Missiological Hermeneutics

How have those engaged in the mission of God been challenged to reinterpret Scripture through their experience? In what ways were the missionaries in the Bible challenged to reevaluate Scripture in their own time? Redford attempts to give shape to the nature of missional hermeneutics by examining Scripture, present-day cultural values, historical struggles, and the experience of those who are engaged in the mission of God. In order for missionaries to overcome the scientific polarization in Western hermeneutics, they must be able to perceive and learn from the overarching missional and spiritual hermeneutics found throughout Scripture so that they can balance missional, spiritual, historical-critical, and even unforeseen hermeneutical paths, providing increased confidence in biblical interpretation.

The first is a historical case considering the missional and theological hermeneutics employed when addressing African polygamy. For the most part, authors addressing polygamy have failed to consider God's missional response to polygamists in order to buttress their own convictions regarding African polygamy. As such, authors have not typically utilized a missional hermeneutic when trying to address polygamy. Instead, they have based their arguments on the false assumption that a given theological stance is the starting point for addressing the practice. The second case study considers the role of mission praxis in an Islamic context related to missiological hermeneutics. The case study demonstrates the impact of modern-day mission practice, especially when it correlates closely with the missionary dynamics in a given portion of Scripture.

Winner, 2007 Christianity Today Missions/Global Affairs Book Most Christians would agree that the Bible provides a basis for mission. But Christopher Wright boldly maintains that mission is bigger than that--there is in fact a missional basis for the Bible! The entire Bible is generated by and is all about God's mission. In order to understand the Bible, we need a missional hermeneutic of the Bible, an interpretive perspective that is in tune with this great missional theme. We need to see the "big picture" of God's mission and how the familiar bits and pieces fit into the grand narrative of Scripture. Beginning with the Old Testament and the groundwork it lays for understanding who God is, what he has called his people to be and do, and how the nations fit into God's mission, Wright gives us a new hermeneutical perspective on Scripture. This new perspective provides a solid and expansive basis for holistic mission. Wright emphasizes throughout a holistic mission as the proper shape of Christian mission. God's mission is to reclaim the world--and that includes the created order--and God's people have a designated role to play in that mission.

Mission is constantly innovating. As contexts change, so too does the work of the church. Today, in the face of a rapidly changing world and a growing global church, the task of mission must continue to innovate in unexpected ways. The State of Missiology Today explores the developments and transformations in the study and practice of mission. Looking both backwards—especially over the first half-century of Fuller Theological Seminary's School of Intercultural Studies—and forwards, the contributors to this volume chart the current shape of mission studies and its prospects in the twenty-first century. This Missiological Engagements volume features contributions by J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu John Azumah Pascal Bazzell Stephen Bevans Jayakumar Christian Pablo A. Deiros Sarita D. Gallagher Anne-Marie Kool Moonjang Lee Wonsuk Ma Gary L. McIntosh Mary Motte, FMM Terry Muck Shawn B. Redford Scott W. Sunquist Missiological Engagements charts interdisciplinary and innovative trajectories in the history, theology, and practice of Christian mission, featuring contributions by leading thinkers from both the Euro-American West and the majority world whose missiological scholarship bridges church, academy, and society.

Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition (http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/) and in print by Wipf and Stock. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. Themelios began in 1975 and was operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The editorial team draws participants from across the globe as editors, essayists, and reviewers. General Editor: D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Managing Editor: Brian Tabb, Bethlehem College and Seminary Consulting Editor: Michael J. Ovey, Oak Hill Theological College Administrator: Andrew David Naselli, Bethlehem College and Seminary Book Review Editors: Jerry Hwang, Singapore Bible College; Alan Thompson, Sydney Missionary & Bible College; Nathan A. Finn, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Hans Madueme, Covenant College; Dane Ortlund, Crossway; Jason Sexton, Golden Gate Baptist Seminary Editorial Board: Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School Lee Gatiss, Wales Evangelical School of Theology Paul Helseth, University of Northwestern, St. Paul Paul House, Beeson Divinity School Ken Magnuson, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Jonathan Pennington, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary James Robson, Wycliffe Hall Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College Paul Williamson, Moore Theological College Stephen Witmer, Pepperell Christian Fellowship Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Seminary

This comprehensive volume is one you will pull off your shelf again and again as you delve into missiological study. The editors could not have made a more thorough or straight-forward volume that will serve researchers across disciplines. Each chapter succinctly defines the method, summarizes its process, suggests resources for more advanced interaction, and provides an exemplar journal article with abstract. Features to look forward to include: Enjoy the benefits of 14 veteran practitioner-scholars who provide clear and concise guidance to empirical research methodology, biblical-theological inquiry, and the integration of the two interdisciplinary approaches.

In this compelling research, Kent Michael Shaw I reveals a concise and comprehensive work on the development of Missions Theology informed by the perspectives from early African American missionaries. Missiology Reimagined unveils the hidden and ignored missions history of enslaved and free African Americans during the antebellum period of the United States. This book helps the student of missiology decipher how the events of the 1800s shaped the missions theology of Black Americans. The enslaved of that day constructed a hermeneutic and interpreted the sacred text through a lens that contradicted their enslaver's version of Christianity. Through these constructs, they critically engaged in scripture and formulated a theology of mission contextualized for their lived experience. This insight compelled them to risk death and re-enslavement to pursue a global mandate from God. These pioneering missionaries would emerge as experts in the field of global evangelism, heralding them as both missionaries and missiologists. Since they were practitioners and students of Scripture, an applied mission’s theology would materialize. The reader will observe how this theological formation influenced the black church in the nineteenth century and their missiology reimagined. These men and women held two titles: missionary and missiologist. These pioneer missionaries would emerge as early experts in the field of global evangelism. As practitioners and students of scripture, an applied mission’s theology evolved. The reader will observe how this theological formation would shape the black church in the nineteenth century and a reimagined missiology.

Throughout the book Thiselton shows how perspectives that arise from hermeneutics shed fresh light on theological method, reshape horizons of understanding, and reveal the relevance of doctrine for formation and for life. --