David Jacobus Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (American Society of Missiology Series, no. 16). Orbis Books, 1991.
Referenced in: Theology of Mission – History and Overview
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Bosch is an acclaimed advanced level overview of how the church has defined its mission throughout history. I recommend reading it alongside David Hesselgrave and Ed Stetzer, MissionShift. Those who are new to the study of theology and history of mission may wish to start with the first five chapters of Introducing World Missions before moving to Bosch or Hesselgrave/Stezter.
Bosch is a dense, scholarly work, and not for the theologically uneducated. For ministers and church leaders with adequate background, however, it is indispensable. Based on its magnitude and its universal acknowledgement by scholars in the field, Bosch is the gold standard. As late as 2005, Stan Nussbaum wrote The Reader’s Guide to Transforming Mission, attesting to its enduring value. It is encyclopedic in nature. If the church at any period of history or any part of the world has attempted to define its mission, Bosch explains that effort in context. From the outset, this volume will awaken one to the vastness of Christian mission as an “expression of the dynamic relationship between God and the world, particularly as this was portrayed, first, in the story of the covenant people of Israel and then, supremely, in the birth, life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus of Nazareth.” (9)
In the introduction, Bosch offers in three pages and thirteen brief statements an excellent overview of the breadth of Christian mission. Part 1 considers New Testament Models of Mission, demonstrating how the New Testament is a missionary document, with specific chapters on Matthew, Luke-Acts, and the Pauline letters. Part 2 considers how Christians in various periods of history have interpreted and carried out their mission. He adapts Hans Kung’s division of the history of Christianity into six major paradigms – Primitive (biblical), Hellenistic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Enlightenment, and Emerging/Ecumenical. He shows how each of these not only represents a paradigm shift in theology, but also in missiology. Part 3 is reserved for the Emerging/Ecumenical paradigm. Here he discusses the various dimensions of mission as expressed in the postmodern era. This includes very balanced discussions of concepts like Missio Dei, evangelism, justice, contextualization, ecumenism, etc.
From the Publisher
Christian missions has changed over the millennia in small and large ways, and Professor David Bosch (1929 – 1992) delineates six distinct subsequent models for missions followed by Christendom beginning with a three-pronged analysis of missions in the ministries of Matthew, Luke and Paul. Following majority strains of missiology, he addresses the Hellenistic patristic period, Catholicism in the middle ages, the Protestant Reformation, the current model and the burgeoning post-modern version. Written over 15 years ago, Transforming Mission is still considered a classic in the field of missiology.
About the Authors
David Jacobus Bosch (December 13, 1929 – April 15, 1992) was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, married to Annemie. Bosch wrote more than 150 journal articles and six books, including his magnum opus Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (1991), which was jointly published by the American Society of Missiology and the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America’s Orbis Books.
The book was praised as groundbreaking by Hans Küng who called it the first book on mission to implement paradigm theory. Lesslie Newbigin nominated it a new standard calling it “a kind of Summa Missiologica” in reference to Thomas Aquinas’ foundational thirteenth century work “Summa Theologiae”. It was selected as one of the “Fifteen Outstanding Books of 1991” by the International Bulletin of Missionary Research.
***For additional information on this resource, including reviews, click the bookstore links. Check the reference at page top or the links below for resource guides on related topics.***
See Resources in Related Areas
Related Ministry Resource Guides:
- Missional Church Resources, Introduction and Index
- Missional Philosophy
- Theology of Mission
- Missional Communities
- Missional Leadership / Missional Strategies
- Missional Lifestyle, Discipleship, Spirituality
- Church Leadership and Renewal, Index to Resources
- Ecclesiology
- Evangelism
See Resources on Over 100 Areas of Ministry Leadership: