Believing in the Future: Toward a Missiology of Western Culture

by David Jacobus Bosch

Following an analysis of the postmodern world, the legacy of the Enlightenment, and Christian faith in a postmodern age, Professor Bosch sketches the contours of a missiology of Western culture. The latter includes considerations of mission as social ethics, mission and the Third World, and God-talk in an age of reason.
A concluding section summarizes the five ingredients of a missiology of Western culture, that is, that it include an ecological dimension, that it be countercultural and ecumenical and contextual, and that it be primarily a ministry of the laity.

69 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went back and forth on how to rate this book. I want to rate this book higher but in the end, I didn’t. I liked the work, and appreciate it greatly. Extremely relevant this 30+years later. And even more so considering most of the material quoted is from 20-40years prior to the author.
The book is a sort of concise summary and application following David Bosh’s larger and much more thyroid work Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Missions. In the end I settled on a “3-star” because it was very concise, making it hard to follow and read without having more background in the subject. It is a work I would still recommend to review, contemplate over, reengage with at a later date, and even to provide exposure to various (and competing) views and philosophies; however, I think it would be difficult for the majority of readers to follow without a specific focus on the subject.

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pithy and good. A basic introduction to missiology and its possibilities for the West. I'm by no means an expert on missiology but it seems like David Bosch covers much the same ground as Lesslie Newbigin.