Hill Road Journal

Missio Dei: Karl Barth and the Mission of the Church

Lindsay ROBERTSON

The idea of missio Dei emerged as a mission paradigm after the missionary conference of 1952 at Willingen, Germany. This paper discusses Karl Barth's contribution to such an idea and his mission thinking in the later Church Dogmatics. Many regard Barth as having started such thinking at a conference in 1932. However, well before this conference, his theology had already influenced the missiology of Karl Hartenstein, who later helped popularize the idea of missio Dei. Historically, missio Dei developed in two conflicting ways. One emphasized that God was in charge of mission and the results of mission. Other missionologists developed missio Dei to say that mission was any liberating action, and that the church was not essential to this. Barth's theology offers a helpful corrective to both concepts, by placing his examination of “mission” within his discussion of the prophetic office of Christ. The Christian is then defined in terms of the calling of God as witness and thus to participation in Christ's prophetic work. This participation in the “sent Christ” is essential to our being as a Christian. Our existence is thereby defined in terms of proclamation because, by our unity with Christ, our starting point must be the same as his—God's will and work for the world. The Church also finds its role in its participation in Christ's prophetic office. The sending of Jesus by the Father is the essential mission upon which all other mission depends and finds its shape. This means the Church's task is both definite and limited. Barth helpfully shows how word and deed fit together with the priority given to word—making the gospel known.

Jürgen Moltmann's “Church and Mission”

Andres S. TANG

The early Moltmann proposed that the mission of the Church is not to expand its territory geographically but the Kingdom of God. This paper tries to give an analysis of this understanding in his early writing Theology of Hope. Moltmann understood the mission of the Church as a kind of daily praxis instead of private, interior practice without any public and political significance. For him the Church is the “Exodus Church” which is on its way toward the Kingdom of God. Its task and destiny are defined by this eschatological Kingdom instead of by this modern society . As the future of this world, the Kingdom of God is promised to be fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this sense, the Church, as Christian believers who are called by Christ to be disciples, has to transform the world in every aspect of its life in the society corresponding to the Kingdom of God. It is clear that Moltmann understood the mission of the Church in a broad sense which, however, is not opposed to the narrow sense of mission that emphasizes the task of evangelization. Moltmann reminded us that the mission of the Church in the modern society is not for its own sake but for the Kingdom of God, and is accomplished through the praxis of daily discipleship in a multi-layered society.

An Inappropriate Use of a Theory from Natural Science: A Review of David J. Bosch's Use of Paradigm Shift in Theology of Mission

Chun-wah KWONG

David J. Bosch was regarded as a preeminent Protestant missiologist. His magnum opus, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, became a standard reference for studies of Christian world mission. Bosch, in this book, adopted Thomas Kuhn's paradigm shift theory to demonstrate the transformations of the understanding and practice of mission during almost twenty centuries of Christian missionary history. He also shared his vision of Christian mission's historical development, ie, the construction of an ecumenical missionary paradigm, for the twenty-first century.

Most critics endeavored to find out what dimensions were missing from the paradigms that Bosch put forward for different periods of Christian missionary history. Little attention was paid to the methodological issues in Bosch's study. This article probes into a methodological question: is Kuhn's paradigm shift theory an appropriate hermeneutical framework for interpreting Christian missionary history?

Bosch was inspired by Hans Küng's discussion about the historical development of Christian theology with the perspective of paradigm shift. Küng served as a medium in introducing the paradigm shift theory into Bosch's study on Christian mission. This article demonstrates the intellectual relationship of these three scholars from three different fields: natural science history (Kuhn), Christian theology (Küng), and Christian mission (Bosch).

Paradigm shift, as a theory of interpreting the historical development of natural science, emphasizes the total replacement of the old paradigms by the new one. It is an irreversible process that marks the characteristic of revolutionary changes in the historical development of natural science. Paradigm shift may also be seen as a process repeating itself like a cycle throughout the historical development of natural science. Christian theology, a discipline defined by historicity, does not show the same kind of total replacement in its historical development; rather it branches off when new paradigms appear. This essential difference makes using paradigm shift theory in the discussion of the historical development of Christian theology inappropriate, more so when it was adopted by Bosch into his study of the historical development of Christian mission, for the Christian theology of mission has been marginalized throughout Christian history. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reconstruct an independent historical development of the Christian theology of mission, and it is not evident in Bosch's study. Without its own independent historical development, the Christian theology of mission followed the tides of Christian theology to branch off throughout Christian history. A repeated pattern of cyclical changes in the historical development of natural science could not take place in the historical development of Christian theology of mission since it did not move forward on its own track. In summary, the author argues that Kuhn's paradigm shift theory is not an appropriate hermeneutical framework for interpretation of Christian missionary history.

Missionary Concepts and Practices of the Early Protestants

Nathan K. N.G.

The Indian ministry of William Carey, which began in 1793, has long been regarded as the starting point of the overseas mission of the Protestant Church, before which nothing on trans-cultural evangelization had been done. Is this view correct?

By reviewing the missionary concepts and practices of the early Protestants, this article shows that the reformers and the church following them have actually fulfilled what they believed to be the “mission” of the church. The key issue is not whether they have put the Great Commission into practice, but what their missionary concepts were. Because of different theologies of mission, they have dissimilar opinions and actions on trans-cultural evangelization. The Indian ministry of Carey is not the true origin of Protestant mission.

An auxiliary goal of this article is to explain the close relationship between missionary concept and missionary practice with examples from the early Protestants. The former is the foundation of the latter. Doing mission without a correct and clear concept is like an athlete running without looking at the goal. All efforts may be lost. Frequent reflection and adjustment on one's missionary concept is an important factor for fruitful and meaningful missionary practices.

The Missionary Concept of the China Inland Mission in China

Daniel KT CHOI

The China Inland Mission (CIM, renamed as Overseas Missionary Fellowship, OMF International in 1964) was the largest missionary agency in China. It was set up in 1865 under the direction of James Hudson Taylor and William Thomas Berger. The first missionary party of CIM , including Taylor, reached Shanghai in 1866, and the first Mission base was established at Hangzhou. The work was concentrated on the coastal provinces initially, but after the headquarters of CIM was moved to Yangzhou in 1868, the mission began its work in the interior areas, all the way to Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet and Upper Burma. Meanwhile, Taylor traveled across several continents to recruit for the CIM. The number of missionaries peaked at 1,387 in 1937.

Although the missionaries of CIM were badly hit by the massacres of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, the CIM underwent considerable growth and development in the following years. In the years after the late 1930s, however, war and revolution led to a decline in the number of CIM missionaries in China. After the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and the Communist victory (1949), the CIM decided that further work in China was impossible and ordered all CIM missionaries to leave. The CIM continues its work in other East Asian countries as OMF, and still maintain a ministry to China and the Chinese nowadays.

The goal of the CIM was the evangelization of China's inland provinces. Their chief aim was to proclaim the Gospel, which was believed to be a more direct way of evangelism. Hence, it eschewed the more passive ways of evangelism, such as the provision of social services. As a nondenominational faith mission, it aimed to reach out to as many areas which were not yet evangelized by other missionaries as possible.

The CIM requested all of its missionaries to learn the Chinese language, dress in the Chinese way and find a way of living without a guaranteed salary. Missionaries were expected to become closely involved in the Chinese way of living. From the early 20th century, the services of CIM missionaries covered a wide spectrum including literature, medical services, social services, education, student movement, works among minorities and women.

Despite the many shortcomings of the CIM, it has contributed significantly to the spiritual needs of the Chinese population during its existence in Mainland China.

Spiritual Formation in Theological Education for Cross-Cultural Missionaries

Maynor Clara CHENG

Academic courses for the tasks of training missionaries in theological education are well developed today. Nevertheless, these curricula are unbalanced as the training of missionaries' personal wholeness is still underdeveloped. This could result in a traumatic experience for the missionaries when they cross culture and may also damage the effectiveness of their ministries.

This article addresses the issue. Spiritual formation in theological education for cross-cultural missionaries should be a deliberate effort that seeks to enhance the potential missionary's emotional, social and spiritual wholeness. The key to emotional wholeness is a biblically based self-esteem; intimacy with God is the key to spiritual wholeness. A hardy and resilient personality should be the main feature of a missionary's spirit. The key to a cross-cultural social wholeness is awareness of one's own national character and the application of emotional and spiritual wholeness.

The task of spiritual formation for cross-cultural missionaries is to identify the issues faced by missionaries that are significant in missionary wholeness. It prepares the missionary students to be aware of the stresses encountered in cross-cultural life and ministries. It also helps the students identify emotional, social and spiritual vulnerability in their personality. It facilitates the healing of the students' damaged emotions through counseling and inner-healing ministry. Spiritual formation for cross-cultural missionaries also trains the students to identify and evaluate the characteristics of their own national character. This facilitates smoother cultural adjustments when new missionaries reach their foreign destinations. The enhancement of the students' spiritual discipline and intimacy with God help to develop a hardy and resilient spirit.

Spiritual formation trainers perform many roles. They are the mentors and, ideally, the counselors of their students. They should also be able to discern when to refer the students to professional psychotherapists that the institution has prearranged. The trainers also act as their students' priests in that they intercede for the students' growth as well as the healing of their emotional, spiritual and social lives.

Therefore, the trainers should be knowledgeable in the disciplines of psychology, counseling, inner healing, cultural and psychological anthropology, spiritual formation, mentoring and teaching. They should also be seasoned in cross-cultural experiences. Above all, they must have a heart for intercession.

I recommend that theological institutions invest in the development of their faculty in these disciplines. They should also advocate and facilitate more researches on the conditions of the missionaries from their own country with respect to missionary wholeness. The above training must be considered mandatory in the early stages of missionary training in theological education.

Constraints and Manipulation of Ideology and Poetics—Translation and Rewriting of the Works of Henri JM Nouwen

CHONG Yau Yuk

The works of Henri JM Nouwen, one of the most prolific and popular spiritual writers of recent times, are widely circulated among Chinese Christian communities through a vast number of Chinese translations published since 1976. These translations, together with literary criticisms by influential Chinese spiritual leaders , are two main types of rewritings that create the image of Nouwen and his English works in the Chinese culture, lifting him and his works beyond the boundaries of their culture of origin. Nouwen is projected as the spiritual guide par excellence whose life is a spiritual text that reflects the very themes he shares in his writings, including the meditation on prayer and contemplation, the struggle between solitude and community, the gospel challenge to follow Christ in “downward mobility”, the question of how to make our life and death a gift to others, and the path to realizing our identity as God's beloved.

The image of Nouwen as a renowned writer of Christian spirituality and pastoral theology can be conceived of as the outcome of the processes of rewriting (manipulation and domestication), which is closely connected with the political and literary power structures operating within the Chinese literary polysystem. In a period when there is a literary vacuum in contemporary classics of Christian spirituality and pastoral theology, Nouwen's works are widely translated and positively reviewed in spite of an ideological charge against the introduction of the works of a Catholic priest to Chinese Christian communities. Using André Lefevere's operative concepts of rewriting as the theoretical apparatus, this paper aims to describe and analyze the manipulative attempts on the part of rewriters to bring their texts in line with the dominant ideology and poetics within the Chinese Christian polysystem in the past three decades.

The Ontological Paradigm of Tillich's Political Theology on “Nature State”

CHUANG Hsin Te

Since the time of Hobbes and Lock political philosophy has built its foundation on social contract theory. Proceeding from different presuppositions, both Hobbes and Lock have, nevertheless, developed their theories of Group Relationship on the same concept of “nature state”. As a twentieth century's key theologian, Paul Tillich has paid much attention to various types of human relationships and attempted to build a dynamic ethic in relation to that. For Tillich, the idea of nature state is constructed through the “ought to be” oriented ontology. This article seeks to present the essential differences of nature state represented by Tillich's political theology of ontological perspective from the traditional views, focusing on a comparison between Tillich and the traditional political philosophers, namely, Hobbes and Lock. By doing so, we may arrive at a conclusion of the contribution that Tillich's ontological perspective has on the concept of nature state.

The Genesis of Hegel's Theological Philosophizing

Jing-jong LUH

German idealism is the classic of theological philosophizing in the European intellectual history, and Hegel is the climax of this tradition. This essay attempts to discover the theological dimension of Hegel's thought, firstly and especially in the context of the initial question of German idealism, ie , its development from Kant-critique to the theological horizon of idealistic philosophizing. Secondly, it reveals Hegel's original philosophical-theological question: The intellectual relation between human being as finite subject and God as absolute subject, which the speculative philosophizing of theology has initiated. Thirdly, it indicates the typical philosophical problem of German idealism: The tension of the idea of arche-principle and the knowledge of the Absolute, in particular the concept of idealistic history of consciousness. Consequently, we point out Hegel's resolution-conceptualization about that problem, which is presented in a theological-philosophizing way from phenomenological dialectic to speculative-logical dialectic.