Missio Dei: Some Implications for the Church

Abstract

During the early twentieth century, Protestant mission theology gradually became more church-centric. At the IMC Willingen conference in 1952, the missio Dei concept (although not the actual term) emerged. This shifted the Protestant understanding of the source of mission from an ecclesio- or anthropocentric source to a theocentric source, the Triune Godhead. This was a major (and contested) theological advance. This article explores some of the implications of missio Dei theology for the church. Problems and developments with the concept are examined in the conclusion.