Reading Response on Missions Essay Example

Reading Response on Missions Essay Example Reading Response on Missions Essay Reading Response on Missions Essay The most effective way to employ the mission strategy is to know the past history of missions in our world. In the reading, R. Pierce Beaver gives the reader a look into the time line of missions throughout history. He starts by telling us of Boniface who was a man that first used an approach that was effective and set the stage for later works. Boniface used an aggressive approach, but in the end won over the locals and taught them how to live creating a civilized society. Beaver next discusses The Crusades. He explains how this war against Muslims left a hatred to the Islamic lands making it almost impossible for missions there. Despite this, the reader learns of two men who went to teach in love; Francis of Cassis and Ramona Lull. Lull, especially, was dedicated to the task of winning over the Muslims and devised a system to answer all opposition to Christianity by the Muslims. Until his death, he begged for an institution that would help train others to reach the Muslims. Beaver moves on to explain missions in Colonial expansion. During this time, Christianity became a worldwide religion in connection with expansion. The Pope told the monarchs to evangelize the people of the lands, found a church, and preserve it. This made mission part of the government itself. The mission strategies of the 17th century were connected to this expansion as well. Manuals of missionary principles and practice described what was needed to be a missionary. Also during this time, colleges and other institutions were put into place to help train those missionaries. The missionaries of the 17th century were the Jesuits. They shared the gospel with the native people by learning their language and customs and formed the gospel around it. The Shogun shut down Christianity and closed Japan to outsiders which sent the Christians underground. Eventually, Japan was reopened two centuries later. During the 19th century, Protestant missions largely made up the time period. Their goal was that of worldwide missions. The Protestants viewed the main objective of missions as Civilizing the locals because they viewed their culture as degenerate. This soon began to change with the help of two theoreticians; Henry Venn and Rufus Anderson. They established the three self formula which stated that the goal of session was to plant and foster the development of churches that will be self- governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. Both men felt that after an area had been function well, the missionary should leave and go to another place to share the new of the gospel. American missions adopted these theories but the British missions resisted them. Also during the 19th century, we begin to see an emergence of missions in education and medicine. Another aspect of this time period was that of comity, which was employed by the Southern Baptists. Comity was put into place to eliminate competition for areas of need in missions. With these new tactics, cooperation was great and led to increasing home base communications. After World War II, missions changed again. Roland Allen wrote that the missionary was to be an instrument of the Holy Spirit. That they should convey the gospel and the simplest statement of faith. The old missions dissolved and made way for what we have today. Missionaries began to take Jobs in the culture and work as the people to religions in the world mission as well.