Christological and Trinitarian Missiologies (pt. 1)

Over the next few days I will be examining and comparing the missiology of Samuel Escobar and Stephen Holmes; at the end of the mini-series I hope it becomes evident that our cultural/social/traditional context affects how we do theology.

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Missiology is an interdisciplinary discipline, drawing from various fields like biblical studies, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, and theology. In this blog we will be taking a look at the missiological contributions of two theologians: Samuel Escobar and Stephen Holmes. In “The Search for a Missiological Christology” Samuel Escobar, a Hispanic theologian, constructs a missiological Christology while Stephen Holmes, a theologian from the United Kingdom, constructs a Trinitarian missiology in his paper titled “Trinitarian Theology: Towards a Theology of God as Missionary”. Lets examine how their social backgrounds affect the construction of their theology. I will start of by saying a few words about the authors’ backgrounds then in the next blog I will review the positions put forth in their papers. I will wrap things up by reflecting on their contributions to the universal church.

The Authors

Samuel Escobar was born in Arequipa, Peru and completed his Ph.D. in Spain. When this paper was published he was the Thornley B. Wood Professor of Missiology at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.[1] As we will see, his upbringing in Peru has influenced his perceptions of various Christologies in Latin America.

Stephen Holmes is senior lecturer of systematic theology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He received all of his education in the United Kingdom and has done all of his work in the U.K. as well. He has done work on Evangelicalism, English Puritanism, and Baptist theology.[2]