Bosch was a giant within the field of Missiology. He stayed true to his calling to be an agent of change as a “sheep among wolves” in apartheid era South Africa. His background in New Testament theology brought an insightful perspective to his missiology. There is an engagingly generous ecumenism to his thinking, which has allowed his work to be accepted across denominational and theological borders. This integrity of mission, personality and academic rigour is displayed throughout “Transforming Mission.”
Bosch developed his missiology in response to what he perceived to be a crisis which affected “the entire Church, indeed the entire world.” The particular problems which face the mission of the Church are as a result of a rapidly changing world, particularly in the missionary sending countries of the West. Within society there is a plurality of beliefs, all demanding equal acceptance. There are great challenges to Christianity claiming to be superior, particularly in the light of historical exploitation of the developing world.
In response to these issues Bosch developed the paradigm theory of mission. He used this to frame his understanding of the history of Church mission, and his response to the challenges facing the Church today. In this, Bosch drew heavily from Kung, whobuilt on the work of Kuhn. Kung claimed that the history of Christianity could be divided into six epochs, which held their own particular view of the role that the Church held within society. Bosch took these epochs and approached them from a missional perspective.
Below are the paradigms that Kung describes:
The apocalyptic paradigm of early Christianity
The Hellenistic paradigm of the patristics period
The medieval Roman Catholic period
The protestant (Reformation) paradigm
The modern Enlightenment paradigm
The emerging ecumenical paradigm
Kung desires to see Postmodern history “strive to be what can only be hinted at here: not just a history of events with an accumulation of mere facts, but a history of structures, modes of thought and mentalities, in others words a history of ideas and mentalities, a social history.” Kung draws on Kuhn’s scientific approach to paradigm shifts to allow this social history of Christianity to be explored. Kuhn’s development that particularly interested Kung was the paradigm shift of the science wars. Grenz summarises that Kuhn:
argues that foundational shifts in theory are not simply logical modifications or reinterpretations of past knowledge. Nor do scientist simply add one fact to another in a mechanist, objective sort of way. Rather, science is a dynamic historical phenomenon. Shifts in theory come as radical transformations in the way scientists view the world. Scientists lurch ahead from time to time in sudden creative bursts that Kuhn calls paradigm shifts.
Bosch saw a more nuanced paradigm shift within mission. In the science wars, what is under attack is utterly rejected as untrue. Rather than annihilation of the old ideas, Bosch saw that a paradigm shift in the Church meant a synergy of new ideas and old.
The Claim That We Are Entering A New Paradigm
Bosch asserted that the issues facing the Church in contemporary society are unique and encouraged that we recognise an emerging paradigm of mission for the whole Church. The challenges to the mission of the Church in Bosch’s theory include the progress of technology, the emergence of a global community, the threat of global war and the potential consequences of the exploitation of our planet’s resources. In accepting the reality of this new paradigm we are to recognise that the Church requires a fresh understanding of the source of mission- the Missio Dei. Bosch suggested that “In the emerging ecclesiology, the Church is seen as essentially missionary.” Rather than have mission being treated as an enterprise of the Western Church the perspective has gradually shifted to recognising God’s Church of mission. The goals of the mission have also changed. Rather than seeking to extend Christendom, mission within the Missio Dei encourages local theologies, which communicate effectively with the culture that they are born into.
In the paradigm shift that Bosch proposed that mission is no longer a matter of “alien cultural domination” but a matter of planting the gospel within a context. Along with the mission of salvation there is the mission of justice in a recognition of the “two different mandates” of the Church. Firstly the salvation of the individual, through evangelism. Secondly the recognition that sin can be “both personal and structural.” These structural problems, that affect societies and those who live in them, are also to be recognised within the broken body of the Church and ecuminism is seen to be encouraged within the new paradigm. The ecuminical movement offers the opportunity to end the “situation where instead of witnessing to people who are not Christians, one witnesses against Christians whose priorities differ from one’s own.” The body working together, despite it’s differences, can focus on it’s true purpose- partnership in the mission of God.
Criticisms In Response To The Emerging Paradigm
One of the key problems with Postmodernity it that is extremely difficult to define. Partly this is because postmoderns have, as Macintyre finds,” learned to understand themselves not in terms of their social backgrounds, relationships, or commitments, but in isolation from all of these.” It is difficult to define because individualism rejects the absolute authority of structures rather than primarily seeking to replace them.
Macintyre would suggest that we have entered an era of Emotivism, where “I feel” has trumped “I accept.” MacIntyre asserts then that not only belief, but reason, has been abandoned as “all evaluations are equally non rational, all are subjective directions given to sentiment and feeling.” This life without tradition can be empty and meaningless. Bosch would seem to support this, stating that " freedom to believe in whatever one chooses has ended in no belief at all.” John Drane see this resulting in the breakdown of marriage and the lack of respect for structures. Callinicos criticises the eclecticism of Postmodernism that Lyotard discussed as being a luxury of a prosperous new middle class. It seems clear that criticising the emerging paradigm hardly denies it’s existence. Eagleton states that “what is under Postmodern fire, however, is perhaps less the notion of some practical ranking of priorities than the assumption that such priorities are eternal and immutable.” Whether or not one desires to defend virtue, tradition, Marxism, liberalism or the Enlightenment, one must accept that these ideas, and any metanarrative associated with them, are under attack.
Agreement With Bosch From Within The Church
It is clear however that the Church, in it’s various major denominations, recognises that the issues which face the world today require a change in the missional paradigm. In his exploration of the common beliefs of global Christianity, Rowan Williams suggests that “for many people in the 1970’s and 1980’s it was surprising to realise what the story of the Exodus, for example, meant to people in deprived communities in Latin America.” The new era of global communication allows for a global Church where we ”read together, we hear together.”
The death of colonialism, and the use of technology for communication with, rather than exploitation of, the developing world has brought a richness to the missional and theological field. The World Council For Churches seeks to develop opportunities for reconciliation and dialogue as a central part of it’s mission. It is clear that dialogue has become a focus for the Church, in a way that is analogous to the pedagogical relationship Christendom had with the world during modernity. We communicate with the world, and other faiths. We talk, and listen, placing equal importance on each.
The Fresh Expressions movement within the Anglican community “seeks to transform communities and individuals through championing and resourcing new ways of being Church.” Within this statement we can see that the Anglican Communion has taken on the need to have a dual mandate- to communities and individuals. Indeed the Anglican communion has deemed it necessary to examine it’s motives for mission, as it’s Five Marks Of Mission clearly show.
Criticism Of Bosch’s Model From Within The Church
The inculturation of Christianity has met with resistance from within the Church. Hauerwas would hold that liturgical practice is the specific method of discernment for the Church. He believes that the key practices of the Church have changed very little, if any, in the paradigms that Bosch would describe. Always the Christian Church has baptised, shared in the bread and wine and read scripture. These are unique attributes of the Church, which inform it’s language and ethics. They are not to be translated into context, as learning how to describe and interpret them is part of what it means to become a disciple of Christ. In response to the Fresh Expression movement Davison and Millbank suggest that “Not only does Fresh Expressions ignore the liturgical, but also it is quite unclear as to how its practices embody an ethical programme, and a mode of Christian living.”
Bosch has also been criticised for ignoring the “two segments of global Christianity that have been least affected by the Enlightenment- the Orthodox and the Pentecostal.” The Pentecostal Church in particular has been the fastest growing expression of Christian faith in the 20th Century, and a powerful force in the development of the Church in the developing world. It has done so through an ability to blend in with existing culture and being flexible in practice. Bosch however is mainly concerned with the western Church, helping it to deal with it’s problems faced within cultures that experienced the Enlightenment.
Why Is The Enlightenment Being Rejected
Bosch makes the point that the Enlightenment held a subject object relationship with its environment that was key to progress. Thus man, through rational discourse and observation, could ascend beyond the need to be ruled. Therefore, the movement towards a technological utopia, where man creates his own perfect reality, is central to the aspirations of the Enlightenment.
Bosch asserted that instead of liberating humans, the industrial revolution had enslaved them. He suggested that “First the machine replaced the human slave, then humans were turned into slaves of the machine. Production became the highest goal of being human, resulting in humans having to worship at the altar of the autonomy of technology.” Bauman suggests that the industrialised world can be likened to the factory. there are two types of lorry that leave the facility- one taking goods to be distributed, the other the waste to be destroyed. As technology progresses, becoming more efficient, less labour is required so the cost of efficiency is the obsolescence of human interaction. Man is not being freed from a life of labour. He is being discarded to the waste management site of the benefits system or the prison.
Indeed, a key success of the industrial revolution has been the globalisation of war. The factory can be seen as the powerhouse of conflict. As it has become more efficient we have become killing in greater numbers and vast distance. In the modern world of conflict then the factory exit is the road of the refugee.
I intend to make the point that the Enlightenment failed, or became utterly unacceptable, when the march of progress led to the management meeting of the Wannsee conference. Bauman explores the perspective that Auschwitz was a demonstration of "the industrial potential and technological know-how boasted by our civilisation,” which “has scaled new heights in coping successfully with a task of unprecedented magnitude."
The endeavour of Hitler to remove the contrast "between our historical past and the hopelessness of our present impotence” resulted in a strategy of progress which was characterised by the Lebensraum. This confidence in Germany’s right to progress resulted in the rational, intellectual decision to administer the final solution at the Wannsee Conference. The Holocaust is the monstrous result of the Enlightenments success in tearing theology, morality and ethics from cold, empirical reason. Darwinism, freed from all fetters, allowed for a world where “those who survived were obviously the best fitted to survive.” The Holocaust is rationally justified by those who perpetrated it. There is no reasoning with it. It objectifies human life as easily as it objectifies a unit of production. Stanley Hauerwas finds that "For me it simply continues to stand there starkly as sheer horror. The horror lies not just in the massive number of those murdered, but in the systematic and effective attempt of the nazis to rob those deaths of all meaning."
Bauman responds to this horror by taking a sociological perspective that see the Holocaust not as abomination, but as an expression of Enlightenment ideals. "The holocaust was born and executed in our modern rational society, at the high stage of our civilisation and at the peak of human cultural achievement, and for this reason it is a problem of that society, civilisation and culture."
We cannot hide from the fact that one of Europe’s most enlightened countries carried out the Holocaust. I would suggest that much of the confusion of Postmodernity is due to the rejection of what certainty can make humans do.
Conclusion
The acceptance of the Missio Dei and enculturation across denominations is a paradigm shift within mission. It is clear that the Western Church is engaged in reconfiguring itself to meet the missional needs of a world that is vastly different to the one it had experience of. Therefore I conclude that we have entered an emerging paradigm. I am hesitant to give it the full title of Postmodernity, as I believe that it is emerging rather than complete. Clearly, however, the world is rapidly changing.
The Enlightenment project struggles to survive under the shadow of the conflicts of the 20th century. The Holocaust is a crime that it must accept some responsibility for. Violence was not in itself an Enlightenment development however and Postmodernity sees continuing conflict. The rise of fundamentalist Islam and the popularity of nationalist politics across Europe speaks of people looking for a purpose. I am concerned that the excesses of modernity might be more in danger of repeating themselves than they would have been had liberal politics been maintained. In the past extremist voices would have been confronted by liberal values. The success of the Enlightenment pursuit of the rights of the individual has led to a world where identity politics has replaced liberal politics. We are in danger of living in the world which MacIntyre details- a world without tradition or meaning. Consumerism cannot provide the Telos that humanity needs. The Church can, and should, speak urgently into that need. It must find a voice that is authenticated by the accompanying actions that reflect the Five Marks Of Mission of the Anglican Communion.
I consider the issue of contextualisation as someone who loves the historical, liturgical Church but has had a transformational experience through a Fresh Expression. I find myself accepting Bosch’s call to contextualisation but doing so with the hope that all may come to understand their faith within a sacramental community. It is clear that the Fresh Expression movement has accepted criticism regarding a perceived rejection of the parish system. In return it’s critics should show respect, love and a willingness to reflect upon their desire to reach a world which may not otherwise encounter Christ. Ecuminism is likely to be a key aspect of Church mission in the Postmodern paradigm.
There are reasons for hope within the flux of Postmodernity. This new global community is powered in a technological way that the industrialists never foresaw. Reflecting on Bosch's paradigm theory, I feel that the Church may benefit from losing it’s status, while discovering it’s global family. There are wonderful benefits to having dialogue between denominations, regardless of geography or tradition. The Church will need to shed any sense of entitlement to its position. The Missio Dei speaks to the Church of humility, and we must learn to follow Christ’s example in this. In the Postmodern world there is no place for a sense of entitlement or superiority. This is illustrated in the recent case of Labour MP Emily Thornberry who was disgraced and forced to resign over perceived snobbery. The Missio Dei calls us to be in the world, exploring new ideas with it, being Christ to it. We are not judge it. I suspect that the Missio Dei is best served by taking this opportunity to be one body, all colours, and all nations. A Church serving one Lord in the reality of this emerging paradigm.
Bibliography
Books
Bauckham, Richard. Bible And Mission (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2005)
Bauman, Zygmunt. Modernity And The Holocaust (Cambridge, Polity, 2013)
Bosch, David. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts In The Theology Of Mission (New York, Orbis Books, 2012)
Callinicos, Alex. Against Postmodernism (Cambridge, Polity Press, 1989)
Caputo, John D. What Would Jesus Deconstruct? (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2007)
Grenz, Stanley J. A Primer On Postmodernism (Grand Rapids, Wm. B Eerdmans, 1996)
Grenz, Stanley J. and Franke, John R. Beyond Foundationalism (Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001)
Drane, John. After McDonaldization (London, Darton, Longman and Todd, 2008)
Eagleton, Terry. The Illusions Of Postmodernism (Oxford, Blackwell, 1997)
Hauerwas, S. Against The Nations: War And Survival In A Liberal Society (Notre Dame, University Of Notre Dame Press 1992)
Kung, H. Christianity: It’s Essence And History (Munich, Piper Verlag, 1994)
Lutz, Christopher Stephen. Reading Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue (London, Continuum International, 2012)
Nussbaum, Stan. A Reader’s Guide To Transforming Mission (New York, Orbis Books, 2005)
Paul, Leslie. The Annihilation Of Man (London, Faber and Faber, 1944)
Sweet, Leonard (ed). The Church In Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2003)
Williams, Rowan. Being Christian (London, SPCK, 2014)
Websites
BRIN England Church Attendance Figures 1980-2005
(Accessed 29 November 2014).
The Five Marks Of Mission- The Anglican Communion
(Accessed 25 November 2014).
Fresh Expressions
(Accessed 25 November 2014).
Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary Status Of Global Mission, 2014.
(Accessed 28 November 2014).
The OF Dimension of Fresh Expressions
(Accessed 29 November 2014).
The Times Newspaper article ‘Labour row deepens after MP’s “flag sneer”’.
<http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4275204.ece>
(Accessed 22 November 2014).
The WCC Unity and Mission Today: Voices and Visions from the Margins
(Accessed 25 November 2014).
VIDEO
Address By Zygmunt Bauman on The Road Of Refugee.
Youtube video, Uploaded on 26 May 2011
(Accessed 25 November 2014).
