Since the late 1800s, it has been common in Christian mission circles to have slogans or rallying cries around "finishing the task" or "fulfilling the Great Commission." Whether it be "this generation" or "2000 AD" I have never liked the slogans. For one, they have often been used to promote one-sided missions (evangelism rather than …
Category: theology of missions.
My “Best” Posts Over the Years
I decided to embrace a bit of curiosity and figure out what posts of mine were the most popular (best?) for each year this website has been in existence. It just hit 15 years. In terms of calendar years, then, I have posts from 2010 to 2025 2025Inculturation, Enculturation, Acculturation, and Morehttps://munsonmissions.org/2025/02/06/inculturation-enculturation-and-acculturation/2024Sermon: “Every Christian is …
Integral or Holistic Ministry
I have written on Holistic or Integral Ministry or Missions before. I prefer the term "Holistic" but there are many who prefer the term "Integral" and I suppose that is fine. I used to be an engineer so perhaps my dislike for the term "integral" relates to its use in calculus. Anyway, I have often …
Eschatology and Christian Missions. Is it a Healthy Relationship? Part 2
In the previous post, I suggested that while Evangelical Christian Missions is often guided by Eschatology (the theological study of last things), it is often guided poorly. In fact, I would suggest that often it is guided by personal preferences and then justified (poorly) using poor eschatology. One of the most egregious, in my mind, …
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Eschatology and Christian Missions. Is it a Healthy Relationship? Part 1
I feel like I should dust off one of my Missiology books before writing this one… but I won’t. The thing is that Christian Missions as it is commonly identified today (at least the Evangelical Protestant flavor that predominates) sees Christian missions driven by Eschatology. Estchatology is the study of future or last things. In …
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What Four Characteristics of Missions Would I Want to Share If People Actually Read What I Write?
The title above is not some sort of passive-aggressive complaint about the number of "clicks" on my website. Actually, it is very much the opposite. Although my views here are teeny compared to what so many get on Youtube, X, Tiktok, or whatever, I have been pretty excited by my dozens of views per day …
Thinking About Hans Frei’s Five Types of Theology
I was reading an article (chapter) by Kang-San Tan, "Hans Frei's Typology of Theology for Religious Encounters in Asian Contexts." It is in the book, Asian Christian Theology: Evangelical Perspectives, edited by Timoteo Gener and Stephen Pardue. As I was reading the five types of theology, it occurred to me that it sort of fit …
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Christian Faith as Fulfilment
Two common understandings regarding salvation are Exclusivism and Pluralism. Christian Exclusivism can be pictured as "One path alone takes us to God. All others take is elsewhere." Pluralism can be pictured as "Many, and perhaps even all, paths potentially take us to God." These are not all of the options, but they are the most …
Intheologization?
I was reading an article by Christina Zaker entitled "Parable as a Lens for Theological Reflection." It is a good article and notes that despite the importance many people place on Theological Reflection, many people (especially students in the context of the article) often are disappointed in the process. She suggests the use of parables …
Is There More Than One Type of Contextual Theologian
Maybe I am a bit slow on things... but in the past I thought of Contextual Theology in very simple terms. Since I agree with Bevans and Vaughn and others that "All Theology is Contextual" I would argue that there are two types of Contextual Theology --- Good Contextual Theology and Bad Contextual Theology. This …
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