Fr Bart Parys SVD

Postmodernism and Mission. An Attempt at Synthesis

M.A. thesis in missiology (2011). English translation of the Polish original: Postmodernizm i misje. Próba syntezy. The translation is being published chapter by chapter.

Abstract

This M.A. thesis examines the relationship between postmodernism and the Catholic theology of mission. Postmodernism is a multidimensional phenomenon embracing different fields of culture, human thought and everyday life. The thesis focuses on the presentation of postmodern philosophical assumptions with particular reference to theological thinking: human dignity, ethics, and the relationship to transcendent values.

The second chapter presents the development of the contemporary theology of mission in the Catholic Church, shaped by the great schools of missionary thought — Münster, Louvain, Burgos and the French school — and culminating in the Second Vatican Council, especially the Decree on the Church's missionary activity Ad Gentes, a milestone in the understanding of the Church's mission, later developed in Evangelii nuntiandi, Redemptoris missio and the rich reflection of contemporary theologians.

The presentation of the main assumptions of postmodernity and of the contemporary Catholic understanding of mission allows the third chapter to examine the attempts to conceive the Church's mission in postmodern categories, and the challenges faced by a missionary working in a postmodern context. As the critical analysis demonstrates, it is not possible to carry out Catholic mission on postmodern assumptions: every such combination entails the loss of the identity of the Christian message handed on for centuries by the Church's missionary work.

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Chapter I. A Characterisation of Postmodernism
  3. Chapter II. The Contemporary Missiological Thought of the Church
  4. Chapter III. Mission and Postmodernism — An Attempt at Synthesis
  5. Conclusion

⬇ Download the complete English translation (PDF)

For the bibliography and the original scholarly apparatus, see also the Polish original and its PDF edition.