David Bosch Mission

1. Mission according to Bosch
 Christian faith is intrinsically Missionary – Universal
Impact – Ultimate Truth (Stackhouse 1988)
 Looking at the World from a Christian Perspective –
reforms, analysis and appraisal
 Dynamic relationship between God and the World – God’s
self communication in Jesus
 Recognition of the tension between Divine providence and
human Confusion
 Church as Missionary existence – Universal Gospel with
Universal Proclamation
 Church as sacrament and sign – mediation and pointer

2. Contd…
 No division between foreign mission and Home
Mission
 Difference between Mission and Missions
 The whole church bringing the whole gospel to the
whole world
 Participating in the struggles of people – God’s yes
 Evangelism
 God’s No to the world –not merely a political
religion

3. Sugirtharajah
 Conversion to Reorientation
Evangelising the Evangelizer and conversion
within the tradition
 Revival to Revitalising
Recovering some forgotten aspects –
compassionate God
 Sharing to distribution – of wealth
Critical remark on Sugirtharajah – inward looking alone is not
holistic mission – witnessing an aspect of mission

4. Four Impure Motives of Mission
 Cultural (Transfer of Superior Culture)
 Romantic Motive (Tour to exotic countries)
 Imperialist (colonial authorities)
 Ecclesiastical Colonialism (to export Churches’ own
confession and order to other territories)
 Verkuyl (1978)

5. The Place of Bible in doing Mission
 Mission is the mother of Theology (Kahler 1908)
 Should we include the Old Testament in working out our
Mission?
 It is a Great Omission in Mission to develop our mission
ideas only through the Great Commission in Matthew 28 or
even only to New Testament!
 inspired word of God, rich experience of his people, unique
source of churches reflection – not fixed literary proof of
God
 Mission involves God, Gospel, God’s people, Listeners,
Missionaries, Message, Medium/Methods,
Contexts/History, Texts

6. Mission in the Old Testament?
 Thesis 1: In the Old Testament there is no indication of the
believers of the old covenant being sent by God to cross
geographical, religious and social frontiers in order to win
others to faith in Adonai (YHWH) [Bosch 1959; Hahn
1965; Rutti 1972]
 Thesis 2: There is a difference between mission in the Old
Testament and in the New Testament [example Jonah was
sent to announce destruction?! – Rzepkowski 1974].
 Thesis 3. Adonai/Elohim are only Gods of Israel not of
others. God of Israel does not have universal concern of
salvation as the first priority or in first place. Only through
Israel all will come to God!!

7. Biblical references
 Israel remains at the centre of God’s plan and the
recipient of ‘the Wealth of the nations’ (Is 60:11)
 Sabeans will come to people in Chains (Is 45:14)
 Judgement is announced on some nations (Is 47)
 Deuteronomy 4:35,39 - There is no other God
 Isaiah 44:6 - God is the first and the last, there is no
other
 Isaiah 45:5-6 - There is no other
 Psalms 16:4 – Other gods trouble

8. Universal Mission in the Old
Testament?
 Antithesis 1: Difference between the faith of Israel and
of the surrounding nations – manifestations of the
divine in specific places where the human world can
communicate with the divine – whereas Israel’s
Adonai/Elohim are dynamic beings. So the main
emphasis is on revelation of God in historical acts of
liberation and of making people as people
 God of promise – be involved with the people in the
future - God being ahead of God’s people
 God has elected Israel as a nation in service

9. Antithesis contd...
 God’s compassion for other nations too! But an
ambivalent attitude towards other nations!!!
 Unsuccessful Babel to successful Abraham as Universal
father
 God of Israel is the creator and Lord of the whole
world.
 Dialectical tension between Judgement and Mercy
both for Israel and nations (Isaiah 40-55)
 Israel did not actually go out to the nations! If they do
it is because God is bringing them in.

10. References
 The nations are waiting for Yahweh! (Is 51:5)
 His glory will be revealed to them all (Is 40:5)
 All the ends of the earth are called upon (Is 45:22)
 As light to the Gentiles (Is 42:6; 49:6)
 A highway is constructed from Egypt and Assyria to
Jerusalem (Is 19:23)
 Temple in Jerusalem is the Sanctuary of the whole world (Is
19:25)
 Egypt will be blessed as God’s people, Assyria as the work
of God’s hands and Israel as God’s heritage (Is 19:25) ....

11. Joshva Raja SOCMS 11
Synthesis of Mission in the Old
Testament?!
 Dialectic between Centripetal (Inward) and
Centrifugal (outward)
 God’s election – Deep Solidarity with non-elect
nations – chosen ones and relationship with others
 Secular History – exodus from Egypt and Non-Israelite
celebrations – harvest festivals became absorbed into
rituals…
 Self identity and corruption exceeded and prophetic
voices came in…

12. Old Testament references
 Election with a purpose but distorted due to claims of
superiority (Deut 7:7f)
 A model among others (Deut 4:6-8)
 Distinct from others ethically (Lev 18-19)
 For all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod 19:3-6)

13. Joshva Raja SOCMS 13
Mission in the Old Testament
 Creation story – Story of the fall
 Babel Tower – Not Uniformity rather unity in diversity
 Selection of Kings – removal of theocracy
 Changing of contexts and values –critical and
appreciation
 Words used in relation to mission in OT = Reform,
redeem, restore, reconcile, reformulate, rebuild,
restructure, return, reorient, resurrect…

14. Joshva Raja SOCMS 14
Key concepts of Mission in OT Reign of God and His will to save Humanity
 Past Narratives (history) as faith sources and revealing
 The creation and creature – arena of revelation and
salvation
 Religious experience as witnessing mission
 Relationship as God’s Initiative and Motivation for
Mission

15. Joshva Raja SOCMS 15
Mission and the New Testament
 Major resource personalities are Jesus, Paul, John and
others
 Four Gospels not one; historical reliability; Jesus of
History and Christ of Faith – early Christians influence
 Listening to the past and speaking to the present and
future - Discovering variety of Jesuses –
revolutionary/right wing/founder of modern business

16. Joshva Raja SOCMS 16
Mission in the New Testament
 Construction of Historical Jesus in the four Gospels –
Evangelists/Communities used creative and
responsible freedom in retaining and adopting Jesus’
traditions
 Listen to the Past in order to speak to the present and
future
 Gaps and Connections – historical gaps – marginal
communities find similarities

17. Joshva Raja SOCMS 17
 Not Form, Redaction nor social rather critical
hermeneutics – Not looking for an Objective
statement of reality out there rather interpreted reality
 Correspondence between the self definition of early
Christians and todays
 Self definition of Early Christians lead to self
definition of Jesus
 Jesus and Israel – Greek and Roman influence – Jewish
Proselytes and God fearers – Qumran to evangelize
Jews

18. Joshva Raja SOCMS 18
Q/Logia
 Mission statement only to Israel
 Gentiles Mt 3:9; Mt 12:41
 Warning to the privileges of Jews –Mt 8:10; Mt 15:28;
Mt 8:11-13; Mt 21:31
 Gentile Mission is post-Easter discovery – Jesus
himself laid the foundation for Gentile Mission

19. Joshva Raja SOCMS 19
Missio Jesus
 Incarnation Model (Salt)
 Healing Model (Physician)
 Preaching Model (Stones)
 Demonstration Model (Water)
 Transfiguration Model (Light)
 Resurrection (Wheat)
 Crusification (Wine)

20. Jesus and Universal Mission?
 F Hahn (Mission in the New Testament) and four solutions
to the question – Was Jesus interested in the mission to
Gentiles?
 Answer (a) – yes Jesus was full fledged missionary to
Gentiles
 (b) Jesus did not inaugurate a Gentile mission during his
life time but that he did have such a program in mind and
after his resurrection, so instructed his disciples
 (c)Gentile mission was a product of the early church’s
reflection on the universal dimensions of Jesus’ teachings
 (d) Jesus’ resurrection convinced the early Christian
community that the final age of salvation has dawned.

21. Jesus and the Kingdom of God
 Announcement of the coming of the Kingdom of God
 Kingdom of God has an eschatological character
 Kingdom motif is its theological character
 Kingdom of God has a soteriological or saving
character

22. Joshva Raja SOCMS 22
Early Church and Mission
 Early Christians part of Jewish or separate
community? Gentile Christians to be circumcised?
 Hebrew or Greek speaking Jewish self-
understanding
 Between end time and not yet – eschatological
self-understanding
 Mission replaced by the expectation of the end and
mission itself an eschatological event
 Pharisees and Synagogue

23. Bibliography
 David Bosch Transforming Mission
 Donald Senior and Carroll Stuhlmueller The Biblical
Foundation for Mission
 Ferdinand Hahn Mission in the New Testament
 Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission