Numa Verse

Practical theologyHow is it lived and shared?

Missiology

What is missiology?

Missiology is the scholarly study of Christian mission and witness: its theology, history, methods and practice across cultures and religions. It combines intercultural studies, anthropology, history, cross-cultural communication and theology, and goes by several names at once: missiology, mission studies, Missionswissenschaft, intercultural theology and, increasingly, World Christianity.

  • 116Sources
  • 16Traditions
  • 16Dated entries
  • 13Minutes

Study v1.0, 14 October 2026

Missiology

At a glance

Why it matters for reading Scripture

The study of mission: how the faith crosses cultures and languages.

What the study found

Missiology is the interdisciplinary study of Christian mission, built from Warneck, Schmidlin and Edinburgh 1910, and now studies a faith with most of its adherents in the Global South.

Where traditions divide

Catholic, ecumenical and evangelical traditions read the mission of God differently; Lausanne (1974) held evangelism primary, while Padilla and Escobar pressed for evangelism and social action as one task.

How the traditions compare

  • Roman Catholic Church

    Ad Gentes (1965) holds that the pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature and defines missions as the undertakings that preach the Gospel and plant the Church among peoples who do not yet believe.

    Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975) calls evangelizing the Church's deepest identity, Redemptoris Missio (1990) distinguishes mission ad gentes, ordinary pastoral care and a new evangelization, and Evangelii Gaudium (2013) calls the baptized missionary disciples.

    Sources1–4

  • Eastern Orthodox Church

    Begins from worship: Ion Bria described worship as "the permanent missionary impulse", and Anastasios Yannoulatos held that the liturgy must be extended to everyday life, the "liturgy after the liturgy".

    The Holy and Great Council (Crete, 2016) asks that witness be offered "not aggressively or by different forms of proselytism, but in love, humility and respect".

    Sources5–7

  • Oriental Orthodox churches and the Church of the East

    Carry some of the oldest mission histories, recorded mostly in historical rather than doctrinal sources.

    The Armenian Church presents the alphabet brought by Mesrop Mashtots as given so that the people could read Scripture in their own language, and the Church of the East missionary Alopen entered Chang'an in 635, a mission recorded on the Xi'an Stele of 781.

    Sources8–9

  • Ecumenical (World Council of Churches)

    Together Towards Life (2012) calls mission "the overflow of the infinite love of the Triune God", holds that "it is not the church that has a mission but rather the mission that has a church", and moves from mission to the margins to mission from the margins.

    The 1982 Ecumenical Affirmation states that "there is no evangelism without solidarity".

    Sources10–11

  • Lutheran and Pietist

    Lutheran mission began in its Pietist form, when Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau reached Tranquebar in South India in 1706.

    Martin Kähler grounded mission in God's reconciliation of the world in Christ, and the Lutheran World Federation's Mission in Context (2004) is organized around transformation, reconciliation and empowerment.

    Sources12–14

  • Reformed

    Holds the oldest Protestant theory of mission: Gisbertus Voetius set mission three goals, the conversion of unbelievers, the planting of churches and above all the glory of God.

    The World Communion of Reformed Churches is "called to communion and is committed to justice", and its Communion Message presents Christian mission as "disruptive to the prevailing world order".

    Sources15–17

  • Anglican Communion

    States its understanding of mission in the Five Marks of Mission: to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom; to teach, baptize and nurture new believers; to respond to human need by loving service; to transform unjust structures of society and pursue peace and reconciliation; and to safeguard the integrity of creation.

    The first four were developed in 1984 and the fifth added in 1990.

    Sources18

  • Methodist

    The World Methodist Council, 80 churches in 138 countries, seeks "to fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples through vibrant evangelism", and at its 2006 meeting in Seoul declared evangelism its priority.

    Sources19

  • Baptist

    The modern Protestant missionary society began among Baptists, with William Carey's Enquiry and the founding of the society later known as the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792.

    The Baptist World Alliance frames its mission work as "Compelled by the Great Commission", with a commitment to "Gospel witness in every context and people group".

    Sources20–22

  • Mennonite and Anabaptist

    Mennonite World Conference's Shared Convictions (2006) join mission to peace: the Spirit empowers believers to become peacemakers who renounce violence, and believers witness by serving others and caring for creation.

    Sources23

  • Seventh-day Adventist Church

    Its mission statement (2023) is to make disciples who proclaim to all people the everlasting gospel of the Three Angels' Messages in preparation for Christ's return, by Christ-like living, healing, serving, proclaiming, teaching and training.

    Mission is framed by eschatology and includes health work.

    Sources24

  • Evangelical (Lausanne and the World Evangelical Alliance)

    Grounds mission in God but gives evangelism a defined priority: the Lausanne Covenant (1974) holds evangelism primary in the church's mission of sacrificial service, and the Cape Town Commitment (2010) defines integral mission as "the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel".

    The Seoul Statement (2024) calls the local church both the means and the end of mission, and the World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission aims to "communicate the gospel where it is not currently known".

    Sources25–28

  • Pentecostal and charismatic

    Grounds mission first in the work of the Holy Spirit.

    Allan Anderson observed in 2005 that Pentecostals had only recently begun to formulate a distinctive missiology, and his Spreading Fires (2007) examines the role of lay, Spirit-driven ministry; Wonsuk Ma proposed Pentecostal theology as a model for "pneumatological missiology".

    Sources29–30

  • African Instituted Churches

    No statement of mission doctrine from the churches themselves was available.

    The World Council of Churches states that most of Christianity's expansion in Africa in the twentieth century came from the missionary work of the African independent churches, and the Organization of African Instituted Churches was founded in Cairo in 1978.

    Sources31–32

  • Latin American integral mission

    The Latin American Theological Fraternity, founded near Cochabamba, Bolivia, in late 1970, stresses integral mission, God's mission understood as proclamation and social responsibility.

    René Padilla, called the "Father of Integral Mission", described social action and evangelism as "two wings of a plane".

    Sources33–34

  • Korean and Chinese movements

    Korean overseas missionaries numbered 93 in 1979, and the Korea World Missions Association counted 21,917 long-term missionaries in 174 countries and territories at the end of 2023.

    In China the three-self principle became institutional through the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and the "Back to Jerusalem" vision traces to Chinese indigenous mission bands of the 1940s.

    Sources35–37

How the field developed

  1. Reformation
    1588

    José de Acosta's De procuranda indorum salute is published, the first systematic study of mission in the Americas.38

  2. Reformation
    22 June 1622

    Gregory XV establishes the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide by the bull Inscrutabili Divinae; Urban VIII founds the Collegium Urbanum for training missionaries in 1627.39

  3. Modern
    1706

    Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau, shaped by Halle Pietism, reach Tranquebar in South India at the wish of King Frederick IV of Denmark; the sources date the arrival to 9 July or 6 June.1240

  4. Modern
    1792

    William Carey publishes An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, the year the society later known as the Baptist Missionary Society is formed.20

  5. Modern
    1811 and 1830

    Friedrich Schleiermacher's Kurze Darstellung puts mission studies into the theological curriculum, under catechetics within practical theology, and calls a theory of missions "as good as altogether wanting".41

  6. Modern
    1867

    Alexander Duff is appointed to a Chair of Evangelistic Theology at New College, Edinburgh, which the Boston University biography calls "the first chair of missions anywhere".42

  7. Modern
    1896 or 1897

    Gustav Warneck becomes professor of mission studies at Halle, in 1896 according to the university archive and in 1897 according to Boston University, which calls it the first chair of its kind in Germany.4344

  8. Modern
    14 to 23 June 1910

    The World Missionary Conference meets at Edinburgh with 1,215 delegates from 176 missionary societies. The World Council of Churches counts only 19 of them from the mission lands, 18 from Asia and one from Africa.4546

  9. Modern
    1910 to 1914

    Joseph Schmidlin at Münster becomes extraordinary professor of church history including mission studies in 1910 and full professor of Missionswissenschaft in 1914; the Münster archive calls the chair established for him in 1911 the world's first.4748

  10. Modern
    1932 and 1934

    Karl Barth's lecture to the Brandenburg Missionary Conference links mission to the Trinity, and Karl Hartenstein's essay of 1934 is, according to the St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology, the first missiological use of the term missio Dei.49

  11. Modern
    December 1938

    The International Missionary Council meets at Tambaram, the first major modern ecumenical meeting at which delegates from outside the West form a majority. Hendrik Kraemer argues that the gospel is discontinuous with other religions, and T. C. Chao and others contest this.50

  12. Modern
    7 December 1965

    The Second Vatican Council's decree Ad Gentes defines missions and makes missiological study part of missionary formation.1

  13. Modern
    July 1974

    Billy Graham convenes the International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, which produces the Lausanne Covenant and at which the concept of unreached people groups is introduced.51

  14. Modern
    1991

    David Bosch's Transforming Mission reads the history of mission theology as five historical paradigms and an emerging postmodern one; Lesslie Newbigin calls it a kind of Summa Missiologica.52

  15. Modern
    5 September 2012

    The World Council of Churches Central Committee approves Together Towards Life, its new mission statement, unanimously at Kolympari, Crete.53

  16. Modern
    30 March 2023

    Two Vatican dicasteries state that the bulls Dum Diversas, Romanus Pontifex and Inter Caetera are not part of Catholic teaching and repudiate the doctrine of discovery.54

How to study missiology

The questions it asks

  • Is mission first God's work or the church's?4910
  • What is the goal toward which mission moves?327
  • Is proclamation primary, or are word and deed one task?5526
  • How does the gospel relate to other faiths, and is dialogue part of mission?5056
  • Does the church have a mission, or does mission have a church?110
  • How is the gospel expressed in a culture without being captured by it?57
  • Does care for the earth belong to mission?1858

Its method

Start

  1. Study cultures and worldviews to guide cross-cultural witness and church formation, the work of mission anthropology5960.

  2. Weigh local practice against Scripture rather than rejecting or accepting it wholesale, as Paul G. Hiebert's critical contextualization asks59.

  3. Classify the ways theology is done in context: Stephen Bevans sets out six models, translation, anthropological, praxis, synthetic, transcendental and countercultural61.

  4. Read the history of mission theology as a sequence of paradigms, as David Bosch does in Transforming Mission62.

  5. Treat the translatability of the gospel into every language and culture as a key to Christian expansion, with Andrew Walls and Lamin Sanneh6364.

  6. Count Christians, denominations, missionaries and the unevangelized by region and over time, noting that the totals depend on how each body draws its categories656667.

  7. Count ethnolinguistic peoples and grade their access to the gospel, where Lausanne and Joshua Project define "unreached" differently6869.

  8. Recover mission history from society archives, reports and bibliographies, such as the Halle Reports from 1710 and Robert Streit's Bibliotheca Missionum from 19164070.

  9. Test general models against observed practice in particular churches through ethnography and fieldwork71.

What to read

Its primary witnesses

  • Ad Gentes (1965), the Second Vatican Council's decree on missionary activity1.
  • Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), Redemptoris Missio (1990) and Evangelii Gaudium (2013)234.
  • Dialogue and Proclamation (1991), from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples72.
  • The World Council of Churches' Mission and Evangelism: An Ecumenical Affirmation (1982) and Together Towards Life (2012)1110.
  • The Lausanne Covenant (1974), the Manila Manifesto (1989), the Cape Town Commitment (2010) and the Seoul Statement (2024)25732627.
  • Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World (2011), from the World Council of Churches, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Evangelical Alliance5674.
  • The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World, adopted by the Holy and Great Council in Crete in 2016757.
  • The reports of the eight commissions of the Edinburgh conference of 1910, prepared from roughly 1,000 questionnaire replies45.
  • The Halle Reports, published from 1710 from the diaries, letters and reports of the Tranquebar missionaries40.

Standard reference works

  • Robert Streit's Bibliotheca Missionum, volume 1 (1916), with volumes 2 to 5 from 1924 to 192970.
  • Gerald H. Anderson (ed.), Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions (1998)76.
  • Karl Müller, Theo Sundermeier, Stephen B. Bevans and Richard H. Bliese (eds), Dictionary of Mission (1997)77.
  • A. Scott Moreau (gen. ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions (2000)78.
  • Jan A. B. Jongeneel's Philosophy, Science, and Theology of Mission in the 19th and 20th Centuries (from 1995), a missiological encyclopedia79.
  • Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, World Christian Encyclopedia, third edition (2019)80.
  • Todd M. Johnson and Kenneth R. Ross (eds), Atlas of Global Christianity 1910 to 2010 (2010)81.
  • Kirsteen Kim (lead ed.), Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies (2022)82.
  • Stephen Neill's A History of Christian Missions (1964) and Kenneth Scott Latourette's A History of the Expansion of Christianity (1937 to 1945)838485.
  • The History of Missiology site of the Boston University School of Theology86.

Scholarship referenced in this study

The works below shaped the field and are cited in this study, from the earliest to the most recent. Hover over a book, or select it, to see its author and the sources behind it.

  • 1792An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the HeathensWilliam CareyAn Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens (1792)William Carey (1761 to 1834)Sources20
  • 1912Missionary Methods: St Paul's or Ours?Roland AllenMissionary Methods: St Paul's or Ours? (1912)Roland Allen (1868 to 1947)Sources76
  • 1917Einführung in die MissionswissenschaftJoseph SchmidlinEinführung in die Missionswissenschaft (1917)Joseph Schmidlin (29 March 1876 to 10 January 1944)Sources87
  • 1938The Christian Message in a Non-Christian WorldHendrik KraemerThe Christian Message in a Non-Christian World (1938)Hendrik Kraemer (1888 to 1965)Sources88
  • 1955The Bridges of GodDonald A. McGavranThe Bridges of God (1955)Donald A. McGavran (15 December 1897 to 10 July 1990)Sources89–90
  • 1978The Open SecretLesslie NewbiginThe Open Secret (1978)Lesslie Newbigin (1909 to 30 January 1998)Sources91–92
  • 1989Translating the MessageLamin SannehTranslating the Message (1989)Lamin Sanneh (1942 to 6 January 2019)Sources93–94
  • 1991Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of MissionDavid J. BoschTransforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (1991)David J. Bosch (1929 to 15 April 1992)Sources95–96
  • 1992Models of Contextual TheologyStephen B. BevansModels of Contextual Theology (1992)Stephen B. BevansSources97–98
  • 1995Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western ReligionKwame BediakoChristianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion (1995)Kwame Bediako (7 July 1945 to 10 June 2008)Sources99
  • 1996The Missionary Movement in Christian HistoryAndrew F. WallsThe Missionary Movement in Christian History (1996)Andrew F. Walls (28 April 1928 to 12 August 2021)Sources100–101
  • 2009Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World ReligionDana L. RobertChristian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion (2009)Dana L. RobertSources102

Listed because this study draws on their published work; no association with or endorsement of Numa Verse is implied. Suggest a correction.

Key terms

The words that carry the most weight in this field, each defined from the sources of this study. Turn a card over to read its definition.

Mission as God's own work; its intellectual origin is placed in Karl Barth's lecture of 1932 and its first missiological use in Karl Hartenstein's essay of 1934, and Georg Vicedom popularized it in 1958, though the sources differ on who first used the term49103.

In Catholic teaching, "the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity", a complex process of witness, proclamation, adherence and entry into the community2.

For the Lausanne Covenant, spreading the good news of Christ's death and resurrection; for Together Towards Life, "the communication of the whole gospel to the whole of humanity in the whole world", in humility and not as proselytism2510.

The Catholic term for the slow and profound process by which the Church "makes the Gospel incarnate" in cultures, tested by compatibility with the gospel and communion with the universal Church3.

Credited above all to Shoki Coe, who meant by it the liberation of theology from Western conceptual dominance and set it against indigenization, which he saw as past-oriented and narrower104105.

The aim of self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating churches, set out by Henry Venn at the Church Missionary Society and Rufus Anderson at the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions106107.

"The proclamation and demonstration of the gospel", in which evangelism and social involvement each have consequences for the other26.

A group lacking "an indigenous church capable of evangelizing their own people", a concept credited to Ralph Winter at Lausanne in 19746951.

The view that rejects mission flowing only from the powerful to the powerless and treats people on the margins as active agents of mission10.

The name two German scholarly bodies proposed in 2005 to stand beside Missionswissenschaft as a clarifying label, without replacing it108.

Where it sits

Builds on

Missiology

Leads to

Questions people ask

In Catholic teaching the pilgrim Church is "missionary by her very nature", while missions are the particular undertakings that preach the Gospel and plant the Church among peoples who do not yet believe1. The missio Dei idea moved the subject from the church's missions to the mission of God, treating mission as first God's own sending, in which the church takes part49.

The Center for the Study of Global Christianity counted 68.9 percent of the world's Christians in the Global South at mid-2025109. Survey bodies differ on the totals: Pew Research Center counted 2.3 billion Christians in 2020, 29 percent of world population, while the Center counts about 2.6 billion in 2025, 32.3 percent6667.

The history of the field is bound up with the colonial era: Joseph Schmidlin, who held the first Catholic chair of missiology, supported colonialism, and on 30 March 2023 two Vatican dicasteries repudiated the doctrine of discovery11054. Lamin Sanneh argued on the other side that translation made Christianity a preserver rather than a destroyer of indigenous languages and cultures111.

In 2005 two German scholarly bodies proposed "intercultural theology" beside Missionswissenschaft, because the word mission often causes irritation and the field had taken on wider tasks for theology as a whole108. Andrew Walls helped establish World Christianity as an academic discipline100. Missiology, mission studies, intercultural theology and World Christianity are now in use at once112113.

Wycliffe Global Alliance figures of 1 August 2025 count 7,396 living languages, with translation in progress in 4,457 and 544 languages waiting for translation to begin114. Its infographic for August 2025 gives 776 languages with the full Bible115. ProgressBible counts about 2,750 languages with inadequate Scripture, and the figures count languages and adequacy differently116.

Contribute to missiology

Register to contribute

  1. 1Ad Gentes (The Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651207_ad-gentes_en.html (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2Evangelii Nuntiandi (The Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19751208_evangelii-nuntiandi.html (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3Redemptoris Missio (The Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris-missio.html (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Evangelii Gaudium (The Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5Liturgy after liturgy (Patrick Comerford)https://www.patrickcomerford.com/2009/04/liturgy-after-liturgy-liturgy-as.html (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6Morariu, Father Ion Bria (University of Pretoria repository)https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/2263/71216/1/Morariu_Romanian_2019.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  7. 7The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World, Holy and Great Council (OrthoChristian.com)https://orthochristian.com/94723.html (opens in a new tab)
  8. 81600th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin)https://armenianchurch.org/en/news/1600th-anniversary-of-the-creation-of-the-armenian-alphabet/389 (opens in a new tab)
  9. 9The Earliest Chinese Christianity Brought Back to Life (ChinaSource)https://chsource.org/articles/the-earliest-chinese-christianity-brought-back-to-life/ (opens in a new tab)
  10. 10Together Towards Life (World Council of Churches, PDF at Raad van Kerken)https://www.raadvankerken.nl/files/2013/01/GEN%2007%20Together%20Towards%20Life_%20Mission%20&%20Evangelism.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  11. 11Mission and Evangelism: An Ecumenical Affirmation (Religion Online)https://www.religion-online.org/?p=10237 (opens in a new tab)
  12. 12Ziegenbalg, Bartholomäus (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/w-x-y-z/ziegenbalg-bartholomaus-1682-1719/ (opens in a new tab)
  13. 13Kähler, Martin (Deutsche Biographie)https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz68553.html (opens in a new tab)
  14. 14Mission in Context (Lutheran World Federation)https://lutheranworld.org/resources/publication-mission-context-transformation-reconciliation-empowerment (opens in a new tab)
  15. 15Voetius, Gisbertus (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/t-u-v/voetius-gisbertus-gijsbert-voet-1589-1676/ (opens in a new tab)
  16. 16Mission and Vision (World Communion of Reformed Churches)https://wcrc.eu/about/mission-vision/ (opens in a new tab)
  17. 17WCRC 27th General Council concludes with Communion Message (Council for World Mission)https://www.cwmission.org/news/spotlights/wcrc-27th-general-council-concludes-with-communion-message/ (opens in a new tab)
  18. 18Marks of Mission (Anglican Communion)https://www.anglicancommunion.org/marks-of-mission/ (opens in a new tab)
  19. 19About (World Methodist Council)https://worldmethodistcouncil.org/about/ (opens in a new tab)
  20. 20Carey, William (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/c-d/carey-william-1761-1834/ (opens in a new tab)
  21. 21Mission and Vision (Baptist World Alliance)https://baptistworld.org/mission-vision/ (opens in a new tab)
  22. 22Mission and Evangelism (Baptist World Alliance)https://baptistworld.org/mission-and-evangelism/ (opens in a new tab)
  23. 23Vision, Mission and Shared Convictions (Mennonite World Conference)https://mwc-cmm.org/en/?p=5609 (opens in a new tab)
  24. 24Mission Statement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (General Conference)https://gc.adventist.org/official-statements/mission-statement-of-the-seventh-day-adventist-church/ (opens in a new tab)
  25. 25The Lausanne Covenant (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/statement/lausanne-covenant (opens in a new tab)
  26. 26The Cape Town Commitment (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/statement/ctcommitment (opens in a new tab)
  27. 27The Seoul Statement (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/statement/the-seoul-statement (opens in a new tab)
  28. 28Who We Are (WEA Mission Commission)https://weamc.global/who-we-are/ (opens in a new tab)
  29. 29Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 8:1, 2005 (gospelstudies.org.uk)https://www.gospelstudies.org.uk/biblicalstudies/pdf/ajps/vols/ajps-08-1.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  30. 30Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism, review (Missio Nexus)https://missionexus.org/uncategorized/spreading-fires-the-missionary-nature-of-early-pentecostalism/ (opens in a new tab)
  31. 31African Instituted Churches (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/en/church-families/african-instituted-churches (opens in a new tab)
  32. 32Tribute to Pope Shenouda III (Organization of African Instituted Churches)https://oaic.org/newsite/?p=377 (opens in a new tab)
  33. 33Samuel Cueva, Evangelical Review of Theology 38:1, 2014 (gospelstudies.org.uk)https://gospelstudies.org.uk/biblicalstudies/pdf/evangelical-review-of-theology/ert_38-1_054.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  34. 34Integral Mission: Wisdom from the Global South (Overseas Ministries Study Center)https://omsc.ptsem.edu/integral-mission-wisdom-from-the-global-south/ (opens in a new tab)
  35. 35Qian and Zhao, HTS Teologiese Studies 81(2) (SciELO South Africa)https://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/hts/v81n2/01.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  36. 36K. H. Ting (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/k-h-ting/ (opens in a new tab)
  37. 37A History of Back to Jerusalem (ChinaSource)https://chsource.org/articles/a-history-of-back-to-jerusalem/ (opens in a new tab)
  38. 38José de Acosta (Encyclopaedia Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-de-Acosta (opens in a new tab)
  39. 39Sacred Congregation of Propaganda (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12456a.htm (opens in a new tab)
  40. 40The Mission Archives in the Archives of the Francke Foundations in Halle (Projekt MIDA)https://www.projekt-mida.de/en/reflexicon/the-mission-archives-in-the-archives-of-the-francke-foundations-in-halle/ (opens in a new tab)
  41. 41Zorgdrager, Schleiermacher's Theology of Mission, Mission Studies 30, 2013 (Protestantse Theologische Universiteit)https://www.pthu.nl/Over-PThU/Organisatie/Medewerkers/h.e.zorgdrager/downloads/mission-studies-2013-schleiermacher-mist-030-02-221-248-1.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  42. 42Duff, Alexander (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/c-d/duff-alexander-1806-1878/ (opens in a new tab)
  43. 43Gustav Warneck (Catalogus Professorum Halensis, Universitätsarchiv Halle)https://www.catalogus-professorum-halensis.de/warneckgustav.html (opens in a new tab)
  44. 44Warneck, Gustav (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/w-x-y-z/warneck-gustav-1834-1910/ (opens in a new tab)
  45. 45The 1910 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh (Musée protestant)https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-1910-world-missionary-conference-in-edinburgh/ (opens in a new tab)
  46. 461920 (3): A New Beginning of International Missionary Cooperation (World Council of Churches)https://oikoumene.org/news/1920-3-a-new-beginning-of-international-missionary-cooperation (opens in a new tab)
  47. 47Joseph Schmidlin (Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Münster)https://www.uni-muenster.de/FB2/fakultaet/emeriti/schmidlin.shtml (opens in a new tab)
  48. 48Kolonialwissenschaften (Zur Sache WWU, University of Münster)https://www.uni-muenster.de/ZurSacheWWU/en/quellen/Kolonialwissenschaften.html (opens in a new tab)
  49. 49Missio Dei (St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology)https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/MissioDei (opens in a new tab)
  50. 50S. M. Helm, Mission and Dialogue, Christian Century, 1988 (Religion Online)https://www.religion-online.org/?p=7315 (opens in a new tab)
  51. 51Our Legacy (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/about/our-legacy (opens in a new tab)
  52. 52Transforming Mission (Garratt Publishing)https://www.garrattpublishing.com.au/product/9781570759482/ (opens in a new tab)
  53. 53Together Towards Life (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/together-towards-life-mission-and-evangelism-in-changing-landscapes (opens in a new tab)
  54. 54Joint Note on the Doctrine of Discovery, 30 March 2023 (Holy See Press Office)https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/03/30/230330b.html (opens in a new tab)
  55. 55Lausanne Occasional Paper 21: Evangelism and Social Responsibility (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/occasional-paper/lop-21 (opens in a new tab)
  56. 56Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/christian-witness-in-a-multi-religious-world (opens in a new tab)
  57. 57The Willowbank Report (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/occasional-paper/lop-2 (opens in a new tab)
  58. 58The Arusha Call to Discipleship (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/the-arusha-call-to-discipleship (opens in a new tab)
  59. 59Paul G. Hiebert, selected bibliography (Direction)https://directionjournal.org/36/2/paul-g-hiebert-selected-bibliography.html (opens in a new tab)
  60. 60History of the ASM (American Society of Missiology)https://www.asmweb.org/assets/ASMHistory.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  61. 61Models of Contextual Theology, review (Reading Religion)https://readingreligion.org/9781626982994/ (opens in a new tab)
  62. 62Review of Transforming Mission (Dale Appleby)https://www.daleappleby.net/index.php/book-reviews/90-transforming-mission-paradigm-shifts-in-theology-of-mission (opens in a new tab)
  63. 63Jeremy Hegi, Missio Dei Journal 9.1 (Missio Dei Journal)https://missiodeijournal.com/issues/md-9-1/authors/md-9-1-hegi (opens in a new tab)
  64. 64Wanjiru Gitau, The Legacy of Lamin Sanneh (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/?p=166486 (opens in a new tab)
  65. 65World Christianity: its annual statistical table time (Overseas Ministries Study Center)https://omsc.ptsem.edu/world-christianity-its-annual-statistical-table-time/ (opens in a new tab)
  66. 66How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020: Christians (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/09/christian-population-change/ (opens in a new tab)
  67. 67Gina Zurlo, World Christianity: annual statistical table time (Overseas Ministries Study Center)https://omsc.ptsem.edu/?p=69690 (opens in a new tab)
  68. 68Global Statistics by Continent (Joshua Project)https://joshuaproject.net/index.php/global/continents (opens in a new tab)
  69. 69State of the Great Commission: Unreached People (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/report/unreached-people (opens in a new tab)
  70. 70Streit, Robert (Deutsche Biographie)https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd124210864.html (opens in a new tab)
  71. 71Oppong-Konadu, Missionalia 51, 2023 (Missionalia)https://missionalia.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/497 (opens in a new tab)
  72. 72Dialogue and Proclamation (The Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_19051991_dialogue-and-proclamatio_en.html (opens in a new tab)
  73. 73The Manila Manifesto (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/statement/the-manila-manifesto (opens in a new tab)
  74. 74Christians reach broad consensus on appropriate missionary conduct, WCC News (WFN archive)https://archive.wfn.org/2011/06/msg00119.html (opens in a new tab)
  75. 75Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World (Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church)https://www.holycouncil.org/-/mission-orthodox-church-today (opens in a new tab)
  76. 76Allen, Roland (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/a-c/allen-roland-1868-1947/ (opens in a new tab)
  77. 77Dictionary of Mission (Internet Archive)https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmiss0000unse (opens in a new tab)
  78. 78Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions (Internet Archive)https://archive.org/details/evangelicaldicti0000unse_k7q3 (opens in a new tab)
  79. 79Jongeneel, Philosophy, Science, and Theology of Mission (HathiTrust)https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002979452 (opens in a new tab)
  80. 80World Christian Encyclopedia (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/publications/world-christian-encyclopedia/ (opens in a new tab)
  81. 81Atlas of Global Christianity (British Religion in Numbers)https://www.brin.ac.uk/atlas-of-global-christianity/ (opens in a new tab)
  82. 82Kirsteen Kim (Fuller Theological Seminary)https://www.fuller.edu/faculty/kirsteen-kim/ (opens in a new tab)
  83. 83A History of Christian Missions, by Stephen Neill, review (Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Cambridge Core)https://core-cms.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/journal-of-ecclesiastical-history/article/history-of-christian-missions-by-stephen-neill-pelican-history-of-the-church-6-pp-622-harmondsworth-penguin-books-1964-10s-6d/622D5AA22E50FD42EA33F742AF2F2D88 (opens in a new tab)
  84. 84A History of the Expansion of Christianity: The First Five Centuries (Internet Archive)https://archive.org/details/firstfivecenturi008505mbp (opens in a new tab)
  85. 85A History of the Expansion of Christianity: Advance through Storm (Internet Archive)https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.177688 (opens in a new tab)
  86. 86History of Missiology (Boston University School of Theology)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/ (opens in a new tab)
  87. 87Joseph Schmidlin (University of Münster)https://www.uni-muenster.de/FB2/fakultaet/emeriti/schmidlin.html (opens in a new tab)
  88. 88Kraemer, Hendrik (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/i-k/kraemer-hendrik-1888-1965/ (opens in a new tab)
  89. 89Obituary: Missiologist Donald McGavran (Christianity Today)https://christianitytoday.com/ct/1990/august-20/obituary-missiologist-donald-mcgavran.html (opens in a new tab)
  90. 90Donald McGavran biography (Ralph D. Winter Research Center)https://rdwrc.wciu.edu/collections/mcgavran-collection/donald-mcgavran-bio/ (opens in a new tab)
  91. 91Newbigin, James Edward Lesslie (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/n-o-p-q/newbigin-james-edward-lesslie-1909-1998/ (opens in a new tab)
  92. 92A Tribute to Bishop Lesslie Newbigin (Anglican News)https://www.anglicannews.org/news/1998/02/a-tribute-to-bishop-lesslie-newbigin.aspx (opens in a new tab)
  93. 93Professor Lamin Sanneh, 1942 to 2019 (Yale Divinity School)https://divinity.yale.edu/news/professor-lamin-sanneh-1942-2019 (opens in a new tab)
  94. 94Lamin Sanneh (Overseas Ministries Study Center)https://omsc.ptsem.edu/?p=67617 (opens in a new tab)
  95. 95Bosch, David Jacobus (John Roxborogh)https://roxborogh.com/Biographies/biobosch.htm (opens in a new tab)
  96. 96Bosch, David (Dictionary of African Christian Biography)https://dacb.org/stories/southafrica/bosch2-david/ (opens in a new tab)
  97. 97Stephen Bevans (Agenzia Fides)https://fides.org/en/news/77716 (opens in a new tab)
  98. 98Stephen Bevans (Catholic Theological Union)https://ctu.edu/?p=24853752 (opens in a new tab)
  99. 99Kwame Bediako papers (Akrofi-Christaller Institute)https://ccra.aci.edu.gh/repositories/2/resources/17 (opens in a new tab)
  100. 100Remembering Professor Andrew Walls (Liverpool Hope University)https://www.hope.ac.uk/news/allnews/remembering-acclaimed-historian-professor-andrew-walls-.html (opens in a new tab)
  101. 101Andrew F. Walls, 1928 to 2021, obituary (School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh)https://divinity.ed.ac.uk/news-events/obituaries/andrew-f-walls-1928-2021 (opens in a new tab)
  102. 102Dana Robert (Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/prsocial/profile/dana-robert/ (opens in a new tab)
  103. 103Walter Freytag (Store norske leksikon)https://snl.no/Walter_Freytag (opens in a new tab)
  104. 104Wrestling with God in Context: Revisiting the Theology and Social Vision of Shoki Coe (aatfweb.org)https://aatfweb.org/2019/11/16/wrestling-with-god-in-context-revisiting-the-theology-and-social-vision-of-shoki-coe/ (opens in a new tab)
  105. 105Missiology (St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology)https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/Missiology (opens in a new tab)
  106. 106Venn, Henry (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/t-u-v/venn-henry-1796-1873/ (opens in a new tab)
  107. 107Anderson, Rufus (History of Missiology, Boston University)https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/a-c/anderson-rufus-1796-1880/ (opens in a new tab)
  108. 108Missionswissenschaft als Interkulturelle Theologie, position paper of 21 September 2005 (WGTh and DGMW, Universität Heidelberg)https://rmserv.wt.uni-heidelberg.de/web1/online-artikel/mw-positionspapier-endfassung-21-09-2005-r1.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  109. 109Zurlo, Johnson and Crossing, World Christianity 2025 (International Bulletin of Mission Research, Sage)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23969393241283291 (opens in a new tab)
  110. 110Missionswissenschaften (Stadt Münster)https://www.stadt-muenster.de/kolonialspuren/kolonialmission/missionswissenschaften (opens in a new tab)
  111. 111Translating the Message, revised edition (Orbis Books)https://orbisbooks.com/products/translating-the-message-revised-edition (opens in a new tab)
  112. 112Das Fach: Missionswissenschaft (University of Münster)https://www.uni-muenster.de/FB2/en/mission/dasfach.html (opens in a new tab)
  113. 113About IAMS (International Association for Mission Studies)https://missionstudies.org/02-about/about-iams/ (opens in a new tab)
  114. 114Statistics (Wycliffe Global Alliance)https://www.wycliffe.net/resources/statistics/ (opens in a new tab)
  115. 1152025 statistics infographic (Wycliffe Global Alliance)https://www.wycliffe.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-WGA-statistics-small-Infographic-English.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  116. 116ProgressBible (progress.bible)https://www.progress.bible/ (opens in a new tab)

Page record

Reviewed and approved by Duane Herholdt, BA (Theology), Chief Executive Officer, Numa Verse

Study version: v1.0, 14 October 2026 (theology map v1.27)

Last reviewed: 9 November 2026

How these pages are made

  • 9 November 2026: First draft from the approved assessment v1.0.