Christianity, Mission, and the Expansion of the Church

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course will study the missionary activity of the Church, both historically and theologically. After a brief look at mission and evangelization in the New Testament and the early Church and medieval Church, we will then explore important moments of missionary contact in the Americas, Africa, and Asia in the modern (post-Columbian) period, many of which were initiated by European missionaries. Particular attention will be given to the operative theologies and practices of mission at work in such encounters, as well as to the practical effects of missionary activity. The course will conclude with a look at contemporary missionary practice and theory. The coming of Christianity to most of the world has often overlapped with the political, economic, and social processes associated with the term colonialism and related forms of intercultural contact, again with European nations and missionary bodies playing a central role. We will study the consequences of that overlap, along with the many theological issues raised, especially for Christians in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, with a particular interest this summer in the historical role of German colonialism and missionary activity in the formation of global Christianity.