Missional Theology, Day One

Lviv Theological Seminary
2 December 2015
Telford Work, LCC International University / Westmont College

The Apostolic Paradigm
I. Life from the Father: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator ..."
II. Death in the Son: "and in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord, who was conceived ... born ... suffered ... rose ... ascended ... sits ... and will return."
III. Resurrection by the Holy Spirit: "I believe in the Holy Spirit ... church ... communion ... fellowship ... resurrection ... life everlasting."
This Paradigm Encapsulates ...

the Bible's central story, of Jesus Christ (thus Christology and bibliology);
the creeds of the Church (thus the topics of dogmatic theology;
the saga of Israel's life, dissolution, and transformation (thus theological history);
the life of God (thus doctrines of God, pneumatology, and Trinity;
the end (i.e., goal) of all things (thus the doctrine of creation);
and of humanity in particular (thus doctrines of incarnation and humanity);
the framework for the ordinary: fields of knowledge, ways of life, etc.;
the future that has begun arriving in the Kingdom of God (thus eschatology);
the divine judgment of all that sin denies and resists (thus hamartiology);
the forgiveness and new beginning that comes along with it (thus soteriology, atonement, threefold office);
the common struggle and destiny of cultures and peoples (thus missiology, election);
the biography of every disciple of Jesus (thus justification, sanctification, sacramental theology);
the life into which the world is invited to heal (thus ecclesiology).

The Bible: One Witness in Two Testaments
Israel generated and kept the writings of the Old Testament.
The church of Jesus Christ generated and kept the New Testament along with it.
Each corpus has a nucleus of rapid universal respect, and writings 'at the margin' that gain universal respect more slowly.

Torah: the 'gospel' of Israel's birth, liberation, and constitution as God's people.	Gospels: Four biographies of our Jesus that center on the good news of the Kingdom's arrival and the church's creation through his life, death, and resurrection.
Prophets: the tragic story of Israel leaving God in its 'adolescence' ('former prophets'), along with promises of the fatal consequences and God's promises to 'resurrect' Israel nevertheless ('latter prophets').	Acts and Revelation: Luke keeps telling Jesus' story through the activities of his Spirit's Church. Revelation tells the story of the church's continuing struggles to stay faithful under pressure, and God's determination to see it through its trials in the context of our world's judgment and new creation.
Writings: Israel's worship and contemplation of the God it was coming to know them more maturely.	Letters: Church correspondence, from letters of Paul and other leaders to a sermon (Hebrews), is 'inside information' on our maturing community and its mission.
(Latter Prophets eventually end up after Writings in Christian Bibles.)	(Revelation concludes the list of New Testament writings.)

So scripture reflects the Father's missional character and will,

shares in the Son's missional ministry and truth, and
works in the Holy Spirit's missional power,
through Israel's and the Church's missional voices.

The Bible is true as God is true, in ways that make us holy.

The Bible's canonicity honors that it norms all ecclesiastical traditions (including itself).

So the Bible is ethically as well as missionally shaped.