Abstract
Comprehending Mission: The Questions, Methods, Themes, Problems, and Prospects of Missiology
Stanley H. Skreslet
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2012. v + 240 pp. $30.00
The field of missiology has always been at the crossroads. However, most travelers take the route of mission theology to define the field. The proclivity to define missiology through mission theology obscures a broader scope of contemporary research. Stanley Skreslet's Comprehending Mission expands on this understanding by showing the importance of other areas of inquiry in the development of missiology as a field of study. By showing how missiology has developed as a discipline in conversation with a myriad of sources, Skreslet provides a fresh interpretation to a field in need of direction with one of its best introductions.
The book is divided into six chapters. In the introduction that serves as the first chapter, Skreslet explains missiology as a dynamic and expansive field of study that is emerging to be characterized for its interdisciplinary scope. Following Andrew Walls's definition of missiology as “the systematic study of all aspects of mission,” Skreslet understands missiology as encompassing “every type of scholarly inquiry performed on the subject of mission without necessarily subordinating any group of studies to any other” (15). In this sense, the theology of mission is merely one avenue travelers could adopt at the crossroads of many other choices.
Chapter 2, “Bible and Mission,” describes one good example of how this process plays out. Because of the help from lexicologists, narrative critics, and sociologists of religion, scholars of missiology now possess a clearer picture of New Testament times to evaluate the processes of mission. This chapter also covers such themes as the mission of God, reconciliation, universalism, and principles of translatability for social empowerment to explain the interconnection of missiology to other fields of study.
In Chapter 3, “History of Mission,” Skreslet examines how the missionary aspect of Christian history could be studied. Starting with Luke's Gospel, Skreslet describes and analyzes the ecclesiastical histories of Eusebius and Bede, the hagiography of the lives of the saints, early modern ethnography, historical Missionswissenschaft, and critical ethnography. He also delves into the current trends of mission research on such topics as missions and imperialism, the spread of Western science, and gender studies.
Chapters 4 and 5, “Theology, Mission, and Culture” and “Christian Mission in a World of Religions,” attest to the importance of these topics for the study of missiology. The interaction of theology and culture(s) becomes one of the most prolific conversation partners for missiology. As scholars point to the vitality of the Christian religion based on its cross-cultural transmission, questions of Gospel and culture predominate much of missiological conversations today. Issues related to power, social change, the formation of new communities of faith, and how those communities formulate their own theologies are prevalent in this field of study. In the same avenue, the study of world religions plays another crucial role in missiology. Religious expressions find their concreteness and symbolic spaces through culture(s). Many scholars have divided these two concepts as separate entities, but such division should be avoided as misleading. Skreslet examines how Christians have engaged the religious other throughout history. Of importance in this section are the three special topics dedicated to Judaism, Islam, and African religions.
Chapter 6, “The Means of Mission,” examines studies on mission strategy and particular mission techniques and modalities that have influenced the aspects of evangelism throughout history. One of the basic examples of methods of social transformation is how missionaries such as William Wilberforce, Thomas Fowell Buxton, and David Livingstone opposed slavery. Healing is another vital missionary practice instituted in hospitals, clinics, and other medical services. The final chapter, “Missionary Vocation,” describes and analyzes professional missionaries and how sending organizations scrutinized their candidates, missionary spirituality, and the depiction of missionaries through historical writing, biographies, fiction, and film.
Comprehending Mission is a concise introduction to missiology as an academic field. As such, it makes an abundant contribution to a field at the crossroads. It is ecumenical in scope and tackles the major questions, methods, themes, problems, and prospects in the study of missiology. Without a doubt, this book should become required reading for college and seminary students.