Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory - Paperback

by Scott W. Sunquist (Author)

Christianity Today 2014 Book Award Winner

Named one of Ten Outstanding Books of 2013 for Mission Studies, International Bulletin of Mission Research

This comprehensive introduction helps students, pastors, and mission committees understand contemporary Christian mission historically, biblically, and theologically. Scott Sunquist, a respected scholar and teacher of world Christianity, recovers missiological thinking from the early church for the twenty-first century. He traces the mission of the church throughout history in order to address the global church and offers a constructive theology and practice for missionary work today.

Sunquist views spirituality as the foundation for all mission involvement, for mission practice springs from spiritual formation. He highlights the Holy Spirit in the work of mission and emphasizes its trinitarian nature. Sunquist explores mission from a primarily theological--rather than sociological--perspective, showing that the whole of Christian theology depends on and feeds into mission. Throughout the book, he presents Christian mission as our participation in the suffering and glory of Jesus Christ for the redemption of the nations.

Back Jacket

Scott Sunquist has produced a rarity in this book, which combines breadth of theological scope with depth of learning and life in equal measure. This wonderful compendium brings together deep biblical reflection, the wisdom of Christian ages past, and the experience of a lifetime lived in mission. This is a book to savor, ponder, and return to again and again.
--Christopher J. H. Wright, Langham Partnership; author of The Mission of God and The Mission of God's People

"This is a clearly written, wonderfully ecumenical introduction to missiology and, indeed, mission theology. Its value lies in conceiving missiology as deeply theological and spiritual, not simply as tips and strategies for more successful evangelism. We often speak of the importance of the missio Dei for an adequate understanding of mission. In this volume Scott Sunquist helps us understand this trinitarian perspective more deeply."
--Stephen Bevans, SVD, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago

Author Biography

Scott W. Sunquist (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is dean of the School of Intercultural Studies and professor of world Christianity at Fuller Theological Seminary at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He previously served as professor of world Christianity at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Sunquist is author of The Unexpected Christian Century, winner of the 2015 Book Award for Excellence in Missiology from The American Society of Missiology. He is also coauthor of the multivolume History of the World Christian Movement and coeditor of A Dictionary of Asian Christianity.