Why New Testament Mission?
The Undergraduate Certificate in New Testament Mission equips students to interpret the New Testament missionally and create biblically-based missional practices to join the mission of God in neighborhoods, communities, and societies. The courses students take as part of this certificate prepare them to assess ministry approaches in terms of a missional hermeneutic and implement missional approaches that emanate from the biblical text but applied to contemporary multicultural, multiethnic, multi religious settings. By completing this undergraduate certificate, you will gain the following abilities:
- Ability to approach the New Testament from a missional perspective while grounding your understanding in first-century cultures, its complex story-like unity with the Old Testament, and its multifaceted witness to the climactic nature of Jesus and his work.
- Ability to articulate the message of Jesus, the training methods he used, how he collaborated with others, how he demonstrated his compassion for individuals and groups, and how he discipled his followers to take the good news to others.
- Ability to articulate the message and methods of the disciples as they carried out Christian mission in the first century and how they contextualized their approach in light of the unique first-century cultures they faced.
- Ability to articulate the theology of the Apostle Paul through consideration of his role as a missionary and his message, task, methods, tactics and missional goals as he followed the Holy Spirit's direction, financed his missional enterprise, and responded to suffering and urbanized societies.
- Ability to examine key themes in the outworking of the mission of God in areas such as the people of God, suffering and persecution, the shame/dishonour of ancient society and how that influences understanding the biblical text, the believer as pilgrim and resident aliens and the challenges of submission to authorities and maintaining a courageous witness to the Lord.
- Ability to examine overarching themes of redemption, reconciliation, restoration, renewal and resurrection in light of the theological, economic, social, and ethical implications in the Old and New Testaments and their bearing on ethics and eschatology (theological considerations of death, judgment and final destiny of the soul and humankind).
The student who lives missionally in the world must be biblically grounded. The biblical foundation is established by encountering and engaging the biblical text on its terms. This underscores the need to understand approaches to reading and studying Scripture, its languages, its genres, and its message of redemption. Through the Undergraduate Certificate in New Testament Mission, students learn how to approach the New Testament from a missional perspective and how God's people are to proclaim, enact, and embody the gospel today.
