I have decided to work more on my book on Missions Theology. I had started to work on it four years ago, but then stopped when working on my book on Interreligious Dialogue (See My Books above). But I decided to work again. A few updates:

—The working title has changed. Now, “‘Walking With’ as a Metaphor for Missions Theology“

—As the title suggests, I try to center most of the book at least loosely on this metaphor. Key topics in this area are:

Chapter 3. ‘Walking With’— As Metaphor of Missions. This looks at this term and variations of it as it is used in the Bible, and consider how it may relate to Christian missions.

Chapter 4. “Sent Ahead”— The Great Commissions. This looks at missions in terms of God sending out His people, focusing on several versions of the Great Commission in the Gospels and the Book of Acts.

Chapter 5. “Sent Ahead”— Missionaries in the Bible. This continues the idea of the previous chapter, but more specifically in terms of missionaries (apostles) in the Bible as Sent Out ones.

Chapter 6. “Following Behind”— The Missio Dei. This chapter looks at missions from the opposite perspective. while Chapters 4 and 5 see missions as God sending out His people before Him, this chapter sees missions in terms of God going out on missions, and preparing for His people to follow Him in missions.

Chapter 7. “Staying Behind”— The Theology of “Anti-Missions.” This chapter is a bit self-explanatory. Christianity has vascillated between promoting missions, denigrating missions, and being indifferent to missions. This chapter is on the theologies of those who have opposed Christian missions.

—The biggest topic I am covering outside of this metaphor is evaluating contextualized/local theologies. How might one identify a good contextualization as opposed to a bad one.