Abstract
Edward Rommen’s book Into All the World: An Orthodox Theology of Mission, the first book in a new series “Orthodoxy and Mission” published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, is an extremely important contribution to the development of the discipline of missiology in Orthodoxy. Fr. Rommen has worked for many years in the field of mission, teaching most recently at Duke Divinity School, and is thus well-placed to write this book. Although there is a well-established missiological tradition within the Greek Orthodox Church, the discipline has only very recently begun to gain traction in America and in Russia.
The book contains three parts. The first part starts by giving a very helpful introduction to missiology as a theological discipline, beginning with its roots in the West (though here reference is made only to Protestant missiology, ignoring developments in Catholic missiology altogether). Arguing then that Orthodox mission proceeds as a result of decrees by councils or hierarchs, it looks at four pivotal moments in Orthodox mission history, before concluding with a summary of basic building blocks for an Orthodox mission.
The second part of the book then turns to what Fr. Rommen calls the sources of Orthodox theology, namely, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the tradition of the church. The chapter on the revelation in the Old Testament of God’s universal salvific will, universal promise, and universal mission is an excellent contribution to recent attempts to offer what is often called a missional hermeneutic. New Testament material, though not its treatment, will be more familiar, and the part ends with a focus on liturgical texts, councils and canons, iconography and hagiography, arguably Orthodoxy’s most important contribution to a history of mission.
The third part builds on the first two, offering an Orthodox theology of mission. First there is the rationale and goal of mission. The rationale is that each Christian receives divine blessing to participate in the mission of God, and the goal is to make disciples. Second, this missionary activity will always take place within the context of the church. The final two chapters then look at the content of mission—what is proclaimed and lived—and some guidelines for the implementation of mission.
Different readers will have different critical reactions to this book. Without disputing the fundamental point, I find that the author tends to overemphasize the role of hierarchs in mission. It would have proved fruitful for Fr. Rommen to consider recent Roman Catholic developments, especially the missionary decree Ad gentes of the Second Vatican Council. Overall, this volume provides an invaluable contribution to contemporary Orthodox thinking on mission, as well as being an extremely readable and engaging book that, for some time to come, will serve as an introduction to Orthodox mission studies in the English-speaking world.