Bokpublikation: Missio Dei Beyond Redemption

Polin-institutets tidigare forskningschef (2021-2026) Prof. Mika Vähäkangas (VID, Norge) har tillsammans med Prof. Eugene Baron (University of Johannesburg, Sydafrika) utkommit med boken ”Missio Dei Beyond Redemption. On the (Mis)Use of a Theological Concept” (Brill, 2026).

Citat från Brills webbsida:

Missio Dei has become a favourite term in missiological discussions, both in academic and ecclesiastical contexts. While it originally served a critical function between the World Wars by facilitating the renewal of mission thinking and counteracting colonial mentalities, today it has become a meaningless piece of jargon that can be used to promote almost any missiological perspective. Therefore, the concept is better discarded or reserved solely for critical, deconstructive use.

Table of contents:

1 Introduction

2 The Birth and Boom of the Concept
 2.1 Colonial-Missionary Background of missio Dei
 2.2 The Decline of the West as the Context of missio Dei
 2.3 Post–World War II Developments of missio Dei
 2.4 Vicedom’s missio Dei
 2.5 Missio Dei and Secularising Mission Theology
 2.6 Missio Dei in World Mission Conferences after Willingen
 2.7 Missio Dei beyond the World Council of Churches

3 Missio Dei as an Ecumenical Animal
 3.1 Missio Dei in the Lausanne Movement and the World Council of Churches
 3.2 Ecumenical and Evangelical missio Dei in Comparison

4 Missio Dei as a Chameleon
 4.1 Missio Dei as a Trinitarian Concept
 4.2 Ecclesiocentric missio Dei
 4.3 The Church as Participant in missio Dei
 4.4 The Church as a Function of missio Dei
 4.5 Primacy of Divine or Human Agency?
 4.6 Missio Dei as Liberation
 4.7 Missio Dei as Diakonia
 4.8 Missio Dei as Holistic
 4.9 Missio Dei as Reconciliation
 4.10 Missio Dei to Forge Partnerships
 4.11 Missio Dei and Religious Engagement
 4.12 Missio Dei and Cultural Engagement
 4.13 Missio Dei as Creation Care
 4.14 Missio Dei for Church Doctrine and Identity
 4.15 Missio Dei as Evangelism
 4.16 Missio Dei as Formation and Transformation
 4.17 Missio Dei as Vocation
 4.18 Missio Dei as a Hermeneutical Lens
 4.19 Missio Dei as Ontology
 4.20 The Many Uses of missio Dei

5 Missio Dei as Theological Hybris
 5.1 The Three Functions of missio Dei
 5.2 Missio Trinitatis
 5.3 Missio Dei and Doctrines in an Ecumenical Comparison
 5.4 Missio Dei in Service of Oppression
 5.5 Human Responsibility and Free Will
 5.6 Human Responsibility in missio Dei
 5.7 Totalitarian missio Dei

6 Can missio Dei Be Redeemed?
 6.1 Missio Dei – Theologising from Below?
 6.2 Missio Dei – Theology as a Political and Ethical Act
 6.3 Missio Dei as a Critical Tool of Deconstruction

Bibliography
Index