Overview of the PeriodRoman Decline

Spread of Islam & Buddhism

Splintering of Orthodoxy

The winning of Europe

The turning tide

•Roman Empire is in decay and breaking up•Cultural identification with Rome/Greece/Copts/Syria becomes a disadvantage•Islamic armies sweep Christianity out of North Africa, Persia, and Arabia. Buddhism supplants the faith in Asia•Celtic, Roman, Orthodox, Nestorian, and splinter groups resist each other•Celtic and Roman missionaries worked throughout the continent and in Britain•Europe was basically Christian by 1215AD•Turks were pushed back from carrying Islam into Europe proper•Muslims invaders were stopped in Spain and slowly pushed back into Northern Africa•European exploration carried Christianity around the world

Ch. 12 – Medieval and Renaissance Missions (500-1792)

Last Updated: April 9, 2023

• Christianity did NOT spread throughout the world in the first five centuries.

• Christianity DID spread throughout the Roman empire in the first five centuries – a tremendous accomplishment!

Nestorian Church

Christianization of Europe

Encountering Islam

•Premier missionaries of this period•Spread Christianity to the caravan cities of Asia•Introduced the faith to China in 635AD

•Spread rapidly to over 100 cities•Endured for two centuries

•Celts a strong missionary force•Based in Ireland•Evangelized Britain and northern Europe•Columba most influential with his missionary training centers

•Roman monks also spread the faith widely•Prevailed in Britain, Germany and Scandinavia•Used missionaries from Columba’s training centers to win Scandinavia

•Byzantine branch of the faith reaches eastern Europe•Compete with Roman branch, divide in 1054AD•Establish orthodox churches in Russia and other eastern areas

•Islamic armies and missionaries spread their faith rapidly in the 7 th , 8th, and 15th century, threatening the demise of Christianity•The violent response of the Crusades is a bitter failure of Christianity which left a legacy of hate in Muslim lands

Advance and Retreat (500-1215)

Roman Catholic Missions

Representative Missionaries

• Dominated Europe politically, culturally, economically, and religiously

• The rise of missions corresponded to the exploration of other lands and the building of European colonial empires

• Raymond Lull – first missiologist, first training center specifically to reach Muslims

• 1493AD papal bull dividing world into Portuguese and Spanish spheres of influence made missions an arm of government

• French missions did extensive work as well – Canada is part of that legacy

• The Propaganda (1622) sought to centralize missions

• Francis Xavier – south India, Malay Peninsula , Japan• Matteo Ricci – contextualized approach to China• Father Legaspi - Philippines• Robert de Nobili – contextualized approach to India• Bartolomew de las Casas – champion of SA Indians• Jesuit reductions in Paraguay – Christian communities of faith

Reaction and Renewal (1215-1650)

Orthodox, Dissident, and Protestant Missions

Orthodox Missions

Dissidents

Protestant Reformers and Missions

• Not as missionary, tending to introvert in monasticism and asceticism

• Maintaining close ties with political system, so expansion was seen as primarily political

• Spread the faith to Finland, Russia and among the Slavic peoples

• There existed many more evangelical groups, suppressed and persecuted by the dominant religious group

• Examples: Petrobrusians, Arnoldists, Henricians, Waldensians, Bohemian Brethren, Lollards, Hussites, and Taborites

• The Magisterial Reformers (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin) lacked missionary zeal

• Many cultural, social, and political factors contributed to this lack of missionary fervor

• There were, however, isolated individuals who attempted missions – usually with little success

Roman Catholic MIssions

Protestant Precursors

•Propaganda Fide redefines missions •Freed from Spanish and Portuguese control•More secular clergy to counter the monastic orders•Indigenous clergy as fast as possible

•Contextual approaches are rebuffed•India – Nobili’s philosophy rejected•China – Rite’s controversy – Roman practice to be duplicated in every detail•Jesuits suppressed then abolished in 1767

•Pietism spawned spiritual renewal and missions•The Danish-Halle mission in Tranquebar•Greenland mission

•Moravian missions was the most influential•Count Zinzendorf promoted missions his whole life•He sheltered a community of Moravians on his lands•Moravians started missions worldwide

Reform and Revival (1650-1792)