Editing Missiology

{{Short description|Academic study of Christian mission history and methodology}}
{{For|the academic journal|Missiology (journal)}}
'''Missiology''' is the academic study of the [[Christian mission]] history and methodology. It began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century.<ref name="kollman">{{cite journal |last1=Kollman |first1=Paul |title=At the Origins of Mission and Missiology: A Study in the Dynamics of Religious Language |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion |date=2011 |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=425–458 |doi=10.1093/jaarel/lfq077 |jstor=23020433 |issn=0002-7189}}</ref>

== Definition ==
Broadly speaking, missiology is "an interdisciplinary field of inquiry into Christian mission or missions that utilizes theological, historical, and various social scientific methods."<ref name="OHMS">{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Kirsteen |last2=Fitchett-Climenhaga |first2=Alison |author1-link=Kirsteen Kim |editor1-last=Kim |editor1-first=Kirsteen |editor2-last=Jørgensen |editor2-first=Knud |editor3-last=Fitchett-Climenhaga |editor3-first=Alison |title=The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256757-4 |page=3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rL9pEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |language=en |chapter=Introduction to Mission Studies: Analyzing Missiology's Current Configuration and Charting Future Prospects}}</ref> It has historically focused on the missionary and evangelistic work of Protestant and Catholic denominations from Europe and North America into other continents. But the decline in Christian numbers in the West has been met by the rise of Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians in the [[Majority World]] "for which mission and evangelism are their raison d'être."<ref name="OHMS"/>

Through missionary work in new contexts and the gradual shift in the [[World Christianity|World Christian population]] from the West to the non-Western world, Christians have had to grapple with new questions. While biblical and theologically rooted, missiology has therefore sought a deep engagement in the social sciences, in disciplines such as anthropology, history, geography, communication theory, comparative religious studies, social studies, education, psychology, and inter-religious relations.<ref>{{cite dictionary|last=Morreau|first=A. S.|chapter=Missiology|title=Evangelical Dictionary of Theology|editor-first=Walter A.|editor-last=Elwell|edition=2nd|location=Grand Rapids, MI|publisher=Baker Academic|date=2001|pages=780–783|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yu846j61u0wC&pg=PA780}}</ref> Missiology has thus included topics like [[inculturation]], [[contextual theology|contextualization]], [[interfaith relations]], and [[reverse mission]].<ref name="OHMS"/> 

== History ==
Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was the Scottish missionary [[Alexander Duff (missionary)|Alexander Duff]] who first developed a systematic theory of mission and was appointed in 1867 to the first chair in missiology in the world, the new chair of Evangelistic Theology in [[New College, Edinburgh]]. The chair was short-lived and closed after Duff's departure.<ref>{{cite dictionary|first=Andrew F.|last=Walls|author-link=Andrew F. Walls|chapter=Alexander Duff|editor-first=Gerald H.|editor-last=Anderson|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|date=1999|pages=187–188|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA187}}</ref>

[[Gustav Warneck]] is often recognized as the founder of Protestant missiology as a discipline. He founded the first scientific missionary periodical in 1874, ''Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift'', and was appointed the chair of missionary science at the University of Halle in Germany in 1897. His three-volume work on Protestant mission theory ''Evangelische Missionlehre'' and his survey of the history of Protestant missionary work were extremely important for the young discipline.<ref name="kollman"/><ref>{{cite dictionary|first=Hans|last=Kasdorf|chapter=Gustav Warneck, 1834–1910: Founder of the Scholarly Study of Missions|editor-first=Gerald H.|editor-last=Anderson|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|date=1999|pages=373–382|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA373}}</ref>

Influenced by Warneck's work, [[Catholic]] [[church history|church historian]] {{ill|Joseph Schmidlin|de|Joseph Schmidlin}} began lecturing in missiology in 1910 at the [[University of Münster|University of Munster]] and was appointed to the first chair of Catholic missiology at the same university in 1914.<ref>{{cite dictionary|first=Karl|last=Muller|chapter=Joseph Schmidlin, 1876–1944: Pioneer of Catholic Missiology|editor-first=Gerald H.|editor-last=Anderson|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|date=1999|pages=402–409|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA402}}.</ref>

Since the 1950s, missiology has generally been discussed within the theological framework of the ''[[missio Dei]]'', the "Mission of God." This has shifted the discussion away from "missions" in the plural, an exclusive focus on the evangelizing of the non-Christian in overseas contexts, to "mission" in the singular, a broader topic including a multiplicity of God's activities in the world. Hence, "''Mission is the participation of the people of God in God's action in the world.'' The theological and critical reflection about mission is called ''missiology''." {{emphasis in original}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cardoza-Orlandi |first1=Carlos F. |title=Mission: An Essential Guide |date=2002 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=978-1-4267-6328-1 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBaKaNjaQx0C&pg=PA15 |language=en}}</ref>

== Current developments ==
Today missiology is taught at many Christian theological schools and its scope of study and relations with the other theological and social sciences differ to a great extent. While it continues to be considered a Christian theological discipline,<ref>Gensichen Hans-Werner, "Missiology as a Theological Discipline" in Karl Müller, ''Mission Theology: An Introduction'' (Nettetal, Germany: Steyler Verlag, 1987.</ref><ref>Tennent Timothy C. ''Invitation To World Missions. A Trinitarian Missiology For The Twenty-First Century''. Kregel Publ., Grand Rapids, 2010.</ref> some have contested whether missiology is a strictly church discipline or academic one.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jongeneel |first1=Jan A.B. |title=Is missiology an academic discipline? |journal=Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies |date=July 1998 |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=27–32 |doi=10.1177/026537889801500308}}</ref>

There are several academic societies for missiology, such as the North American organizations the [[American Society of Missiology]] (ASM) and [[Evangelical Missiological Society]] (EMS), and the [[International Association for Mission Studies]] (IAMS). In European academia, especially in German-speaking contexts, there is the growing dominance of the term "intercultural theology."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ustorf |first1=Werner |title=The Cultural Origins of "Intercultural Theology" |journal=Mission Studies |date=2008 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=229–251 |doi=10.1163/157338308X365387}}</ref>

The close interaction between missiology, social sciences and culture made scholars to shape the discipline within the framework of history and sociology<ref>Taber, Charles R., ''To Understand the World, to Save the World: The Interface between Missiology and the Social Sciences, Christian Mission and Modern Culture''. Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 2000.</ref> and remind about the "colonial past of missions" when Christians often attempted to use their political and economic power in evangelism. Many missiologists are now disavowing these methods and attempt to construct a new paradigm that does not employ such imperialistic approaches which lead to language and cultural imposition.<ref>Murray, Stuart. ''Post Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strangle Land''. Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2004, 83-88.</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
*[[List of missiologists]]
*[[Doctor of Missiology]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author-link=Stephen Bevans |last=Bevans |first=Stephen |last2=Schroeder |first2=Roger |year=2004 |title=Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today |location=Maryknoll, New York |publisher=Orbis Books |isbn=978-1570755170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKEbRkGiNY0C}}
* {{cite book |editor1-link=Kirsteen Kim |editor1-last=Kim |editor1-first=Kirsteen |editor2-last=Jørgensen |editor2-first=Knud |editor3-last=Fitchett-Climenhaga |editor3-first=Alison |title=The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256757-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rL9pEAAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last=Wrogemann |first=Henning |year=2018 |title=Intercultural Theology, Volume Two: Theologies of Mission |location=Downer's Grove, Illinois |publisher=Intervarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-5098-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9GyKDwAAQBAJ}}

{{Christian theology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Missiology| ]]
[[Category:Practical theology]]
[[Category:Christian missions]]