POST-MODERN MISSION A PARADIGM SHIFT IN DAVID BOSCH’S THEOLOGY OF MISSION? KIRSTEEN KIM * In his renowned Transforming Mission, 1 David Bosch delineates what he calls “the postmodern paradigm” (349) for mission. Magnificent in its clarity, scope and depth, the book has understandably fulfilled Lesslie Newbigin’s prediction that it would become “the indispensable foundation for the teaching of missiology for many years to come” (back cover). However, without doubting its value and usefulness for teaching missiology, this paper questions, in some important respects, Bosch’s claim that his missiology is post - modern. The weakness of Bosch’s “emerging ecumenical consensus” on mission was apparent in its very year of publication - 1991 - when the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches at Canberra famously failed to find a consensus. 2 The Assembly took a pneumatological theme with a missionary thrust based on a creation theology, “Come, Holy Spirit - Renew the Whole Creation”. Canberra was particularly influenced by the work of the Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation “process” (JPIC) - which evidenced at Canberra particular concern for feminism, ecology, and indigenous spirituality - and the “Spirit of life” theology of Jürgen Moltmann. 3 In his chapter outlining post-modernity, Bosch recognises its eco-feminist dimensions when he notes briefly that it involves a “basic reorientation”: One should, again, see oneself as a child of Mother Earth and as sister and brother to other human beings. One should think holistically, rather than analytically, emphasize togetherness rather than distance, break through the dualism of mind and body, subject and object, and emphasize ‘symbiosis’ (355). He suggests “profound and far-reaching consequences” of such a change of worldview for the epistemology of mission but these are not worked out in his book. Creation theology and its attendant concerns at Canberra are hardly mentioned in Transforming Mission. As far as feminism is concerned, though he does allude to women, nowhere does Bosch mention feminism as a theological or philosophical movement. 4 Bosch hardly touches on ecology or on the perceived global environmental crisis which fuelled the JPIC process. 5 Thirdly, the related interest in “indigenous spiritualities” or “the spiritualities of indigenous people” is missed. 6 This lack of interest is surprising in view of Bosch’s own direct experience of indigenous peoples during his formative years as a missionary in Transkei (1957-71). 7 By its very nature, Transforming Mission is retrospective; it documents what has been already been resolved not the debates of today. 8 In that sense it was inevitably already out of date by the time of its publication. However, its lack of reference to these contemporary issues is * KIRSTEEN KIM is a graduate of All Nations Christian College, UK and Fuller Theological Seminary, USA now doing doctoral research at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is British, married to a Korean, and as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church of Korea taught missiology for four years at Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India. She is working as administrator of the Henry Martyn Centre, Cambridge and is secretary of the British and Irish Association for Mission Studies.