History of the Christian Misionary Movement

Transcription

1 History of the Christian Misionary Movement According to the Gospel of Mark, shortly after he was raised from the dead, Jesus appeared to His disciples for the last time shortly before His ascension. At this meeting He commanded them - considered by Christians to be the "Great Commission" - to "go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned". The eleven - considered as the first Christian missionaries - and many of His followers immediately and with great enthusiasm took up the command to preach the "Good News" (that through faith in Christ people can be reconciled with God and obtain eternal life) everywhere they travelled. Legend has it that ten of the eleven disciples - and many other Christian witnesses throughout the ages - died as martyrs while preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not even suffering, persecution, death, acts of nature, laws or political upheaval could stop the spreading of the Gospel. Romans (0-400 AC) The first major breakthrough for the Christian Church in the execution of the "Great Commission" was the "conquest" of the Roman Empire three centuries later (see article: "History of the Christian Church (1): Apostolic Age to Roman Age"). At the time, Rome was one of the largest empires in history, with a well-established infrastructure (for example roads spanning more than km). This made it possible for the first missionaries to reach even the most remote regions in the Empire. Paul, once a persecutor of Jesus' followers, was at the forefront of the first "missionary movement" after his dramatic conversion (Acts 9). He zealously preached the Gospel amongst the heathens (non-jews). Paul and other believers undertook various missionary journeys to preach the Gospel. During their travels many people converted to Christianity. Congregations were established in towns and cities all over the Middle East, Western Europe (including the British Islands), Asia Minor and North Africa. Not only were thousands of Romans and Greeks converted to Christianity during the first three centuries after Christ, but other nations as well, including the Celts and Goths. In turn they preached the Gospel to their own people outside the borders of the Roman Empire. This led to the introduction and establishment of Christianity in these regions. Despite persecution by various Roman Emperors, the number of converts grew to such an extend that Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 AC. In 380 AC, the last Emperor of the United Roman Empire, Theodoric the Great ( AC), declared Christianity as the official state religion.

2 Barbarians ( AC) In 410 AC Rome was conquered and plundered by the Visigoths, a Germanic tribe that originally came from the region known today as Sweden. Shortly afterwards, the Visigoths or "Barbarians", as some referred to them, and other Germanic tribes conquered large parts of Spain and modern-day France. In the same period, another Germanic tribe, the Vandals, that originated from the region known today as Denmark, also attacked the Roman Empire. Although the Vandals ruled parts of Spain, they were forced by the stronger Visigoths to move further south. In 429 AC they defeated the Roman armies in North Africa and took over the rule of the regions known today as Algeria and Morocco. By 476 AC the Western Roman Empire finally came to a fall. Start of missionary work In Britain, Christianity at first experienced a setback when the Barbarians forced the Christian Church back to Wales. However, British missionaries like Saint Patrick established a new church in Ireland. This church not only became the headquarters of Celtic Christianity, but also played a major role in sending missionaries to work among the Germanic conquerors. These Celtic missionaries established mission stations all over Europe. A similar group, who appeared later, was known as the Benedictines. They founded monastic communes where believers could contemplate their religion and also undergo religious training necessary for preaching the Gospel. These groups were well-known for their charitable work and other good deeds in communities. By 800 AC there were more than a thousand of these small missionary stations spread out over Europe. It was especially the Western Goths who accepted Christianity as their own and who became the first Germanic nation to acknowledge Christ. Another factor that played a prominent part in the evangelising of Europe was the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire came into being as a result of the unification of various European states and principalities - first under the rule of the Frankish king, Charlemagne ( AC), and later under various Germanic kings. Although it did not quite succeed in practice - especially after King Charlemagne's death - the Holy Roman Empire was established with the purpose of uniting Christians in the West into one secular state under one ruler - the Roman (Germanic) king. By the sixth century the Nestorian Church, a group who developed out of the Eastern Church, had already sent out missionaries to the Far East. Small Nestorian congregations were established in the south of India, Mongolia and China. Eventually most of these groups were overwhelmed by Islam and by the end of the sixteenth century the last of the Nestorians in India joined the Roman Catholic Church.

3 Vikings ( AC) The arrival of the Vikings - a Nordic tribe out of the Scandinavian countries - heralded the start of one of the darkest ages in history. The Vikings were great warriors as well as superb mariners. They differed from the Barbarians, who had conquered great parts of Europe four centuries earlier, in that they were absolutely ruthless. They were not evangelised and plundered Germany, Britain, Spain and even parts of Eastern Europe. The Vikings took special delight in plundering and burning churches, monasteries and missionary stations. Precious religious, historic, literary and scientific writings what were copied and collected with great care by the monks were destroyed. All other treasures were taken and monks and other believers were often brutally murdered or carried off as slaves. As has often happened in the history of the Christian Church, this tragedy eventually turned into a triumph. As time passed, many of the northern conquerors were in turn "conquered" by their victims and prisoners when they were converted to Christianity. The Norsemen and Danes, who conquered large parts of Europe, also eventually embraced Christianity. Their testimonies led to the founding of Christianity in the Scandinavian countries. At the end of this period, Pope Innocent III ( ) of Rome played an important role in the expansion of Christianity when he gave permission for the establishment of various new missionary organisations and mendicant orders. These monks - the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians and Karelians - even travelled through various countries to preach and administer rites. Arabian Muslims ( AC) As the Christian Church grew as an organisation in Europe and collected astronomical material wealth, power and membership numbers, they seem to have lost their earlier zeal for missionary work and the preaching of the Gospel. In the first millennium little was done to reach the Muslims in the Middle East with the Gospel. By the eleventh century the fast growth of Islam in the Middle East was considered a threat to the continued existence of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and the Orthodox Church. Millions of Christians were being killed or forced to accept Islam, while the "Holy City" (Jerusalem) also fell into the hands of the Muslims. The Byzantine emperor Alex Comnen appealed to the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire in the West for help. This resulted in the launching of at least eight great "holy wars" or crusades from 1095 until These crusades were led by European kings and princes and were approved of and blessed by the Pope. The aim was to free Jerusalem and the Christians of the Byzantine Empire from the Muslims (see article: "History of the Christian Church (II): The Middle Ages"). The Christian Church's sluggishness in preaching the Gospel to the Muslims - and therefore their remissness to be faithful to Christ's commission to preach the Gospel to the heathens - and their support of the Crusades still stand as an accusation against them. Although the Muslim

4 defenders were also guilty of cruelties, the Crusaders were without a doubt the aggressors, killing thousands of innocent men, women and children in the name of Christianity. Centuries later and still today these cruelties committed in the name of Christianity are still embedded in the minds of Muslims - images that are far removed from Jesus' message of love for one's neighbour, forgiveness, tolerance, grace and reconciliation. Not only did the Crusades fail to reach its military objectives, but it also played a large role in the failure of attempts to reach the Arabic nations. The plague and the Reformation ( AC) In the fourteenth century Europe was struck by a severe catastrophe that further inhibited the Church in preaching the Gospel to "all mankind". In 1346 the bubonic plague broke out and spread from Italy to Spain and then to France, England, the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia. When it was eventually brought under control four decades later, between one third and half of Europe's population had been decimated. Monasteries where monks and other spiritual leaders placed their lives on the line to treat patients were hardest hit. In the process, the Church lost many of its most devout leaders and thousands of missionaries. The resulting chaos within the structures of the European Church paved the way for the Reformation that took place during the sixteenth century (see article: "History of the Christian Church (IV): Reformation"). The Reformation was in fact a reaction against the absolute power and misuse of that power by the Roman Catholic Church. This lead to the division of the Christian Church into two main groups as we know it today - Protestantism and Roman Catholicism (see articles: "Christian Churches II: Protestantism" and Christian Churches III, IV and V: Roman Catholic Church"). To the ends of the earth ( ) In the era after the Reformation and the subsequent beginning of the Renaissance the missionary movement also experienced a revival. (The Renaissance brought about new scientific, artistic as well as philosophical ideas and discoveries that resulted in an unequalled period of growth and development in the West - see article: "The Renaissance (Revival)"). The explorations undertaken by colonial powers such as Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Britain, also led to the introduction of Christianity in the conquered countries. In 1622 the Holy Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith was founded in Rome. This body still co-ordinates the Roman Catholic Church's missionary activities. Protestant missionary organisations were only established some time later. One of the first was the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1861 in England. Another was the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel that was founded in 1701 and undertook missionary work in the British colonies.

5 The end of the eighteenth century heralded the start of the so-called first era in the modern history of Christian missions when the Church at last awoke from its slumber and tackled the "Great Commission" with renewed energy and zeal (see article: "Christian missionary movement II - The modern era"). By 1945, when the European nations were effectively ruling approximately 99% of the non- Western countries, the Gospel was already well established in most countries and among all the nations of the world. However, after two millenniums the Christian Church's command to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth is not nearly done. According to statistics released in 2000, there are at least tribes who have not been reached (where less than 50% of the population have heard the Gospel). This means that after more than years, less than a third of the world's population of six billion - approximately 1,6 billion - have not heard the Gospel Article written by Manie Bosman ( maniebosman@mweb.co.za) NB: SIEN GRAPHIC HIERONDER! IN APARTE RAAMPIE ASB: STATUS OF WORLD EVANGELISATION: 2000 AD 38 World A Countries Less than 50% evangelized.