophet” (11:6).
 As for the recruitment and training of persons
= to spread the gospel...not even a word for
“missionary” in the New Testament.

 The term “ apostle” comes closest to what we

mean by “missionary.”
 The ministry of the peripatetic preacher
(itinerant) was important for mission.

 However more significant was the language of love

on the lips and in the lives of early Christians.

 The gospel spread thanks to the enthusiastic men and

women who chatted informally with friends
and acquaintances “gossiping the
gospel.”
 the exemplary conduct of ordinary
Christians that impressed the “heathens.”

 Miracle workers were a familiar phenomenon

in the ancient world.

 However, the example, fellowship, transformed

characters, joy and endurance were crucial
factors in the phenomenal growth of the new religion
during the first three centuries of the Christian era.
 The first Christians were always ready to give up their
life as “martyrs” although it was not an act put
on in order to win converts.

 Martyrdom was not a conscious means of

spreading the gospel; only wanted to give
witness to the gospel.
 At the end of the first century the gospel was
planted in most provinces of the Roman
Empire.

 For a time Christianity remained a city

religion and only gradually found its way into
rural districts.
 The first converts came from the middle and
lower classes of society (artisans, merchants,
slaves).

 There were also some wealthy, distinguished and

educated persons to be found among the first
Christians.
Shift from institutional/hierarchical vision of
the church to People of God model;

From omphalos model (ecclesiocentric) to

Areopagus model (regnocentric)
Omphalus @ Delphi, Areopagus @ Athens,
Greece Greece
The Hellenistic Paradigm
of the Patristic Period
(the Missionary Paradigm of the Eastern Church)

Lecture 5