3.2 Missio Dei paradigm and HIV and AIDS
3.2.1 Emergence of Missio Dei Concept
Theologians such as Latourette (1938-1945; 1946; 1953), Newbigin (1958), and Barth (1956:743- 884) have shown interest in missiology (Verkuyl, 1978). They have shaped the current theological understanding of the mission of God and of the church. Following in their footsteps, Bevans and Schroeder (2004) show the development of the mission by examining Jesus‘ ministry and the Early Church (See also Niemandt, 2010:4-7). Smith (2007) observes the integration of women in the mission since the New Testament up to the contemporary western Catholic Church.
Likewise, Duncan (2007) focuses on the growth of the partnership in mission since the 1910 Edinburgh International Missionary Council up to the 2000s. The description by Bosch (2011) of this development is, however, crucial to the present study because in addition to an extensive discussion on various missionary paradigm shifts for a period of twenty centuries since the time of Jesus‘ ministry, he integrates the contemporary missional concept of missio Dei. As he elaborates, the first paradigm is apocalyptic developed by primitive Christianity. This includes the Matthean Great Commission of ‗disciple making‘ found in Matthew 28:18-20 (:57-84); the Lukan practice of forgiveness and solidarity with the poor regardless of class and race as referred to in
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Luke 4:18-19 (:85-124); and the Pauline invitation to join the eschatological community as referred to in the seven letters written by Paul himself26 (:125-181).
The three following missionary paradigms are the ‗Good ideas of life and love‘ and invitation of people to the loving church as developed by the Hellenistic (Greek and Eastern Mediterranean) Church during the patristic period (AD 100-600) under inspiration of John 3:16 (:195-218); the
‗filling of the master‘s house‘ developed by the Roman Catholic Church during the medieval period (AD 600-1500) inspired by Luke 14:23 (:219-243); and the ‗justification by faith‘
developed by the Protestant Reformation during AD 1500-1800, guided by Romans 1:16-17 (:244-267).
The fifth paradigm is a ‗Fragmented Missionary Paradigm(s) of Protestantism‟ developed during the Enlightenment (AD 1800-2000). Here religious faith is questioned and attacked but a theology of mission is also developed. Bosch finds nine motives of the spread of the Word of God during the Enlightenment, of which four are theological, namely, the „Glory of God‟, „Jesus‟ Love,‟ the
„Millennium,‟ and the „Obedience to the Great Commission‟ (:268-353; Iyakaremye, 2009:42-44).
The last paradigm of mission stated by Bosch (2011:185, 357-522) is the current emerging understanding of mission which is ecumenical. As he elucidates, it results from the failure of Enlightenment thinking which emerged during devastating events such as the two World Wars, Fascism, the Western colonial empire and the increasing gap between rich and poor. From this
‗crisis,‘ Bosch mentions that the church is trying to rediscover the essence of its missionary nature and calling and different kinds of answers are emerging, thus it is an ecumenical missionary paradigm (:375-376).
Bosch (377-553) identifies thirteen interrelated elements that are already emerging in the current missionary paradigm. These are mission such as: Church-With-Others, missio Dei, Mediating Salvation, Quest for Justice, Evangelism, Contextualisation, Liberation, Inculturation, Common Witness, Ministry by the Whole People of God, Witness to People of Other Living Faiths, Theology, and Action in Hope. Reppenhagen and Guder (2011:552-553), and Isaak (2011:342) believe that these elements illustrate how currently all faiths and aspects of human life are viewed as crucial in the fulfilment of God‘s mission and that they can only succeed if they work in synergy. This chapter will elaborate on the missio Dei concept since it serves as the theoretical framework of this study.
26 Bosch (2011:125-181) informs that the seven letters known as written by Paul are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon.
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According to McKinzie (2010:11), the idea that gave rise to the missio Dei concept was suggested for the first time by Karl Barth in the paper he read at the 1932 Brandenburg Missionary Conference (see also Bosch, 2011:399). Barth revived the idea of the Triune God as the source of mission. This idea appeared as a response to the then missional crises. The two immediate crises were Chinese president, Mao Tse-tung‘s removal of foreign missionaries and the involvement of Christian missions in colonialism under the influence of the Enlightenment (:10).
The third crisis was ecclesiocentrism where the church was seen as the sender of missionaries and the mission as the church‘s agenda (:10). As McKinzie (2010:10-11) specifies, there were also various theological dispositions about mission, the main contenders being traditionalist and humanist. Traditionalists argue that God is the source and the agent of the mission while the church is God‘s means (theocentrism). As for the humanists, God has already inaugurated the kingdom and the role of the church is to proclaim that reality. Their common ground was that,
―Mission is ultimately God‘s affair.‖ (:10-11).
Before this situation, ecumenical leaders were striving to identify the motivation, the means, and the goal of their mission (:10). Therefore, the influence of Barthian missionary thinking manifested itself in the preliminary report from the United States at the 1952 Willingen Missionary Conference:
The missionary movement of which we are a part has its source in the Triune God Himself (sic). Out of the depths of His love for us, the Father has sent forth His own beloved Son to reconcile all things to Himself. . . . On the foundation of this accomplished work God has sent forth His Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. [...] There is no participation in Christ without participation in His mission to the world. That by which the Church receives its existence is that by which it is also given its world-mission. ‗As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you‘
(McKinzie, 2010:11).
With this paradigm shift, the mission was no longer understood as originating from churches as institutions but from the Triune God only (See also Engelsviken, 2002). The implication of this shift is that the church has no mission for itself. Rather, the church participates in God‘s mission. In this way, the understanding of mission as God‘s agenda was also reinforced.
McKinzie (2010:11) elucidates that the Latin expression, missio Dei, was used to name God‘s mission by Karl Hartenstein, in another document after the conference.
In describing the relationship between the missio Dei and the church, Avis (2005:6) observes that God‘s mission precedes the church and is greater. As to Reppenhagen and Guder (2011:539), the church is not merely an outcome of the mission, but the medium of the mission. This implies
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that there is no church mission without God, since God is the one who sends the church. It also suggests that the church is not an end to a mission but its means. This study subscribes to such an understanding of the church‘s mission that will guide the analysis of the response of the FMCSA to HIV and AIDS.