Individualized Distance Learning

MT520

Van Engen

MT520: Biblical Foundations of Mission (4 units).

Charles Van Engen, Arthur F. Glasser Professor of Biblical Theology of Mission

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DESCRIPTION:

A central theme of the Scriptures is the mission of God as it relates to the present and coming Kingdom of God. By this is meant the sovereign, living God exercising absolute reign in and through history, and establishing a covenant relationship with the People of God redeemed and called to be God’s instruments among and for the nations. This means continuity with the Old Testament expectation and New Testament fulfillment. This also means Jesus Christ is the “hinge of history,” the Great Commission is the culmination of Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is the climatic event that creates the Church. From Pentecost onward the mission of the Church can be viewed eschatologically because the glorious appearing of the Kingdom at our Lord’s coming marks the end of the Church’s mission. There is no separate “theology of mission” district from a theology of the Spirit and the Church, as developed in Pauline theology of mission.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Develop a missiological hermeneutic which will be applied to Scripture
2. Re-read the Bible in order to understand the nature of God's mission in Scripture
3. Allow biblical understanding and mission practice to influence one another
4. Develop practical mission applications based on biblical theology of mission

COURSE FORMAT :

The course uses recorded lectures, a detailed independent study guide, and readings. It is designed to be completed in an 11-week period while allowing for flexibility in the student’s schedule.

REQUIRED READING:

• The Bible (Ten different books of the Bible are to be read. Minimum: 50 chapters, equivalent to 50 pages.)
  Students will read 5 chapters each from the Pentateuch, Historical Writings, Poetic Literature, Major Prophets, Minor Prophets, Gospels, Acts, Pauline Literature, General Epistles and Revelation for a total of 50 chapters.
• Glasser, Arthur, Charles Van Engen, Dean Gilliland and Shawn Redford, Announcing the Kingdom. G.R.:Baker, 2003.
• Four Required Texts to be read in this order:
  Briscoe, Jill. Jonah and the Worm. New Berlin, WI: Jilcoe/Hemp, 1983.
  Kaiser, Walter C. Mission in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2000.
  Montgomery, Helen. The Bible and Mission (Chapters 1&2). (Will be available electronically or in class.)
  Newbigin, Lesslie. Open Secret. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1978.
• Choose either Wright or choose both Nissen and Van Engen (MT620 studends choose all three):
  Nissen, Johannes. New Testament and Mission. New York, Peter Lang, 1999.
  And Van Engen, Gilliland, and Pierson, eds. The Good News of the Kingdom. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1993 / Wipf & Stock, 2001.
  Or Wright, Christopher. The Mission of God : Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2003.
• Required (and Supplemental) Readings are for the students’ own self-study, enrichment, and resourcing – particularly to help students prepare for writing the paper, and for greater understanding of the course material.

RECOMMENDED READING:

• Bright, John. The Kingdom of God. Nashville: Abingdon, 1953
• De Ridder, Richard. Discipling the Nations. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1971.
• Gallagher, Robert L. and Paul Hertig, eds. Mission in Acts. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004.
• Kraybill, Donald B. The Upside Down Kingdom. Scottsdale: Herald, 1990.
• Ladd, George, E. The Gospel of the Kingdom. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959.
• Padilla, René. Mission Between the Times. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985.
• Scherer, James. Gospel, Church and Kingdom. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1987.
• Shenk, Wilbert, ed. The Transfiguration of Mission. Scottsdale: Herald, 1993.

ASSIGNMENTS:

• Log of required reading
• A summary paragraph for each book of the Bible read, describing the mission of God as depicted in that book.
• Six Book Reviews (If Wright’s The Mission of God is chosen, it counts double) (MT620 students will do eight book reviews) following the instructions given in the syllabus and in class: one report for each of the books read.
• One 3750-word (minimum) to 5000-word (maximum) typed, double-spaced paper (MT620 students will do a 5000 to 6250 word paper) tracing a biblical theme of missiological significance through the Old and New Testaments, examining at least 2 and at most 3 passages selected from each Testament. The theme will be selected by the student and related to the student’s pilgrimage in ministry and to the mission of the people of God touching the nations. The paper must show extensive interaction with the books read, should develop the missiological meaning of the theme chosen, and demonstrate the missiological implications for ministry in the student’s particular context.

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM : Fulfills the following requirements: CSCC, ISCC, and MIN8.

FINAL EXAM: No

Updated August 2007