Review of Missio Dei in A Digital Age

 

Missio Dei In A Digital Age, edited byJonas Kurlberg and Peter M. Phillips, London: SCM Press, 2020, 274+x pp., £25.00 (PBK). ISBN: 978-0-334-05847-2

The genesis of this book was a series of conference papers given in Durham in November 2018.  Thus, this book was written before the Covid 19 pandemic, although some chapters make fleeting reference to that. Thus, it would be interesting to look at how what is being talked about here relates to what we have seen in 2020. The book will be of particular interest to those who have a missiological interest, and those with an interest in the sociology of religion who have been charting the development of digital media. It would also be of interest to those who are interested in cultural studies.

After an introduction which sets the scene for the name checking of a lot of the key theorists of the late twentieth century which the book is peppered with part one looks at the Missiological Perspectives. Katherine G. Schmidt comes from a distinctly Catholic perspective which makes interesting use of pronouncements from successive pontiffs. Then comes a chapter from Jonny Baker about the place of imagination which I have to admit made me think deeply about one example of the what the digital sphere can achieve if imagination becomes action. Since the second week in lockdown a global community has grown with the World Story Telling Café. It is not a “religious” space, but it is one where the essence of God at work in the world might be recognised. The link with what is happening with the World Story Telling Café also came to mind in the following chapter by Rei Lumuel Crizaldo on Digital Theology: Practicing Local Theology in an Age of Global Technology. This chapter talks of the global south being able to disrupt the by sharing and developing their own theologies without having to continue to consume the constant dominant material from the north, particularly Europe and North America. The World Story Telling Café has developed in a way in which teller around the world are able to share their stories, and so their culture as well as sharing the influence of other cultures on them.

Baker, in the first part of the book is one of the first of what might be described as a group of elders who contribute to this collection. He is one of those who for over twenty years now has led discussion on missiology, coming in part from the post-evangelical and alt. worship movement. This linage becomes clearer in part two of the book on Missional Practices when we hear from Steve Hollinghurst, John Drane, Olive Fleming Drane and Maggi Dawn amongst others. Indeed it is something Maggi Dawn acknowledges directly within her chapter, where she looks at the parallel development of digital technology and the movement which grew from that latter 20^th which began with alt. worship. This familiarity with the voices and their previous writings over a couple of decades now is what makes this section of the book feel, to some extent like listening in on fireside reflections as the old guard, look back at what’s happened and the place of technology within it. They talk about the positive and the negative and make me smile as the now ancient debate about “online” and “offline” life and “real” and “unreal” is referred to. Those who may remember me blogging many years ago on the Wibsite as Tractor Girl will get that I’ve been around on the edges of these circles long enough to smile a wry smile at how far away that debate now seems. And to some extent reading the debate about the missio dei, what it is and how we understand it which occurs in this chapter has a similarly nostalgic feel. There are no real references to the more modern critiques of Bosch which have occurred. Rather within these chapters there is a settledness of it is what it is; although we need to get a bit more precise about our wording about what we mean by missio dei because it has become so widely used now. There is throughout a feeling this “in group” who’ve been working with it for years and know Bosch and Bart inside out know though. Thus, it is interesting whilst the need for precision is discussed it never is quite defined.

Within this second section Christian Grund Sorensen looks at the place of Google and algorithms in a way which is thought provoking. He talks of a lack of objectivity in what people see, and whilst I appreciate that I wonder what he would describe objective views of religion as? After all whilst we have generally come to accept now that subjectivity in interpretation is part of the reality of things and contextuality is important. It does remind us an important thing though, that what one member of a congregation or community sees will be different to others.

The chapter by Ekki Sutinen and Anthony-Paul Cooper which explores Interactive Technologies, Missio Dei and Grass Roots Activism takes up another recurring theme in this book about the change in who is producer and audience.

Part Three Public Theology and The Common Good has a particularly strong chapter by Alexander Chow on the Chinese church. It gives an introduction to discussions on “the persecuted church” which I had not come across before, by looking at the development of religion and persecution in a way I had not come across before. It made me realise that many of my images of the Chinese Church are stuck in the late twentieth century as I suspect many others are.

Peter M. Phillips sums up by making the point that this is the beginning of a discussion not the end. I would be interested in hearing what it would sound like if new, emerging voices like Molly Boot, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley were to join in, and if it became, through this a more obviously inter-generational discussion.

To be honest I found this a comfortable book to read, in part because I am of a certain generation which is looks back fondly on DIY and rave culture, post-evangelical experiments in alt. worship and has been using older forms of digital technology for years now but also remembers life before. I also totally buy into the view of what the missio dei is that these theorists showed me, through the books and blog posts I devoured in the nineties and into the noughties. The work of Castells, Postman, Bosch and others are old friends to me who I revisited in this book.

Do I recommend it, yes, of course I do; these are the foundational elders at the campfire chatting via an academic book. Did I learn something? Yes, particularly from Chow. Do I think it could be far more radical? Yes, this is gentle, but as Pete Phillips points out it is the beginning of a wider conversation.