Online Undergraduate Certificate in
Missional Theology & Practice

Examines the biblical theological foundations of God's plan for global redemption throughout the Old and New Testament. The student will explore the eternal purpose of God for humanity, the state of those who have not heard the gospel, and the application of the missional mandate to various cultures.

The Christian scriptures hold the key to the understanding and the praxis of God’s mission. This course examines the historical context of the biblical text, the role of the interpreter’s social context, and the location of missions in understanding the Bible and participating in the mission of God in today’s multi-cultural and multi-religious context.

Examines a crucial component to missions, namely, the effort to maintain a distinctive Christian ethos in the pursuit of extending the gospel to those outside the Church. The dynamic between drawing and maintaining boundaries on the one hand, and having the flexibility to adjust and accommodate, is as vital as it is tricky. How the early Church navigated these issues for contemporary consideration and emulation will be explored. Readings, discussion forums, and lectures will structure the course, and assessment will be done through a service project, an informative essay, and an exam focused on the application of the present material.

Addresses the ethics of missiology in terms of how those outside the Church are viewed and treated by those within it. The early Church’s posture towards outsiders will be assessed for the purposes of imitating their strategies and perspectives. We will assess group identity and behavior towards “others” through the social sciences, applying this both to the text and the contemporary Church. The course will include readings, lectures, discussion forums, an essay, an exam, and a hands on service project.

Various models of contextualization throughout the New Testament will be explored. The student will survey: Jesus’ engagement of his context and his relation to the powers, the Apostles’ various cross-cultural experiences in the book of Acts, and Paul’s contextualization within the Epistles.

An exploration of proclamation and witness with a specific focus on that of Jesus and the Apostle Paul in light of current New Testament studies, rhetorical theory, and Greco-Roman studies. Sample passages will be studied in light of the socio-cultural setting with application to the missional task. Students will analyze the structure and delivery of biblical proclamation in terms of its audience and intent in order to discern ways culture and context contributes to the formation of theological approaches to missional proclamation.