Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (American Society of Missiology Series) [Paperback]

Stephen B. Bevans (Author), Roger P. Schroeder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 12, 2004 | Series: American Society of Missiology (Book 30)

Helps members of every denomination understand how they fit into the mosaic of the many churchesÂ’ witness to the Gospel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 488 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books (May 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570755175
• ISBN-13: 978-1570755170
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #604,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They've got it right, June 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (American Society of Missiology Series) (Paperback)

Bevans and Schroeder have got it right. They present a reasoned and thoughtful approach to mission in the new millenium. This isn't easy reading, but it is worth the effort, because these authors trace the history of Christian mission, while at the same time they hold in view the complexity of mission today. Begining with the origin of three types of theology, they analyze the methodolgy of mission from early Christian communities down to our own times. It's an analysis that will resonate with missionaries of many traditions.
What I like best about this book is that these authors raise the hard questions of how to witness to Jesus Christ in a world of diversity. They point out that the "twentieth century has given birth not only to a global Christianity, but to one that has its center in the South." They predict that by 2025 Latin America and Africa will "be vying for the title of the most Christian continent." They tell us to think of the typical Christian as "a woman in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela." They name the constants in Christian mission, like the centrality of Jesus Christ, and demonstrate that His message must be transmitted in the context of a people's, "culture, thought, politics and spiritual sensitivity," always with respect for the "faith perspectives," of others.They name this missionary methodology "prophetic dialogue." This is a book well worth pondering.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and seminal mission theology in historical perspective and/or a history of mission that is grounded theologically, December 11, 2010

By 

Darren Cronshaw (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (American Society of Missiology Series) (Paperback)

Stephen B Bevans and Roger P Schroeder, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today. American Society of Missiology, 30 (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2004)

Originally reviewed by Darren Cronshaw in Crucible, Vol. 2, No.1 (November 2009)

Mission is handicapped without a sound biblical theology of mission and an understanding of the history of mission leading up to our current context. Constants in Context offers both of these elements. It is mission theology in historical perspective and/or a history of mission that is grounded theologically. The authors describe it as a systematic theology with mission at its core, and a church history shaped by the constant but always contextual Christian traditions. Furthermore it is a constructive contribution to how mission theology needs to be practical and lived out through today's church and in our world.

Written collaboratively by Roman Catholic writers Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder, both Missionaries of the Divine Word (SVDs). It is a particularly insightful in regard to the history and the various streams of Catholic mission but it also addresses and learns from the other traditions of the church. In fact, one of the book's strengths is its attention to neglected aspects and hidden stories of church and mission history. As a result it is gratifying to be inspired by non-European mission, women in mission and various forgotten or often ignored branches of the church.

The book is in three sections: first, there is a framework for cultural contexts and theological constants; second, an in-depth exploration of historical stages and different models for mission; and third, a presentation of theological frameworks for mission. The third section concludes with a case for "mission as prophetic dialogue" being the most appropriate model for 21st century mission.

Theological frameworks

The first section introduces what the book means by constants in context. Through a reading of Acts, it examines the changing context where the church sees itself as "missionary by its very nature". It was mission and breaking outward boundaries that helped the church emerge. This is shown, for example, in the groundbreaking stories of Philip preaching to both the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eunuch (a God-fearer close to Judaism), the conversion of Cornelius (and associated conversion of Peter as he realises God was broadening boundaries), Gentiles receiving the Spirit at Antioch, Paul's growing mission to the Gentiles, and the anticipated ongoing fulfilment of Acts 1:8 through the rest of history.

The second chapter, complementing the idea of changing contexts, outlines the nature of the constants in the church's mission. The church of all ages receives the same mandate, "You are witnesses of these things". The six constants of the church are actually questions that all missionary initiatives address:

* Christology - who is Jesus Christ and what is his meaning? Do we focus on the divine or human, how does he redeem the world, and is he inclusive, pluralist or exclusive?

* Ecclesiology - how do we see the church and its rituals and role(s)?

* Eschatology - when and how will God's reign be inaugurated? How optimistically does the church regard its future?

* Salvation - what does it mean and how broad is salvation - individual and personal or more holistic and cosmic?

* Anthropology - is humanity fallen and wholly corrupt as sinners and/or fundamentally good as made in the image of God?

* Culture - to what extent can God reveal himself through culture? How good or wicked is culture?

Using a framework set out by Justo Gonzalez and Dorothee Solle they suggest that these constants can be dealt with using one of three main theological approaches:

o Type A: mission as saving souls and extending the church (orthodox-conservative position, characterised by Tertullian)

o Type B: mission as discovery of the truth (liberal position, characterised by Origen)

o Type C: mission as commitment to transformation (liberation perspective, characterised by Irenaeus)

The type of theology used by different models and leaders of mission in different periods and the way they address the six constants is a feature of the remainder of the book.

Historical Perspectives

The second section, exploring "constants in context" from historical perspectives, divides the history of the Christian movement into six stages. Each chapter examines the political, social, religious and institutional context, notable missionaries and mission models and the application of the six constants during that period. Each chapter concludes with discussion of the implications for mission theology today.

In the early church (100-301 AD), mission was expressed by individual Christians in a variety of situations. Mission was not only undertaken by evangelists set apart for the work but by believers who were living out their baptismal call to mission. The catachumenate prepared people for a baptism which meant a life of service and mission. This mission was the very essence of the church and so, despite persecution, the church experienced phenomenal growth. Christianity spread East as far as India, Northern Africa, and throughout the Roman empire. By the time of Constantine 10% of the people of the Roman Empire were Christians.

The dominant mission model of the next period (319-907 AD) was that of the Monastic movement. After the epochal event of Constantine's conversion in 307, mass conversions increased, the catechumenate declined, and the link between baptism, church and mission weakened. Monks and nuns became the primary agents of mission rather than individual, everyday Christians. Christianity had its first encounters with Islam and while the East Syrian church flourished it also experienced marginalisation and persecution from Islamic powers greater than any experienced by the Western church under the Roman Empire. Further east, Christianity spread in India and China. Theologically, Augustine and Pelagius grappled over human nature. Augustine won in the West with his emphasis on depraved and sinful humanity in need of the cross and atonement (Type A theology). The Greek East, in contrast, held a more optimistic view of human nature and stressed Easter and resurrection, an emphasis reflected also in Celtic monasticism (Type B).

The chapter on the Mendicant movement (1000-1453 AD) was my personal favourite in this historical section. It features the crusades, missionary preachers, nuns and Mongolian Christianity. This was a dark time of church history in many respects. Doctrinal disputes split Western and Eastern Christianity, the atrocities of the religiously motivated Crusades reflected poorly on the gospel (Western Christian Crusaders even sacked eastern Christian Constantinople in 1204) and religious propaganda was used to justify deeds which were totally incongruous with the gospel. Yet in the same period, mendicant orders, in particular the Franciscans and Dominicans, modelled alternative approaches to life and mission. Unfortunately, the church did not always rise to these mission opportunities. In 1266 a request came from Kublai Khan, through the uncles of Marco Polo, for 100 Christian scholars. The Pope responded in 1290 with two monks, who died en route! At the end of the 13th century China chose to follow Islam and in 1369 the last missionaries were expelled.

The age of discovery (1492-1773) involved tensions in America and Asia between conquistadors, prophets and gurus. In America some tried to uphold the human dignity of indigenous peoples, opposing the conquistador's imperial model of mission. This created a tension throughout colonial history which continues in our postcolonial period. The Jesuits, though sometimes paternalistic, were more incarnational and sensitive to indigenous people than most Christian missionaries. In Asia they modelled the missionary approaches of being guru, scholar and dialogue partner. However, Pope Clement IX later saw things differently and as a result of the rites controversy over ancestral veneration and the Pope's refusal to allow later missionaries to be culturally accommodating, as the Emperor requested, all missionaries were expelled. It was another lost opportunity for China. Amazingly, the Jesuits were dissolved in 1773 and the guru, scholar and dialogue partner models disappeared. If the previous period was marred by the Crusades, the darkest side of this period was the obscene reality of the slave trade. It is estimated that 10-12 million Africans were transported over 400 years of which 1-2 million died en route. Perhaps 12 million more died on the march to the coasts before even reaching the ships.

In the age of progress (1792-1914), Christianity continued to struggle with an over-identification with colonial imperialism. Western missionaries tended to feel culturally superior and often combined Christianising with commercial and civilising objectives (the 3 Cs of colonialism). There was certainly fresh missionary fervour. William Carey and others pioneered a new missionary model in volunteer missionary societies. In fact there was a host of new responses to the global missionary challenge. Youth and student movements, Faith missions, the Social Gospel, the Great Awakening, Methodism's focus on foreign and domestic mission, growing women's involvement in mission, and the 1910 Edinburgh conference were all significant features of this period. However, any misplaced overconfident optimism in human nature and Western superiority was dispelled with World War I, marking the beginning of the next period of post-colonial world Christianity.

The period of the twentieth century, described as... Read more ›