a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

developments that shift the context of mission and that need a response, a change
both in theory and praxis, meaning theology and strategies. 10 However, it is not
easy to develop a missiology in the contemporary global situation. According to
Thomas Thangaraj, ‘the task of constructing a theology of mission’ in the present
millennium is ‘significantly different from what it would have been immediately
after the dawn of the twentieth’ century. 11 By this he meant the spirit of mission at
the World Missionary Conference which met at Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910 – a
significant event in the history of the Protestant missionary movement. The major
thrust of the conference was ‘an invitation to Christians around the globe to join in
the task of evangelizing the entire world.’ 12 According to Bosch, ‘the spirit of
optimism and confidence’ which prevailed at the Edinburgh Conference, ‘…
represented the all-time high water mark in Western missionary enthusiasm, the
zenith of the optimistic and pragmatist approach to missions.’ He claimed that
although the western missionary circle in general reacted rather negatively to the
Enlightenment, the mood of Edinburgh in its optimism and confidence was a clear
indication of the spirit of Enlightenment. Bosch saw that ‘more than in any
preceding period, Christians of this era believed that the future of the world and of
God’s cause depended on them.’ 13 The closing address of John Mott, one of the
leaders of the Conference, shows this spirit. He said:
We go out with a larger acquaintanceship, with deeper realization of this
fellowship which we have just seen, and that is a rich talent which makes possible
10
For more details of the discussion, see Bernard Thorogood, ‘The Gales of Change,’ in Gales of
Change: Responding to a Shifting Missionary Context, ed. Bernard Thorogood (Geneva: WCC
Publications, 1994), 1-18; Bernard Thorogood, ‘Whom God May Call,’ in Gales of Change, 238-
56..
11
M. Thomas Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1999), 11.
12
Thangaraj, Common Task, 11.
13
Bosch, Transforming Mission, 334-38.
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