Mission Foundations and other Essays

S. Nkhoma

Description

The first two essays in this book examine the biblical and philosophical basis for mission in the post-modern world, emphasising the experiential quality of mission over against the rational. Subsequent essays discuss various aspects of mission with a focus on the Malawian context. They highlight the impact of missionary work on the formation, shaping and developments of Malawi as a national state. Other essays examine various issues in New Testament scholarship including images of the Historical Jesus and how these relate to wisdom and apocalyptic traditions.

Chapter 1 Mission in the Postmodern World: A Biblical Foundation Chapter 2 Mission in the Postmodern World: A Philosophical Foundation Chapter 3 Mission Impact: Historical Role of Missions in Malawi Chapter 4 Mission Impact: Landson Mhango, Model for Integrated and Trans-formative Education Chapter 5 Kingdom of God: A Study of Sanders and Crossan Chapter 6 Revealed Wisdom and the Broken Christ: A Literary Study of Markan Soteriology Chapter 7 Toward Understanding "Son of Man" in Mark Chapter 8 "Mystery" in Mark and the Problem of Methodology in Recent Research Chapter 9 Imaging Jesus: Constructions of the Historical Jesus in Recent Research Chapter 10 Mark 13 and the Future of the Church: A Narrative Study Chapter 11 Equality in the Church: A Biblical Perspective on Disability

Chapter 12 Missional Education: TEE in Malawi, Challenges and Opportunities Chapter 13 Religious Education and Civic Responsibility in Malawi: A Historical Perspective Chapter 14 Church and Disability in Malawi: A Social-Cultural and Religious Perspective Chapter 15 Archaeology and the Historical Jesus Chapter 16 Jesus' Missionary Speech as Interpreted in the Patristic Commentaries and the Apocryphal Narratives Bibliography

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Missions
• Christian Ministry
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religión
• Religion in Africa
• Minister (Christianity)
• Missionary

Informations

• Publié par: Mzuni Press
• Date de parution: 09 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789996060731
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Mission Foundations
and other Essays








Copyright 2020 Jonathan S. Nkhoma
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
prior permission from the publishers.
Published by
Mzuni Press
P/Bag 201
Luwinga, Mzuzu 2
Malawi
ISBN 978-99960-60-72-4
eISBN 978-99960-60-73-1
Mzuni Press is represented outside Malawi by:
African Books Collective Oxford (also for e-books)
([e-mail])
www.africanbookscollective.com
www.mzunipress.blogspot.com
Mission Foundations
and other Essays
Biblical and Missiological Studies from
Malawi

Jonathan S. Nkhoma
With Contributions by
François Bovon and Sean Freyne








Mzuni Books no. 39

Mzuzu

2020 _______________________________________________________4

To
Tamandani Adiel Nkhoma Jr.
and
in memory of
Adiel Samuel Kamwendo Nkhoma



_______________________________________________________5

Contents
Chapter 1
Mission in the Postmodern World: A Biblical Foundation 10
Chapter 2
Mission in the Postmodern World: A Philosophical Foundation 35
Chapter 3
Mission Impact: Historical Role of Missions in Malawi 57
Chapter 4
Mission Impact: Landson Mhango, Model for Integrated and
Trans-formative Education 75
Chapter 5
Kingdom of God: A Study of Sanders and Crossan 98
Chapter 6
Revealed Wisdom and the Broken Christ: A Literary Study of
Markan Soteriology 108
Chapter 7
Toward Understanding "Son of Man" in Mark 120
Chapter 8
"Mystery" in Mark and the Problem of Methodology in Recent
Research 128
Chapter 9
Imaging Jesus: Constructions of the Historical Jesus in Recent
Research 156
Chapter 10
Mark 13 and the Future of the Church: A Narrative Study 181
Chapter 11
Equality in the Church: A Biblical Perspective on Disability 188


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Chapter 12
Missional Education: TEE in Malawi, Challenges and Opportunities 202
Chapter 13
Religious Education and Civic Responsibility in Malawi: A Historical
Perspective 212
Chapter 14
Church and Disability in Malawi: A Social-Cultural and Religious
Perspective 233
Chapter 15
Archaeology and the Historical Jesus 259
Chapter 16
Jesus' Missionary Speech as Interpreted in the Patristic
Commentaries and the Apocryphal Narratives 28
Bibliography 302



_______________________________________________________7

Acknowledgements
The author and the publisher are grateful to the following for
permission to use copyright material in part or in full, material that appeared
in earlier publications:
Chapter 3 is a revised and extended version of an encyclopedic entry
published under country section as "Malawi" in Mark A. Lamport (ed),
Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, 2 vols, Blue Ridge
Summit, PA: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018, 2: 477-481.
Chapter 10 was first published as "'Let the Reader Understand': Mark
13, A Narrative Critical Study," in Religion and Culture Issue no. 2 (April
2015): 40-42. It is reprinted here with permission. Copyright:
Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Mzuzu University, 2015.
Chapter 11 was initially published as "Positive Disabled Identity: A
Biblical Perspective," in S. Kabue, J. Amanze, C. Landman (eds), Disability
in Africa, Resource Book for Theology and Religious Studies, Nairobi:
Acton Publishers, 2016, pp. 97-110. It is reprinted with permission.
Copyright: Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, 2016.
Chapter 15 first appeared in James H. Charlesworth (ed), Jesus and
Archaeology, Grand Rapids MI/ Cambridge UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans.,
2006, pp. 64-83. It is reprinted with permission. Copyright: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006.
Chapter 16 was first published in François Bovon, Studies in Early
Christianity, Grand Rapids MI: Baker Academic, 2003, pp. 195-208. It is
reprinted here with permission. Copyright: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck),
2003.



_______________________________________________________8

Preface
The essays in this collection were mostly prepared in the last six years.
This collection presents yet another opportunity to make them easily
accessible to readers by bringing them all into one place. The essays
tackle issues at the cutting edge of research in the study of both New
Testament and Missions. The various insights provided will undoubtedly
stimulate further reflection and research on the issues at hand.
The collection has sixteen essays, some of which appeared in earlier
publications. The first two essays attempt to provide a Biblical and
philosophical basis for Mission as re-defined in these essays. Chapter 3
discusses how Mission has contributed to Malawi as a nation. Chapter
4 examines the contribution of one scholar, a product of Livingstonia
Mission of the Free Church of Scotland, as a model professional and
academic. Chapter 5 takes us to the New Testament and studies the
views of E.P. Sanders and John D. Crossan on the Kingdom of God.
Chapter 6 studies Markan soteriology from the perspective of revealed
wisdom. Chapter 7 revisits the problem of "Son of Man." Chapter 8
attempts to provide meaning for the term "mystery" in Mark, in light of
the compatibility of wisdom and apocalyptic in Jewish traditions.
Chapter 9 examines the impact of stratification theories which are used
to understand Jesus' tradition in the construction of the image of the
historical Jesus. Chapter 10 studies Mark 13 as one of the interpretive
keys to understanding the Markan Gospel. Chapter 11 looks at the issue
of disability from a Biblical perspective. Chapter 12 takes us back to
Mission and looks at TEE as a form of Missional education. Chapter 13
studies how developments in Religious Education have affected civic life
in Malawi. Chapter 14 assesses the role of the Malawian Church – and
other stakeholders- in dealing with issues of disability.
In Chapter 15, Sean Freyne looks at the Jewish background of the
historical Jesus in light of recent archaeological findings. In chapter 16,
François Bovon studies the reception of the Gospel in the early Church
as reflected in some of the New Testament apocryphal writings. Both
Sean Freyne and François Bovon, who are no longer with us, were my
teachers at Harvard, who not only inspired but also challenged my

_______________________________________________________9

thinking in a series of small conversations. To both of them I remain
grateful.
It is hoped that these essays will stimulate further discussion on the
various issues they touch.
Publishing a work of this scope involves many hands. I would therefore
want to thank my Research Assistants: Dorica Dulla, Wezzie
Mkandawire, Chancy Ghambi, Elizabeth Chiumia, Steven
Kam'masamba; and our interns: Gertrude Mulwafu and Hope Kaombe, for the
various roles they played in the processes leading to the publication of
this book. I also want to thank all colleagues in the Department of
Theology and Religious Studies at Mzuzu University for their
encouragement. In a special way I want to thank Professor Klaus Fiedler for both
academic and technical support, tirelessly rendered throughout the life
of this publication project.
Finally, I thank members of my family for creating space when I needed
to work; particularly Tamandani Jr. who constantly called for attention,
a joyful reminder of being a granny! To him and to my father I dedicate
this book.
New Year's Day, 2020, Mzuzu
J.S.N.

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Chapter 1
Mission in the Postmodern World: A Biblical
Foundation
Introduction
In the next chapter, we will look at the philosophical foundations for a
model of mission as a way of life. The present chapter looks at the
biblical foundation for this model. We will argue that the worship life of
Israel in the Old Testament and the Cross life in the New Testament
offer fitting models for such a mission in the postmodern world. The
contention here is that the idea of mission primarily as sending, as
understood in much of the current literature on mission, can no longer
be functional because its assumptions no longer hold in the postmodern
world. For example, the idea of mission as sending assumes that there
are still in existence ethnic groups and geographical places where the
1gospel has "never" been heard. Within this assumption, the
understanding is that in order to "hear" the gospel, it must be "proclaimed."
The present study does not deny the biblical provision for the idea of
sending as an integral part of mission. Rather, the study asserts that
such an understanding of mission is no longer adequate for the
challenges of the postmodern world. The study, therefore, proposes a shift
in our understanding of mission from the idea of mission as sending to
the idea of mission as a way of life so that mission is understood,
primarily, in terms of a life of holiness, a life that radiates God's glory
through holy living, and in terms of a life of the Cross marked by
suffering for the good of others, a life that embodies the idea of
servanthood. In this model, mission is conceptualized as relational,

1 We will show, in the next chapter, how difficult it is to sustain this idea in
the light of postmodern developments and their pervasive character even in
the remotest areas.

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conversational, and experiential in its outreach to the world, a model
that is embracive of "the other" not exclusive.
Before we look at mission as a way of life from a biblical perspective,
we need to discuss whether mission in any sense has a biblical basis.
The Bible clearly mandates the work of mission. It is grounded in God's
creation, God's character and God's covenantal