Introducing Christian Mission Today: Scripture, History and Issues

Best Texts of Missiology, Hearts and Minds Bookstore

Mission--a driving force in the long Christian story--today is often cast as the embarrassing relative of tall-steeple religiosity.

In our wider culture it's now tucked in the endnotes of book-club histories or forms the ghostlike ellipses in the six o'clock news. But in Introducing Christian Mission Today, Michael Goheen brings the vibrant history, motivation and challenges of Christian mission to the fore.

Through the centuries Christian mission has always been recalibrating, retooling and reevangelizing. It has repeatedly taken surprising turns as it is carried along by the Spirit of God. Goheen's introduction to mission's biblical, theological and historical dimensions engages the present and anticipates the future. As he unfolds the major issues of the global and urban, the pluralistic and wholistic contexts of mission today, he lays the ground for engaging in God's great kingdom enterprise.

This full-scale text incorporates the keen missional insights of Lesslie Newbigin, David Bosch and other formative thinkers. It will be a valued resource not only for those in crosscultural contexts but also for those engaged in reevangelizing the West.

Michael W. Goheen (PhD, University of Utrecht) is theological director and scholar-in-residence in missional theology at the Missional Training Center in Phoenix. He is also professor of missional theology at Newbigin House of Studies and Jake and Betsy Tuls Professor of Missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary. His published works include A Light to the Nations and The Drama of Scripture (coauthored with Craig Bartholomew).