Here in Chicago James Chukwuma Okoye has been teaching at Catholic Theological Union since the late 1990s. James has been looking deeply at how the Scriptures interact with culture in every way we see the world. One thing I have been really impressed with was his paper that discusses how to make the Eucharist truly african in it’s liturgy. Check it out!
I recently had the privilege of reading his 2006 book Israel and the Nations (
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books) in which Okoye argues that the Hebrew scriptures have a trajectory through which we can trace God choosing a people out of the world so that he can save all of the world using them.
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books) in which Okoye argues that the Hebrew scriptures have a trajectory through which we can trace God choosing a people out of the world so that he can save all of the world using them.
In it he lays out the “four faces of mission” that can be seen in the Hebrew Bible, and explores passages that demonstrate them. The “four faces of mission” are ways that we can see God revealing God’s own self in the Hebrew Scripture (and today). - Universality of salvation (ch 3-5) This shows God’s purpose in setting up a universal (literally!) reign.
- Community in mission(ch 6-8)
This shows how God set apart a community to be a pattern for personal and social life that draws people in. - Centripetal mission (ch 10-11)
This shows how God draws all nations into those who are set apart. - Centrifugal Mission (ch 12-14)
This shows the aspect of mission that goes out and engages in proselytizing.
(Chapters 1,2 and 9 set the historical and theological framework for all of this)
I personally found this book to be useful on a number of levels.
- It helped me create a framework to better understand the various dimensions of God’s own missionary activity. It showed God’s universal sovereignty but also demonstrated his scandalous particularity.
- It gave me a perspective on both the individual and communal face of mission. God has called me but has not called me independent of others.
- The book is a great resource for Biblical study too. I loved how the chapters were built around the scriptures rather then simply ideas.
- This book also gives a great history of mission activity in the church in recent years and focuses on the Catholic perspective. For me this was such a great resource to have. My wife is a faithful Catholic woman and I found that this piece really helped me understand her church’s perspective on missions a great deal more
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