Towards a Renewal of Missional Theology
The basic thesis of my PhD is that theology in West has lost is missiological agenda that this needs to be regained. The problem does not simply have to do with subject matter, but with the actual method of theology. Thus I look at key 3 key theologians who represent 3 of the main traditions/streams of Christian theology in the West and critique their methodology from a missiological perspective. I then offer guidelines for what a truly missional theological method should look like. Finally, my intention is to have a case study Chapter in which I will develop a “missional theology of work”. In my definition of mission; my critique of the 3 streams of Western theology; and, my own proposal I use the insights of speech-act theory – which is a theory of how language/ communication works. The basic insight of speech-act theory is that in “saying something” we are actually “doing something” which means that words and actions are not split apart (as can sometimes happen when we think about what “mission” is).
The primary impetus for the PhD came from my reading of David Bosch. Here is an excerpt from my introduction…
In Transforming Mission (1991) Bosch states that theology in the West has lost its missionary dimension. This stands in contrast to the theology contained in the New Testament that arose directly from within a missionary context, so that mission could be viewed as being “the mother of theology”. Thus for Bosch, there is a need to rediscover that theology ought to be intrinsically missionary. This means that mission should not simply be viewed as a possible area for theological enquiry and reflection. Rather, “mission should be the theme of all theology” (494).
This conclusion arises from the two key areas of consensus with regard to mission which have arisen over the past fifty years, namely: the concepts of missio Dei and the missionary nature of the church. With regard to the first Bosch states that that “theology, rightly understood, has no reason to exist other than to critically accompany the missio Dei” (494) and with regard to the second he states “just as the church ceases to be the church if it is not missionary, theology ceases to be theology if it looses its missionary character” (494).
It should be clear from what has been said that the development of this kind of theology is different from the development of a “theology of mission”. As Bosch states “we are in need of a missiological agenda for theology rather than just a theological agenda for mission” (494). In Believing in the Future (Bosch 1995), posthumously published after his tragic death in 1992, Bosch expresses this distinction in less subtle terms, as well as highlighting its vital importance. He states that, “Unless the church of the West begins to understand this, and unless we develop a missionary theology, not just a theology of mission, we will not achieve more than merely a patch up of the church” (32).
If anyone is doing studies (or thinking) in a similar area, or if you are interesting in knowing a bit more, I would be happy to chat.
