The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission.The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission. By M. Thomas Thangaraj. Nashville: Abingdon, 1999. 167 pages. Paper. $22.65. In mission theology, missio Dei Missio Dei is a Latin theological term that can be translated as the "sending of God." is understood as being derived from the very nature of God. The missionary initiative comes from God alone. dominates, with many theologians arguing that mission is ultimately God's and that the church's experience should be patterned on God's will Noun 1. God's Will - the omnipotence of a divine being omnipotence - the state of being omnipotent; having unlimited power . Missio Dei begins with God's action. Thangaraj challenges this understanding with his creative proposal of a missio humanitas, arguing that a genuine dialogue with those from other traditions best proceeds from appreciation of a common humanity. The particularities of tradition--theism, Christocentrism, trinitarianism, incarnation, emphasis on revelation in scripture, etc.--can follow only after participants recognize a common humanity. The "new starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point terminus a quo commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the " of missio humanitas is built on responsibility, solidarity, and mutuality. Thangaraj sees the missio humanitas as creating a space in which participants can eventually develop a "specifically Christian theological interpretation" (p. 61). He develops a vision of the sending church, of issues in mission, of ways to read history, and of how to interpret the Bible. The final chapter, "Motivating for Mission," seeks to take congregations beyond the extremes of excessive guilt and overeager o·ver·ea·ger adj. Excessively eager; too ardent or impatient. o  ver·ea "hit-and-run evangelism" and toward a deeper engagement. The greatest strength of this work is its capacity to bring together divergent streams of mission. Thangaraj chooses a wide range of conversation partners from modern missiology Missiology, or mission science, is the area of practical theology which investigates the mandate, message and work of the Christian missionary. Missiology is a multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural reflexion on all aspects of the propagation of the Christian faith, embracing , systematic theology, liberation theology, and a variety of contextual theologies. A danger in many mission studies is a clique (mathematics) clique - A maximal totally connected subgraph. Given a graph with nodes N, a clique C is a subset of N where every node in C is directly connected to every other node in C (i.e. C is totally connected), and C contains all such nodes (C is maximal). mentality that comes from working only with those with whom one agrees. Thangaraj clearly is willing to cull cull the act of culling. Called also cast. the best from many sources and to see value in their approaches. By weaving in historical examples--from the 1910 Edinburgh Conference to his own pluralistic Atlanta--Thangaraj shows how his interest in mission is profoundly connected to the challenges and opportunities that our changed society offers. Jonathan Seitz Princeton Seminary |
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