Mission in the New Testament: An Evangelical Approach (American Society of Missiology Series) epub download

"Mission in the New Testament" is not an inspirational read to make you feel warm and fuzzy. But it could be foundational to your understanding of God's view of mission, and the true identities of His missionaries (sent ones). Larkin and Williams have compiled several essays from different theologians (mostly affiliated with Columbia Seminary) to examine the New Testament book by book.

In a nutshell, this book takes you on a thorough overview of the New Testament, studying it through the lens of what it has to say about God's definition of missions and the role of missionaries. Missionaries are more than just zealous tract-distributers--they are teachers of all things about the Kingdom (Matthew), sufferers who follow Christ in obedience (Mark), compassionate workers who address social needs in addition to spiritual (Luke), sent ones after the model of Christ (John), and sojourners from another world (1 Peter), for instance.

The book is slightly disjointed because of the many different contributers, but this also gives it variety and perspective. The work emphasises scholarship more than application, so as you read you must ask God to help you discover appliations beyond theology. But theologically, it will provide a firm grasp on God's own definition of mission, as found in the New Testament.

The book is very readable, not complicated, quite simple. A great help to understand the challenges missionaries must face today.

Larkin's book is easy to read and goes through the Gospels systematically and at missiology as a whole. It changes the reader's understanding of God's mission, as has been demonstrated through human history, in particular during Jesus' ministry time on life.

This book presents a comprehensive articulation of New Testament teachings on mission from a contemporary evangelical standpoint. Its stance emphasizes mission as sending rather than mission as task - not that it excludes task. The task is viewed mainly in terms of the evangelistic mandate rather than from a more biblically holistic point of view. It contributes a fresh statement of the biblical foundations of mission, serving as a catalyst for the completion of the church's universal mission in this generation.
After investigating the historical background of the idea of mission (as sending by God) in the Hebrew Scriptures, the inter-testamental Judaism, the life of Jesus and the beginnings of the church, the book proceeds in a roughly canonical order through the NT. Essays analyze the works of Paul, the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, the General Epistles and Revelation. Well versed in the historical-critical hermeneutic, editors and contributors alike offer a cogent argument for recovering the "missional horizon" of the NT. The contributors are from the faculty of Columbia International University.
Part I
Chapter I Mission in the Old Testament by Ferris McDaniel takes his jumping off point the word/theme "send" -- a deliberate choice by the editors/writers and to my mind puts the book on the wrong foot. "Sending" is an aspect of mission, but what theology of mission needs to focus on is the task. Why does God send? Nevertheless, it is an interesting and helpful study, yet even the "sending" theme in the OT is closely tied to the prophetic ministry and this paper is weak in respect of the prophetic message in relation to the covenant and calling of the covenant people back to faithful relationship and witness.
Chapter II Mission in Intertestamental Judaism by Cliff Bedell is hard-pressed to draw this "sending theme" out in the inter-testamental period and emphasizes passive witness as opposed to intentional mission.
Chapter III Mission in Jesus' Teaching by John Harvey rightly focuses on the Kingdom
Chapter IV Mission in the Early Church by David Seemuth emphasizes the cultural milieu. He could have made more precise application to OUR cultural milieu
Part II
Chapter V Mission in Paul's Epistles: Genesis, Pattern, and Dynamics by Don Howell picks up the theme of "apostolic mission" and Paul's Gospel theme of faith that results in obedience. Picks up on the tension in Paul's apostolic ministry of pioneering versus pastoral ministry Picks up on role of Holy Spirit (Echoes of Roland Allen). Picks up on Teamwork.
Chapter VI Mission in Paul's Espitles: Theological Bearings by Don Howell -- (echoes of Gilliland's now out-of-date classic "Pauline Theology and Mission Practice"). Expounds Romans as a missionary treatise in the context of apostolic mission. These two chapters by Howell are worth the book.
Part III
Chapter VII Mission in Matthew by John Harvey expounds eschatological mission - towards consummation of the messianic kingdom. He misses some key points brought out by Bosch in his "Transforming Mission" chapter 2 and Senior and Stuhlmueller in their "Biblical Foundations of Missions" which should be read for more on Mission in Matthew.
Chapter VIII Mission in Mark by Joel Williams on the theme of mission in a hostile world. Picks up on the suffering/cross theme. A pertinent study addressing a missing element in mission teaching today.
Chapter IX Mission in Luke by William Larkin got off to a wrong start. His theme is "Salvation Accomplished" but he does little to define "salvation" in Luke. He got caught up in the sending theme and didn't get to grips with what is the Gospel that is preached to the poor etc etc. This chapter left me most dissatisfied of all.
Chapter X Mission in Acts by William Larkin Again, despite having excellent insights, the basic issue of what is the Gospel is left ill-defined, and ill examined.
Part IV
Chapter XI Mission in the General Epistles by Andreas Kostenbergerdeals with lifesyle witness as resident aliens in a hostile world. Witness is perseverance in the faith in the face of adversity -- active, even if sometimes non-verbal. The first part of the paper struggles with the "sending" paradigm that the book has basically followed. But this is a valid contribution to understanding theology of mission in the NT and particularly the importance of suffering - relevant and significant in today's world.
Chapter XII Mission in John's Gospel and Letters by Martin Erdmann The theme of sending is strong in this Gospel. Again, the context is a hostile world. The sender and His purpose are emphasized. The ultimate objective is to bring glory to God, says Erdmann, but what is meant by "glory" in this epistle? Erdmann also seems to miss the importance of the OT allusions in this Gospel. He picks up on the continuity with Jesus in the sending of the disciples and (typically) refers to Jesus' sending as the "model" - yet in what way is Jesus the sending model? Usually it is in the "contextualizing incarnational" aspect, but in John's Gospel the point is that just as Christ was sent to a hostile world, so are his disciples! There is a non-identificational aspect of the incarnation that also needs to be emphasized.We also need to notice the nature of the hostility and the pre-requisites and provisions for the disciples in facing this costly mission (eg in the High Priestly prayer).
Chapter XIII Mission in Revelation by Johnny Miller An orthodox upbeat look at Revelation as the culmination of mission under three main headings: the cosmic Christ, the conflict of the ages, and the consummation of the ages.
The Conclusion by Joel Williams deals with God's initiative and centrality in mission - it is God's mission; the priority of proclamation in mission - the primary task is to announce the message of the kingdom; and finally the reality of resistance to mission.
This is a must-read kind of book for those involved in mission, for mission leaders and for missions-minded pastors. While there is a cohesion to the whole book, the papers generally stand alone and can be read separately. There is both instruction and inspiration in this collection of papers.