The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

The article analyzes the concept of Christian mission based on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, the latest documents of the Catholic Church and scientific research in the field of mission; it records the changes that occurred in the theory and methodology of the mission in the middle of the 20th century. The author examines the relationship between mission and the revelation of the Divine life, mission and the Church, as well as mission and theology. According to St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica and his classification of mission, the mission of the Church originates in the Father in heaven and unfolds in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. The mission acquires an eschatological character, being not just a way of multiplying the church, but a witness to the eschatological Kingdom of God. Considering the connection between ecclesiology and mission, the author sees it as a movement generated by the Kingdom of God in human history. Since Christ’s saving work is universal and in historical perspective precedes the incarnation, the church is also faced with the task of saving those who, after Christ’s coming, do not yet know Him. Finally, the connection between theology and mission manifested itself in the 20th century in the gradual formation of missiology as an independent theological discipline. Previously, mission was considered primarily as a pastoral practice, but in the 19th and 20th centuries, theologians considered the concept of “mission theology”, and missiology became an independent theological discipline. Looking forward, the author envisages a shift from a theology of mission to a fully missional theology.