Making Room for the Missio Dei in Missiological Research

Bibliographic Data

ID11296152
AuthorsLynne Taylor (0000-0002-4197-8799, University of Otago Dunedin New Zealand, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume37
Issue1
Pages52-77
Publication date2020-05-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMission Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0168-9789 • E-ISSN: 1573-3831
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/15733831-12341696
OpenAlexW3030983119
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited16

The phrase missio Dei represents a significant advance in contemporary missiology: recognizing that God’s agency and impulse precedes and lies behind human engagement in mission. While missiological research can help Christians discover how God is at work in the world, in order to become involved in the missio Dei, missiology generally borrows its methodology from the social sciences, which focus on human processes: potentially desacralizing faith and discounting the agency of God. This article explores how critical realism offers an ontological framework within which to explore the missio Dei. It further shows that grounded theory provides a rigorous methodology for areas of study that have previously not sought to discern God’s agency. Finally, the article provides an example of research attentive to the missio Dei: exploring why previously secular (unchurched) Australians are becoming Christians today

Agency (philosophy · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Faith · History of religions · Missiology · Social science · Sociology · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Christian Theology and Mission · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies

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