The Gospel in Human Contexts: Anthropological Explorations for Contemporary Missions

by Paul Hiebert

Publisher:

Baker

, 2009

Overview

While the gospel is timeless truth, it enters into ever-changing and widely varied human contexts. The missionary who desires to meaningfully communicate the gospel to particular humans needs to understand people and the particular influences--social, cultural, psychological, and ecological--that shape them. Further, we must understand ourselves and the influences that have shaped us, since our own contexts influence how we understand and transmit the gospel message. Therefore, we must master not only the skill of biblical exegesis but also the skill of human exegesis. That task is the topic of this book, the summation of a lifetime of experience and thinking by a world-renowned missiologist and anthropologist, the late Paul Hiebert.As he develops what he terms a "missional theology," Hiebert discusses differing views of contextualization, social identity and how we view "others," developments in anthropological thinking through the years, and the impact of postmodernism and globalization. Seeking to equip the reader for the task of human exegesis, he introduces a systems approach to the task of understanding cultural contexts, discusses practical and helpful research methods, and proposes the paradigm of mission as cultural mediation. Here is valuable insight for students preparing for the mission field.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The task of the mission theologian is to translate and communicate the gospel in the language and culture of real people in the particularities of their lives so that it may transform them, their societies, and their cultures into what God intends for them to be. Missional theology seeks to build the bridge between biblical revelation and human contexts. It seeks to remove the gap between orthodoxy and orthopraxy,^[12] between truth, love, and holiness.” (Page 45)

“A second fact is that a growing number of missionaries are inbetweeners who stand between different worlds, seeking to build bridges of understanding, mediate relationships, and negotiate partnerships in ministry.” (Page 179)

“The heart of missions has always been—and remains—the task of bridging the gulf between the gospel and the world.” (Page 179)

“The growing awareness of anthropological insight into human contexts has led in missions to a growing awareness of the importance of radically contextualizing the gospel in other cultures to make it comprehensible and to allow people to become followers of Jesus Christ more easily.” (Page 24)

“Contextualization is an important and valuable process, necessary to the communication of the gospel. But culturally, contextualized Christianity is always a reflection of a much deeper universal reality.” (Page 26)

Product Details

• Title: The Gospel in Human Contexts: Anthropological Explorations for Contemporary Missions
• Author: Paul Hiebert
• Publisher: Baker
• Print Publication Date: 2009
• Logos Release Date: 2021
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Missions › Anthropological aspects; Missions › Theory; Textbooks
• ISBNs: 9781493420339, 9781441211316, 9780801036811, 149342033X, 1441211314, 080103681X
• Resource ID: LLS:WS_254756A7A0184E949B1A329552B73607
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T04:04:08Z

About Paul Hiebert

Paul G. Hiebert (1932–2007) was distinguished professor of mission and anthropology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and previously taught at Fuller Theological Seminary. He also served as a pastor and missionary to India. He received his PhD from the University of Minnesota and was the author or coauthor of numerous articles and books in the fields of anthropology and missions.