Missiologically Aware Blog

Reviewed by Will Brooks | In his new book The Mission of the Triune God, Patrick Schreiner has done missiologists a great service by tracing the major biblical and theological themes in Acts.

Reviewed by Jonathan P. Case | This collection of sixteen essays on sixteenth-century mission grew out of the 2018 annual conference of the Evangelical Missiological Society (EMS). Contributions from Protestant and Catholic scholars have been selected to make the case that a broad missional consciousness and spirituality spanned both Protestant and Roman Catholic renewal movements.

Reviewed by Bob Bagley | Africa has a long history of receiving agencies coming from the western world with well-intentioned ministries of compassion aimed at alleviating poverty and its accompanying ills. Despite good motives, the track record of such efforts overall has been less than stellar.

Reviewed by Anish Puthusseril Joseph | In Believing Without Belonging? Religious Beliefs and Social Belonging of Hindu Devotees of Christ, Vinod John, an Asian missiologist, examines what believing without belonging means “in the context of caste Hindu devotees of Jesus in North India” who have no interest in connecting with the local or global ecclesial establishment intentionally.

Reviewed by David Greenlee | Dean Flemming’s Foretaste of the Future offers us a fresh, missional reading of Revelation, referred to by the publisher as the first missional reading of Revelation as a whole.

Reviewed by George F. Pickens | The demographic shift of Christianity to the Global South has both fascinated and bemused scholars, yet one result is certain. Africa is now the most Christianized continent, and for students of African Christianity, it is clear that African Independent Churches (AICs) have been central to Christianity’s growth and spread throughout the continent. 

Reviewed by Ryan Gimple | It is not infrequent to come across missionaries who seem allergic to deeper theological discussions. I hate to admit that I have previously suffered from seasonal theological sniffles. The unfortunate dualism that pulls missionaries and theologians apart, dividing theory from practice, is an epistemological problem that T. F. Torrance challenges in many of his writings.

Reviewed by Christopher Flanders | Theological education is changing! Many today recognize the significant, even seismic shifts that have forced institutions of theological preparation in North America to face “realities that cry out for dramatic change”. In this brief treatment, Mark Young, president of Denver Seminary, leads his readers through many of the issues that have brought about the current challenging situation.

Reviewed by A. Sue Russell | In recent years, many books have discussed the concept of missional recognizing that the post-Christian West is a mission field. Some focus theologically on the concept of missio Dei, God’s redemptive mission and the Church’s participation in it.

Reviewed by Marcus Dean | In Apostolic Imagination, J. D. Payne tackles the hot-button question of “What is Mission?”. Is it everything the Church does, or is it more limited and focused? Should all the good things the Church does be labeled as mission?