This book is a foundational study of the church and mission. It is divided in three sections: 1. NT Models of Mission, 2. Historical Paradigms of Mission, and 3.Toward a Relevant Missiology.

Part one examines the NT and asks how it sees the mission of the church to the world. And how the NT itself is a mission document. Bosch explores the perspective of Jesus, Matthew, Luke-Acts, Paul, and the early church.

Part two is a comprehensive history of the Church, with an eye on mission. I found this use More...

Bosch posits that mission has been transforming itself throughout history. Mission in the early church looked different from mission in the Enlightenment and is looking different as we enter the postmodern age. Bosch believed that this transformation was good and needed to be continued because we never have arrived; the way of accomplishing mission can always be improved. On another level, transforming describes the influence mission has on the world around us. An essential element of mission is More...

Ok not a light read but really answers the questions about how Mission and understanding of Mission has changed and is changing. It's best for reading a little here and a little there... especially since I don't have a class that uses this text...

Late DJ Bosch had in this work shown the development,problems and progess of the Christian mission down the ages.He demmonstates with an unparraled insight,his knowledge a d acumen in the areas of missiology and ecumenism.But more importantly is the humility with which he makes his point,reiterating from time to time, the fact of the unfinished study of and development of the Church. One is particularly touched by his adeptness in the history of Christianity and of the various Christian denomina More...

I read this book in seminary and have re-read it for my D.Min studies. I have to commend Bosch for his extensive research, but he could have squeezed 100 pages out of this thing (rather than the 519 that it is). Bosch has some good content here and there, but his writing style is horrible; extremely wordy and dry. There's no denying that this book is a landmark text on the history of the concept of "mission," so it's a shame that it's so inaccessible and nothing that people would sit down and re More...

What's there to say? This is the classic work; the definitive introduction to Missional thinking; the foundation of much that is now happening across the Western church. Read it for the sake of history, if not for your own learning and benefit.

Bosch does an excellent job of illuminating church history through the lense of mission and why it is vital for the church to have a working understanding of both missional theology and praxis.
Though very dense, it is worth a read.

A fundamental work for the understanding of the mission of the Church. Incredible insights into history, cultures, and the Word of God. This is a reference book.

Difficult but really good book. Helped establish my views on mission and the Church. A good follow up book is The Witness of God by John Flett.

Classic. Extremely thorough, wide-ranging, historical insight, contemporary analysis - on every bibliography that includes Mission.

Quite a comprehensive book about Mission, Missio Dei and the effect of Postmodernism at how we look at mission.

Classic missional text

So far it is a must read for those using or hearing the term missional. i find the term so over-used and misunderstood that this seminal work on the subject has been very helpful to read.

Widely considered the best book on mission. It shows the difference between the church having a mission department and the church being a mission department.

It was tough for me to get used to the inline parenthetical citations. Once I did, this was a great book detailing the history of misseo dei.

AMAZING...