• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In
MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission MattersNew
          • Missio Nexus
          • People First HR
          • Members Only Feed
        • Blogs
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mission Advisors
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Alliance for Benefits
    • Bible CertificateNew
    • Church Missions Coaching
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • ImproveNew
    • Mission Jobs
    • Publish
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission App
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Premier Events
          • Mission Leaders Conference
          • On Mission
        • Upcoming Events

          • Essentials for Fundraising and Development for Missions Agencies
            Thu Apr 22 2021, 01:00pm EDT
          • Webinar: The Blessed Alliance—Men and Women Serving God Together
            Thu Apr 22 2021, 02:00pm EDT
          • Innovation Labs - Session 4
            Tue Apr 27 2021, 10:00am EDT
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missiographics
          • Mission Handbook
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Submit Data for Mission Handbook
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Essentials for Fundraising and Development for Missions Agencies
    Thu Apr 22 2021, 01:00pm EDT
  • Webinar: The Blessed Alliance—Men and Women Serving God Together
    Thu Apr 22 2021, 02:00pm EDT
  • Innovation Labs - Session 4
    Tue Apr 27 2021, 10:00am EDT
  • Renew: CEO & Spouse Retreat
    Tue May 4 2021, 03:00pm EDT
  • Church Mission Leaders Peer 2 Peer: Diaspora Ministry and the Local Church
    Wed May 12 2021, 01:00pm EDT

View all events »

Topics

author interview Canada CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting Conference Proceedings COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Discipleship Evangelism Focus Future Globally Engaged Churches Innovation Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 MLC2021 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Personal Productivity Podcast Presenter Research Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached Weekly Roundup Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Introducing Christian Mission Today: Scripture, History, and Issues

Posted on July 1, 2015 by July 1, 2015

by Michael W. Goheen

Intervarsity Press. 2014.

—Reviewed by Allison Norton, PhD student, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary. 

In the past few years, the field of missiology has benefited from several introductory books that attempt to integrate theological reflection and history with contemporary contexts and challenges. Michael Goheen draws heavily from Lesslie Newbigin, David Bosch, Harvie Conn, and others to produce an accessible and approachable survey that is primarily written for Western audiences. The book is written from a reformed-evangelical perspective, yet Goheen is hospitable and considerate in his approach towards other Christian traditions. 

The book is organized around three themes: (1) theology of mission and missional theology, (2) historical and contemporary reflection on mission, and (3) current issues in mission. Part one begins with the biblical story, a missional reading of scripture, before moving to theological reflection on mission. Part two presents a brief narrative of history based on four mission paradigms: early Church, Christendom, Enlightenment, and Ecumenical. It also reflects on the history and contemporary challenges of the Global Church, with particular attention to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The third section explores contemporary issues in mission, including holistic mission (evangelism and social action), contextualization, and missiology’s encounters with Western culture, world religions, the city, and the “unreached.” 

Amidst this landscape, Goheen’s gift to readers (following in the steps of Newbigin) is a continuing call to reimagine the missionary nature of the Church in the West. Twenty-five years after Newbigin’s Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Goheen rearticulates the need for the Western Church to recover its missional identity in a context where “the countercultural thrust of the gospel has been eclipsed, and the church has accommodated itself to the idols that permeate the West,” pointing toward ways the Church can embody good news in Western cultural contexts (p. 297). 

Although an introductory text, the book could be strengthened by a deeper missiological engagement with globalization and international migration theories. For example, the text conspicuously lacks a chapter on globalization in the “Current Issues” section, and the chapter on urban mission conceptualizes the city as largely “unreached” due to the flight of Christians to the suburbs (p. 377-378). However, the case can be made that many cities contain vibrant and thriving immigrant congregations with strong missional identities. Additionally, the use of regional categorizations (i.e. Africa, Asia, the West) limits understandings of historical and contemporary transnational networks.

The book is written for students and pastors, and each chapter includes discussion and essay questions. It is also an excellent resource for mission agencies as a well-written introduction on the missional nature of the Church, with focused exploration of the developments that have contributed to transformed understandings of mission over the last century.

Check these titles:

Skreslet, Stanley H. 2012, Comprehending Mission: The Questions, Methods, Themes, Problems, and Prospects of Missiology. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.

Sunquist, Scott. 2013. Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic.

Tennent, Timothy C. 2010.Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-First Century. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications.

. . . .

EMQ, Vol. 51, No. 3 pp. 345-346. Copyright  © 2015 Billy Graham Center for Evangelism.  All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMQ editors.

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsBook ReviewsEMQSectionVolume 51 - Issue 3

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Home
  • Directories
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Join

  • Join
  • Benefits
  • Learn
  • Meet
  • Engage

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

About Us

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources
Missio Nexus Logo

© Missio Nexus. All rights reserved.


PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

Annual Sponsors

ECFA Logo Brotherhood Mutual Logo

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks