Missio Dei

Since the 1950s, most mission theologies have been based on the missio Dei (“God's mission”) and therefore no longer see the church as the subject of mission . This term quickly caught on in the wake of the World Mission Conference of 1952 in Willingen ( Germany ) and was mainly spread by Georg Vicedom . Under the impression of the expulsion of all missionaries from China , the Christian mission found itself in an acute crisis. It was also about a new definition of the relationship between the churches and the mission , which is mostly operated by independent mission societies .

In the idea of the missio Dei , the mission is anchored in a Trinitarian way : God the Father sends his Son Jesus Christ . Father and Son send the Holy Spirit for the reconciliation of the world. Christ says: "As the Father sent me, so I send you" ( John 20:21 EU ). This trinitarian anchoring of the mission, which was also welcomed by the Orthodox and Catholic churches, is intended to overcome constrictions and one-sidedness. Mission is no longer an event of the church, but the church subordinates itself to God's mission, God's devotion to the world. God himself is the subject of the mission.

Mission is thus acting with a global dimension, because God's will for salvation does not only refer to human beings, but to his entire creation . Justice , peace and the integrity of creation (see conciliar process ) are partial aspects of this global dimension, but the ultimate goal of the mission points beyond the present creation and pursues an eschatological goal, namely the worship of the Triune God for eternity.

Within this global perspective, God's turning to the world has an individual dimension. The individual is confronted with God's promise and demands. However, it also applies here: the subject is not the church, but God - who is responsible for it and a. the church served.

bibliography

John G. Flett: The Witness of God: the Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth and the Nature of Christian Community . Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010.
Henning Wrogemann: Mission theologies of the present. Global developments, contextual profiles and ecumenical challenges. Textbook Intercultural Theology / Mission Studies, Volume 2 , Gütersloh, ISBN 978-3-579-08142-7 .
Wilhelm Richebächer: 'Missio Dei' - basis or wrong path of mission theology? In: missio Dei today. On the topicality of a key concept of mission theology. World Mission Today No. 52, ed. v. Evangelical Missionary Work in Germany, Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck, Hamburg, 2003, 184-207.

Individual evidence

↑ To the whole: Henning Wrogemann: Mission theologies of the present. Global developments, contextual profiles and ecumenical challenges. Textbook Intercultural Theology / Mission Studies, Volume 2, Gütersloh, ISBN 978-3-579-08142-7 .

[1] To the whole: Henning Wrogemann: Mission theologies of the present. Global developments, contextual profiles and ecumenical challenges. Textbook Intercultural Theology / Mission Studies, Volume 2, Gütersloh, ISBN 978-3-579-08142-7 .