Mission Studies最新文献

Pentecostal mission activity was initially motivated by a commitment to the premillennial return of Christ. This eschatological basis for mission was driven by a number of factors, not least being interpretations of Matthew 24:14, in which the gospel needed to reach every nation before the end would come. But a focus on the next world also led Pentecostal mission strategy away from this world concerns, and Pentecostals have long been criticized for a history of mission that involved proclamation of a future hope without any form of present-day relief. In an increasingly wounded world, such an approach becomes less and less palatable, which is why there has now been a significant shift towards social justice and welfare aspects of mission within Pentecostal efforts. However, it has been argued that the relegation of eschatological motivation to the periphery of mission has detrimental consequences for Pentecostal mission as a whole and therefore needs to be rethought (Ma and Ma 2010:280). This article endeavors to contribute to this discussion by drawing together theological and missiological reflections on the Pentecostal full gospel to reflect on whether such relegation is inevitable, or whether an amended eschatological vision is still helpful for mission efforts in a wounded world.

The article argues for missional masculinities from an incarnational framework as the foundation for imitatio Christi among Pentecostal men in Africa. It suggests that since masculinities are defined by societal ideals that men are expected to embody, Pentecostal men should reclaim the divine vision of the new ‘manity’ in Christ. Here, Christ serves not only as the epitome of new humanity but also as the exemplar, setting the standard and modeling what it means to be human. Jesus is the primordial model, the definition, the determination, the illustration, and most importantly, the beginning and the end of what it means to be human. Therefore, missional masculinities, modeled after Christ, are primed to exhibit kenotic, relational, agapeic, redemptive characteristics, and are everyday prophetic performances of abundant life for humanity and creation.

Healing is one of the distinctive features of the Pentecostal movement. In Pentecostal missiology healing is fundamental and is geared towards the transformation of the human person and society. Healing thus encompasses both physical and spiritual ailments. It also concerns the healing of unjust structures of society – inequality, corruption, bad governance, and so on. In this article I examine some of the plausible factors that make persons living with chronic illnesses go to prayer camps in search of solutions for their illnesses. The article highlights how prayer camps in Ghana help those living with chronic illnesses negotiate their sense of self and identity in the midst of persistent illness. It argues that in a situation where healthcare systems cannot provide a cure for an illness, people identify with and rely on religious institutions and their resources such as those the prayer camps produce for support, meaning, and enhancement.

This article explores the role of the church in addressing the emotional and spiritual needs of individuals and communities, particularly in the context of African Pentecostalism. The article argues that the church is called to actively engage with its surrounding culture and to bring healing and restoration to those who have experienced trauma or pain. In the African Pentecostal context, this often involves addressing issues related to cultural identity, historical injustice, and social inequality. Through its emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit and the importance of community, African Pentecostalism offers a unique perspective on how the church can facilitate the healing of memories and promote reconciliation and restoration. The use of “African Pentecostals” in this article refers to the Pentecostal churches whose doctrines align with the mainline Pentecostal theology and praxis (the classical Pentecostal Churches and the Neo-Pentecostal Churches).

This article explores dominant ideas of value at play in a critical incident experienced by international mission candidates on a team placement, in an Anglican community of the United Kingdom. The ethnographic analysis will compare different perspectives on how misunderstanding cultural values and social relations as theological obligations can lead to suffering. Thus, the study shows how qualitative differences in cultural values and social relations determine contrary ways of understanding theological conceptualizations of equality as a Christian idea in contact zones of international mission communities. The analysis challenges two Christian assumptions: firstly, that extending equal value to people before God is universally understood in the same way, and secondly, that individual well-being is inherently superior to ensuring social cohesion, exemplified by Korean hierarchy. Although people realize hierarchy and individualism the world over, the nuances of meaning dominating their relations to other values determine why and how people experience suffering.

A scholarship of engagement is an approach that connects knowledge systems to the challenges facing society in a meaningful way. This article reviews the literature on Pentecostal missiology to make a new contribution through a scholarship of engagement. Previous studies on Pentecostal missiology have focused on how Pentecostals conduct their mission and very little on how they engage societal problems. This leaves a gap in how Pentecostal missiology as a discipline engages wounded society, particularly in a South African context. Wounds found within South African society, such as gender-based violence, crime, effects of COVID-19, corruption, climate change, and economic crises are highlighted. This article aims to illustrate that Pentecostal missiology must be aware of societal wounds to be able to truly engage with wounded societies. The study challenges Pentecostal missiologists to not only focus on Pentecostal missions inwardly but to also engage society and its challenges through a scholarship of engagement.

Most studies of Christian missionaries in British Assam have focused on their role in promoting Christianity or education, not to mention their contributions to the development and standardization of local languages. There has been a singular lack of studies concerning the immense contributions made by the missionaries in setting up a healthcare infrastructure in the region. This absence has further distorted the debate on whether the missionaries operated as independent agents or as auxiliaries of the state. This paper dwells on the medical work carried out by the missionaries in British Assam and contends that the missionaries fulfilled multiple roles and functions in the province. We argue that the significance of the work of the missionaries is enhanced by the utter neglect of healthcare by the colonial state in the frontier region.

David Bosch calls the relationship between evangelism and service “one of the thorniest areas” in Missiology. He analyses and criticises Western dichotomic thinking, which tends to contrast evangelism and service, word and deed, soul and body. This is the source of what Bosch calls “a battle for supremacy” between evangelism and service, and during his own life, he committed himself to “a personal quest” for a non-dichotomic understanding of evangelism and service. The present article presents Bosch’s reflection of the relationship between evangelism and service over a period of more than two decades. It analyses his approaches in overcoming the Western dichotomic thinking in this regard and argues that Bosch’s “personal quest” remained an unfinished quest, which we are invited to join. This can be seen as his legacy concerning the relationship between evangelism and service.

This article addresses the relationship between eschatological and present issues in Christian soteriological debates of the mid-twentieth century, particularly in post- colonial India. It focuses on the writings of Dhanjibhai Fakirbhai. As mystical views of Christian salvation can be criticized for their irrelevancy to secular society, Dhanjibhai presents a contrast to this in a type of mystical soteriology that breaks such critiques and complicates the usual categories of South Asian understandings. According to Dhanjibhai, “salvation” means to be in union with Jesus Christ, a spiritual faith-based relationship that extends into eternity but is also practically experienced in the world today. This article proceeds according to four key features of Dhanjibhai’s writings that demonstrate the holistic effects of union with Christ in his soteriology. I argue that Dhanjibhai alleviates the perceived problems of mystical approaches by presenting a soteriology that envelopes personal, social, and even ecological ramifications of salvation within a contextual evangelical framework.

The goal of this paper is to present a Christian mission of hunger and poverty alleviation through a life in communion with the trinity and in the context of the Ga celebration of homowo in Ghana. It is in the hope of the renewal of all things at the end of the world. It is to appreciate the essence of homowo in order to appropriate it for a Christian mission. The paper seeks to achieve this goal of mission by connecting the hunger and poverty alleviation and life-giving essence as well as the sense of unity embedded in the homowo feast to the mission of the triune God in the cosmos and with the “give us this day our daily bread” statement of Jesus Christ. Although the Kpelelogical method seems to be easily understood because it is mutually critical and connects seamlessly with the praxis of Christianity among Ga Christians, it has previously not been adopted as a theological method, as it is in this article. It is the paradoxical Ga Christian articulation of the Christian faith whereby the Christian faith is enlightened by the Kpele homowo and yet transforms the Kpele homowo after rejecting it. At the end of the engagement, Jesus in the homowo celebration is seen as the Okpelejen Wulormor Homoyiwolor ker Naanowalahalor (the cosmic priest, king, prophet who jeers at hunger, and giver of eternal life).