MISSIOLOGY
VI. History of Missions
5A. Early Church
Many early Christians were persecuted under Roman rule. But the
faith and witness of these Christians so impressed the Romans that in A.D. 325,
the Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea and made Christianity the religion
of the State6. Missionaries today can learn from the example of the early Christians
who were persecuted. Faithfulness even in times of persecution results in
church growth.
B. Roman Catholic Church
At some point in the early history of the church, the church
became organized as the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics and Protestants
disagree regarding the beginning date for the Catholic Church. Catholics hold
that the line of bishops overseeing the Catholic Church can be traced to the
Apostle Peter. Protestants oppose that view, and claim that the church was
placed under the authority of Roman Catholic Popes much later. These opposing
claims are addressed in more detail on the website below. At the website, see
“The Complete Listing of Popes” and “The Papacy: Its History, Dogmas, Genius,
and Prospects.”
http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/catholic.htm
The Catholic Church was the one official Church until the Eastern
Orthodox Church split from the Catholic Church in A.D. 1054. Tension within the
Catholic Church culminated with the filioque controversy (see “Nicene Creed” in
the training module “Theology”), resulting in the split.
According to Ralph Winter, the Roman Catholic Church officially
did little from A. D. 400 to 1200 to promote missions. However, informal
missionary efforts,notably Irish evangelists and their Anglo-Saxon followers,
spread the Gospel throughout Europe. Monks established mission compounds that
played a key role in keeping the Christian faith alive during times of warfare.
Conquering tribes,
first the Barbarians and later the Vikings, swept across Europe
and were converted to Christianity by their captive population. During this
war, Alfred the Great, King of Wessex (a small kingdom that in the southern and
southwestern portion of what is now England), allowed worship in the
Anglo-Saxon language of the local people. Changing worship from a foreign
language (Latin) to the language of the local culture promoted mission efforts.
7 Winter writes that from A.D. 1200 to 1600, two mission efforts
stand out. First, the Crusades, led by descendants of the Vikings, were an
attempt to capture the Holy Land of Palestine by military force from the Muslim
rulers. This was disastrous both for Christians and Muslims
C. Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church is a compilation of churches in
eastern countries.The Eastern Orthodox Churches are the predominant Christian
Churches in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia,
Moldova, Romania,Russia, Ukraine, and Serbia. To see the number of adherents of
the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and Protestant
Churches, go to the following website:http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Christianity
D. Protestant Churches
Ralph Winter describes three eras in Protestant missions. The
first era was from 1792-1910, in which missions were conducted on the
coastlands of Africa and Asia and islands of the Pacific. The second era was
from 1865-1980 in which missions were conducted in the inland areas in a
thousand areas of the world. The third era began in 1934, and is focused on
reaching the unreached peoples of the world. There are some 10,000 people
groups in the world.Unreached peoples differ so dramatically in ethnicity,
language, or sociological traits from cultures in existing churches that
missions efforts are needed to reach them.10 Churches may be planted throughout
a country, and yet fail to reach certain peoples. Existing churches in an area
may be reaching the poor, and failing to reach the rich. Existing churches may
include people of one dialect, and excluding people of another dialect.
Existing churches may include one tribe, and exclude a tribe that has a history
of animosity toward the first tribe.Winter writes that prior to 1792,
Protestant missions were negligible. Since then,four men played key roles in
advancing Protestant missions outreach. First,William Carey, an Englishman in
his twenties, wrote “An Enquiry Into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means
for the Conversion of the Heathens.” This analysis, published in 1792, inspired
a few of Carey’s friends to join with him in forming a tiny mission
organization that later became known as the Baptist Mission Society. Carey then
had the financial means to serve as a missionary near Calcutta, India. His
little book quickly inspired others to form mission societies in London,
Scotland, Holland, England, and the United States. Protestants learned from
Carey that mission organizations are necessary to accomplish the Great Commission.
Just as Catholic Missions during Medieval times were accomplished primarily not
by local parishes, but by monastic orders, so Protestant mission
groups, rather than local churches, became the primary means of
international missions. Both local churches and international mission
organizations are necessary to accomplish the work of the Christian Church. 11Seco.nd,
Hudson Taylor, another Englishman in his twenties, founded China Inland Mission
in 1865. He served as a missionary to China and encouraged others to form
mission organizations. As a result of his influence, over 40 new faith mission
organizations were started. Taylor was responsible for initiating the second
era of Protestant Missions—inland missions.
12. Third, Cameron Townsend, missionary to Guatemala, was
impressed with the need for Bibles in the languages of peoples of the world.
Forming Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1942, Townsend was able to produce Bibles
in the languages of many frontier tribes.
13.Fourth, Donald McGavran, missionary to India beginning in 1923,
wrote about overcoming social barriers to the Gospel. McGavran discovered
“homogeneous units” of people, which today are known as “people groups
14.” McGavran founded the Fuller School of World Mission at Fuller
Theological Seminary.
15.Students played an important role in missions of the nineteen
and twentieth centuries. Inspired by
William Carey’s writings, five American college students met in 1806 for what
became known as the “Haystack Prayer Meeting.” From this grew a mission
organization—the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions. In the
1880’s and 1890’s, the Student Volunteer MovementFor Foreign Missions produced
20,000 international missionaries, and 80,000 volunteers in missions at home.
16.Women often have led in mission organizations. By 1865,
unmarried American women organized to send out single women as Protestant
missionaries.
17. The largest Protestant mission organization for women in the
world was formed in 1888 as the Women’s Missionary Union, Auxiliary to Southern
Baptist Convention.
18 The Women’s Missionary Union encouraged both men and women to
serve as missionaries. Lottie Moon was a prominent Southern Baptist missionary,
who gave her life to missionary work in China. Moon began the work in China in
1873, and spent 41 years on the field. She shared her food with the Chinese,
and eventually died of hunger related causes.
(For details and for free
course visit <www.missionstraining.org>)
