http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Missio_Dei Missio Dei From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Part of a series on attributes of God in Christian theology: Aseity, Eternity, Graciousness, Holiness, Immanence, Immutability, Impassibility, Impeccability, Incorporeality, Love, Mission, Omnibenevolence, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Oneness, Providence, Righteousness, Simplicity, Transcendence, Trinity, Veracity, Wrath Missio Dei is a Latin Christian theological term that can be translated as the "mission of God," or the "sending of God." Mission is understood as being derived from the very nature of God. The missionary initiative comes from God alone. In 1934, Karl Hartenstein, a German missiologist, coined the phrase in response to Karl Barth and his emphasis on actio Dei (Latin for the action of God). When kept in the context of the Scriptures, missio Dei correctly emphasizes that God is the initiator of His mission to redeem through the Church a special people for Himself from all of the peoples ( ) of the world. He sent His Son for this purpose and He sends the Church into the world with the message of the gospel for the same purpose.[1] According to David J. Bosch, "mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God."[2] Jurgen Moltmannsays, "It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church."[3] There is church because there is mission, not vice versa. The Church must not think its role is identical to the missio Dei; the Church is participating in the mission of God. The church's mission is a subset of a larger whole mission. That is, it is part of God's mission to the world and not the entirety of God's work in the world. During the past half a century or so there has been a subtle but nevertheless decisive shift toward understanding mission as Gods mission. During preceding centuries mission was understood in a variety of ways. Sometimes it was interpreted primarily in soteriological terms: as saving individuals from eternal damnation. Or it was understood in cultural terms: as introducing people from East and the South to the blessings and privileges of the Christian West. Often it was perceived in ecclesiastical categories: as the expansion of the church (or of a specific denomination). Sometimes it was defined salvation-historically: as the process by which the worldevolutionary or by means of a cataclysmic event would be transformed into the kingdom of God. In all these instances, and in various, frequently conflicting ways, the intrinsic interrelationship between christology, soteriology, and the doctrine of the Trinity, so important for the early church, was gradually displaced by one of several versions of the doctrine of grace

Mission was understood as being derived from the very nature of God. It was thus put in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity, not of ecclesiology or soteriology. The classical doctrine on the missio Dei as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit was expanded to include yet another movement: The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit sending the church into the world. As far as missionary thinking was concerned, this linking with the doctrine of the Trinity constituted an important innovation Our mission has not life of its own: only in the hands of the sending God can it truly be called mission. Not least since the missionary initiative comes from God alone Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. There is church because there is mission, not vice versa. To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of Gods love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love.[2] Speaking on behalf of The Gospel and Our Culture Network, Darrell Guder writes, "We have come to see that mission is not merely an activity of the church. Rather, mission is the result of Gods initiative, rooted in Gods purposes to restore and heal creation. Mission means sending, and it is the central biblical theme describing the purpose of Gods action in human history.... We have begun to learn that the biblical message is more radical, more inclusive, more transforming than we have allowed it to be. In particular, we have begun to see that the church of Jesus Christ is not the purpose or goal of the gospel, but rather its instrument and witness.... Gods mission is calling and sending us, the church of Jesus Christ, to be a missionary church in our own societies, in the cultures in which we find ourselves.[4] Alan Hirsch believes the word missional "goes to the heart of the very nature and purpose of the church itself." He continues, So a working definition of missional church is a community of Gods people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of Gods mission to the world. In other words, the churchs true and authentic organizing principle is mission. When the church is in mission, it is the true church. The church itself is not only a product of that mission but is obligated and destined to extend it by whatever means possible. The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus. To obstruct this is to block Gods purposes in and through Gods people.[5] Peters states that the Bible claims the end result of such missio Dei is the glorification of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.[6] Missio Dei as a term and concept became increasingly popular in the church from the second half of the 20th century and is a key concept in missiology being used by theologians such as David Bosch, Lesslie Newbigin, Darrell Guder, Alan Roxburgh, David Dunbar, Steve Taylor, Alan Hirsch, Martin Robinson, William Storrar, Tim Keller, and Ed Stetzer, as well as missional networks such as the Gospel and Culture Network (Guder), Forge Mission Training Network Australia (Hirsch), Together in Mission UK, and the Allelon Foundation (Roxburgh).

[edit]References ^ Van Sanders, The Mission of God and the Local Church, in Pursuing the Mission of God in Church Planting, ed. John M. Bailey, Alpharetta: North American Mission Board, 2006, 24. ^ a b David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission, Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1991, 389 390. ^ Jurgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology, London: SCM Press, 1977, 64 ^ Darrell L. Guder (editor), Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1998, 4-5. ^ Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways, Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2006, 82. ^ George W. Peters, A Biblical Theology of Missions, Chicago: Moody Press, 1972, 9. [edit]External links Missional Church Reading Room Extensive on-line materials on the missio Dei and missional theology (Tyndale Seminary) Take the Missional Challenge: 31 Days to Align with Jesus' Mission -------------------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Missio Dei es un trmino teolgico latino que puede ser traducido como la misin de Dios, o el envo de Dios. Misin es entendida como siendo derivada de la misma naturaleza de Dios. La iniciativa misionera viene slo de Dios. En 1934, Karl Hartstein, un misionlogo Alemn, acu la frase en respuesta a Karl Barth y su nfasis en actio Dei (Latn para la accin de Dios). Cuando se mantiene en el contexto de las Escrituras, missio Dei enfatiza correctamente que Dios es el iniciador de Su misin para redimir a travs de la Iglesia a un pueblo especial para S mismo de todos los pueblos ( ) del mundo. l envo a Su hijo para este propsito y enva a la Iglesia al mundo con el mensaje del evangelio para el mismo propsito. [1] De acuerdo a David J. Bosch, misin no es primariamente una actividad de la iglesia, sino un atributo de Diostribute of God a "mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an . God is a missionary God."[2] Jurgen Moltmannsays, "It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church."[3] There is church because there is mission, not vice versa. The Church must not think its role is identical to the missio Dei; the Church is participating in the mission of God. The church's mission is a subset of a larger whole mission. That is, it is part of God's mission to the world and not the entirety of God's work in the world.

During the past half a century or so there has been a subtle but nevertheless decisive shift toward understanding mission as Gods mission. During preceding centuries mission was understood in a variety of ways. Sometimes it was interpreted primarily in soteriological terms: as saving individuals from eternal damnation. Or it was understood in cultural terms: as introducing people from East and the South to the blessings and privileges of the Christian West. Often it was perceived in ecclesiastical categories: as the expansion of the church (or of a specific denomination). Sometimes it was defined salvation-historically: as the process by which the worldevolutionary or by means of a cataclysmic event would be transformed into the kingdom of God. In all these instances, and in various, frequently conflicting ways, the intrinsic interrelationship between christology, soteriology, and the doctrine of the Trinity, so important for the early church, was gradually displaced by one of several versions of the doctrine of grace Mission was understood as being derived from the very nature of God. It was thus put in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity, not of ecclesiology or soteriology. The classical doctrine on the missio Dei as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit was expanded to include yet another movement: The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit sending the church into the world. As far as missionary thinking was concerned, this linking with the doctrine of the Trinity constituted an important innovation Our mission has not life of its own: only in the hands of the sending God can it truly be called mission. Not least since the missionary initiative comes from God alone Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. There is church because there is mission, not vice versa. To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of Gods love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love.[2] Speaking on behalf of The Gospel and Our Culture Network, Darrell Guder writes, "We have come to see that mission is not merely an activity of the church. Rather, mission is the result of Gods initiative, rooted in Gods purposes to restore and heal creation. Mission means sending, and it is the central biblical theme describing the purpose of Gods action in human history.... We have begun to learn that the biblical message is more radical, more inclusive, more transforming than we have allowed it to be. In particular, we have begun to see that the church of Jesus Christ is not the purpose or goal of the gospel, but rather its instrument and witness.... Gods mission is calling and sending us, the church of Jesus Christ, to be a missionary church in our own societies, in the cultures in which we find ourselves.[4] Alan Hirsch believes the word missional "goes to the heart of the very nature and purpose of the church itself." He continues, So a working definition of missional church is a community of Gods people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of Gods mission to the world. In other words, the churchs true and authentic organizing principle is mission. When the church is in mission, it is the true church. The church itself is not only a product of that mission but is obligated and destined to extend it by whatever means

possible. The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus. To obstruct this is to block Gods purposes in and through Gods people.[5] Peters states that the Bible claims the end result of such missio Dei is the glorification of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.[6] Missio Dei as a term and concept became increasingly popular in the church from the second half of the 20th century and is a key concept in missiology being used by theologians such as David Bosch, Lesslie Newbigin, Darrell Guder, Alan Roxburgh, David Dunbar, Steve Taylor, Alan Hirsch, Martin Robinson, William Storrar, Tim Keller, and Ed Stetzer, as well as missional networks such as the Gospel and Culture Network (Guder), Forge Mission Training Network Australia (Hirsch), Together in Mission UK, and the Allelon Foundation (Roxburgh).