Notes 2/18 (Sorry for the delay)

Christianity as a Missionizing Movement (2/18)

New Terms:

• gospel: text “good news”; In early times it referred to good news by the emperor
• Gospel: describe the Christian message
• Missionizing: spreading the good news 
• Evangelize: spreading the good news, gospel
• Christianity is distinct from Judaism by evangelizing the good news and converting people 

The Great Commission 

• Baptizing is how you become Christian 
• Matthew 28—justification for missionizing 

Major Dates

• 1st Century: Christianity spreads to India
• 5th Century: Patrick in Ireland
• Taken by pirates from Britain to Ireland as a teen but eventually escapes and returns home 
• Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire
• Patrick had a vision to go back to Ireland and bring the message of Christianity 
• Returns to Ireland as a cleric
• First bishop of Armagh
• Not the first Christian missionary to Ireland, but probably the most famous/popular
• Patrick is one of three patron saints of Ireland: protect the city before God
• 563: Columba est. monastery on Iona 
• Intended to train people to be missionaries 
• Another patron saint of Ireland 
• Brigit is third patron saint 
• 716: Bonifice missionizes Germanic tribes—eventually made archbishops over what is now Germany and baptized thousands 
• Known for baptizing thousands of people
• Known for spreading Christianity to Germany 
• 781: Nestorian Christians have been present in Xi’an China for 150 years (spread along the spice route from Europe to China)
• Nestorians believe that Christ has a dual nature (Jesus as human and Christ as spirit)
• A stele in Chinese and Syriac documenting the history of Christianity in this community. Describes it as the “illustrious religion”
• Evidence of Christianity as early as 7th century 
• Steles are found in both Chinese and Syriac to symbolize a blending of cultures 
• Christ is represented in a cross-cultural context
• 10th Century: Christianity spreads into Poland, Russia, and missionaries from Norway begin working in Iceland 
• 14th Century: Franciscan and Dominican missionaries go to India, China, Java, Borneo
• 1382: Bible is translated into English by Joh Wycliff
• The movement he is associated with, the Lollards (critiquing the clergy but do not choose to leave the church), is often thought of as a precursor to the Reformation
• Declared a heretic after his death 
• 15th Century: “Conversion: of Jews and Muslims in Italy and Spain 
• Issue becomes whether or not they were forced into conversion 
• Some move to places where they can practice Judaism and Islam in private 
• 1496 First Christian baptized in America
• 1504 Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, lands in Goa, India
• 16th Century: Missionizing of much of Central and southern North America and Japan, where there is resistance 
• 17th-20th Centuries: Global missionizing with an emphasis on translating the NT into every language 

Columbus

• Columbus being an explorer made us glorify him as a hero 
• Justifies himself 
• Describes the people as controllable people—he wants to make them slaves, both of God and of himself 
• Ignorant about their culture and religion 
• Speaks of the explosion of Muslims and Jews from Spain (Reconquista) by Christians and 
• Christianizing of the world—his voyage is a continuation of the Reconquista. 
• He talks about controlling the people and acquiring treasure, but it is also a mission trip to spread Christianity to people who “need God”

Francis Xavier 

• Assessment of people of India is negative and different of Columbus’s assessment
• Went on mission for the Portuguese and says that he is glad that he did not go for Indians
• Opinion is that people are barbaric 
• Instrumental in starting missionary movements throughout the Southeast 
• Ironic the way he perceives the people and then is critical in spreading the gospel to them
• Different letters have different attitudes depending on the people and the outcome of his mission. 
• More success in Japan = positive 
• Less success in India = negative 

Arroyo’s Reading 

• Complexity of conversions
• Some people convert by force while others evangelize and encourage conversion 
• Similarly, people can accept or reject the conversion 
• Different ways to understand the stories of conversion 
• Conversion creates a lot of cultural conflict 

Mar Thoma Church 

• Traces itself back to St.Thomas int he first century 
• St. Thomas is said to have traveled to India and taught of Jesus
• Present when the Portuguese arrive in India, but forced to follow the Roman church 
• But eventually they declare their independence and associate themselves with the Syrian Orthodox tradition 
• Earliest Christian Church in India