본 논문은 한국선교신학회가 「선교신학」 학술지를 통해서 지난 30년 동안 다룬 선교학적 주제들을 고찰한다. 「선교신학」에서 중점적으 로 다룬 주제 중에는 “하나님의 선교,” “선교적 교회,” “이민, 다문화, 디아스포라 선교” 이렇게 세 가지 중심주제들이 있다. 각각의 주제들은 선교신학적으로 매우 중요한 주제들이기 때문에 본 논문에서는 해당 주제들이 갖는 선교적 의미를 간략히 살펴보고, 「선교신학」에 실린 논문들의 저자와 제목을 중심으로 연구자들이 해당 주제들을 어떻게 다루었는지를 연구한다. 이를 통해 한국선교신학회가 지난 30년 동안 「선교신학」을 통해서 선교신학 연구영역에서 어떤 역할을 했는지 살펴 보고, 앞으로 어느 부분에 대한 연구가 더 필요한지 고찰하고자 한다. 보다 발전된 선교신학적 연구를 위해서 연구자는 앞으로 「선교신학」에 선교지역별 연구, 선교역사 연구, 그리고 국내선교단체 및 NGO 단체에 관한 연구를 제안한다.

Revelation was written by the apostle John during the reign of Roman emperor Domitianus(AD 81-96). This book is an epistle to seven churches in Minor Asia. The book of Revelation was written to encourage Christians to have victory over Satan and the evil powers during times of persecution. The Roman Empire required Christians to worship the emperors. Christians were persecuted because they refused to worship the emperor as lord. Revelation is relevant to missions in that Jesus Christ died for all humankind whether Jews or Gentile. All tribe, tongue, people, and nation will gather together to praise the Lord, the Lamb of God. Jesus’ death provided atonement for sinners regardless of race, tongue, people, and nation. Jesus’ death and resurrection provided the way for all people groups to enter the kingdom of God. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ will enter the new earth and the heaven. Revelation highlights martyrdom in the midst of persecution and suffering under the rule of Roman Empire. Christians endured persecution by keeping faith in Jesus Christ and expecting His second coming with the holy angels to judge the evil and destroy Satan’s reign. As Tertullian said, “martyr’s blood is the seed of church,” Revelation encouraged Christians to maintain their eschatological faith and spread the gospel in the midst of persecution by the Roman Empire. Revelation maintains that the slaughtered Lamb of God is worthy to open the scroll and break it’s seals. Jesus Christ is praised and worshipped by angels, living creatures, and elders. Jesus is glorified because He was slain to save the sinners. He is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, honor, glory, and might because His blood provided a ransom for humankind providing propitiation to God. Jesus will be worshipped by all the saints from every tribe, language, people, and nation. Revelation shows that God’s cosmic sovereignty has been challenged by Satan and his demons since Adam and Eve fell. Likewise, the church has been challenged by Satan when carrying out its mission mandate. Satan deceives the body of Christ causing the church to doubt God’s power and justice as well as God’s grace. The church must struggle with Satan in the world; however, God has the final victory over Satan. Revelation reveals that the history of salvation began with Eden but will end with the new earth and the heaven. God’s promise in protevangelium will be fulfilled in the city of New Jerusalem. The seven churches in Asia Minor had a strong hope that they would overcome Satan’s power although they struggled with Satan in the midst of persecution and affliction. The church today needs to endure necessary hardships in the course of carrying out God’s mission. God is always with Christ’s church. The Holy Spirit is working to accomplish God’s will for the church.a

The Apostle Paul was a great theologian and an excellent missionary. His theology is missional and his missions were theological. Paul focused on communicating the Gospel message cross-culturally while planting churches all over the Roman empire in order to extend the kingdom of God. He devoted his total life to this crucial work. The Gospel which Paul communicated to many people groups was that Jesus Christ had died on the cross and rose from the dead according to the prophecies of the Scriptures to redeem the humankind in the world. This redemption is not possible by human work or by keeping the Law, but through believing in Jesus Christ who is the only Saviour and Lord. The primary purpose of Paul's life since he had been called by the Lord was to become an apostle for the Gentiles who were yet to be Christians. He made three cross-cultural mission trips after he had been sent by the Church in Antioch. He made a final mission trip to the city of Rome after he had been arrested at Jerusalem, and preached the Gospel to the people in Rome. Paul's ministry was centered on cross-cultural evangelism and church planting work. He committed himself wholly to boldly proclaim the Gospel and plant healthy churches throughout the world by crossing racial, linguistic, and religious barriers. He employed multiple methods of evangelism at different areas and times. Paul stressed urban evangelism by choosing cities as strategic points to evangelize the people in remote surrounding areas. Further, he carried out his evangelistic work with good team workers like Timothy and Titus. He usually began his ministry at homes so that he could plant house churches which became large churches. Paul's missions were based on the solid practical theology which tried to contextualize the Gospel in different cultures so that the Gospel could be meaningfully communicated to the people whom he was called to serve. He was always guided by the Holy Spirit when he attempted to move to another area to share the Gospel. According to Paul, Church needs to be a missional church which maintains the balance between evangelism and social service. He was a model for a witness-martyr community. He was concerned with not only preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, but also having a compassion ministry to the Church in Jerusalem. He preached the unchangeable message of the Gospel to people across changeable cultures.

The Acts of the Apostles historically and geographically demonstrates how churches were planted from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth through the Gospel message which the apostles were called to preach. The apostles witnessed Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord who was crucified and resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit in accordance with God's will. This study attempts to point out some missiological themes revealed in Acts and to apply them in mission studies and on the mission fields. First, Acts demonstrates that the Gospel message was preached and the churches were planted in various countries through out Asia and Europe by the power of the Holy Spirit. Both dimensions of "seeing" and "hearing" the Gospel message were rarely illustrated apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. The apostles Peter and Paul, as well as laity like Stephen and Phillip who were filled with the Holy Spirit, courageously preached the Gospel message. As a result, the Gospel message was finally communicated to Rome, the end of the world at that time. Second, Acts seeks universality in terms of Gentile missions. The Gospel message whose essence is the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the salvific message which is able to save all humans whether they are Jew or Gentile. The apostle Peter realized the significance of Gentile missions through the vision of meal and the apostle Paul through the Lord's voice on the way to the city of Damascus. The Gospel message was communicated across races, cultures, languages, and lands. Third, Acts confirms that Gentiles did not have to become culturally Jewish to be saved. In other words, they did not need to be circumcised to become a Christian. What they needed to do to be saved was to repent of their sins and to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. Acts solidifies the principle of justification by faith. Further, Acts maintains that people can become Christians in their own culture. Fourth, Acts shows that the apostle Paul preached the Gospel message in the city of Athens. At that time, Athens was an open city and the center of philosophy and religion. Paul contextualized the Gospel message of Jesus Christ in the city. For example, he cited Greek poems when he preached the Gospel message to the Greeks in the meeting of the Areopagus so that the Greeks could easily understand the Gospel message. Consequently, some Greeks became Christians. However, Paul attempted critical contextualization. Fifth, Acts reveals that the Apostle Paul carried out urban missions throughout Asia and Europe. Paul chose central cities in various areas in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and reached the different people groups in the central cities. The people in the cities would be more open than the people in the rural areas to the Gospel message of Christianity. Acts reveals that urban evangelism was more effective. Sixth, Acts is regarded as a historical book of the church. The early churches planted by some apostles experienced considerable growth numerically, geographically, and spiritually. Church growth demonstrated in Acts is biblically healthy and has balanced growth. The essence of church growth is to make Christlike disciples in every nation and to make them responsible members of the church. The apostle Paul not only planted churches but he also nurtured believers as Christlike disciples. As a result, churches became indigenized in different cultures. Evangelism and missions are God's strong desire. God not only seeks sinners but also finds them. He sent His only begotten Son to the world and let Him die on the cross to save the lost. He saves people who truly repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. Acts is the book which discusses the process of evangelization and church planting from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth with the power of the Holy Spirit and in accordance of God's salvific plan. Churches today need to continue the work started in the Acts of the Apostles.

The Gospel of Mark was written around A.D. 70 earlier than other Gospel Books. This Gospel reflected the cultural and historical contexts in which Mark the author of the Gospel lived. Mark did not merely write about the life and work of Jesus Christ, but also contextualized His life and ministry theologically for his community of faith. This paper focuses on how Mark's view and his understanding of Jesus' mission can be interpreted and applied to modern cross-cultural missions. According to this study, the Gospel of Mark is significantly missional and therefore his community of faith was mission-oriented. The center of the Gospel is Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again among the dead three days after his death. When He died, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Then a Roman centurion confessed, "Surely this man was the Son of God" (Mk15:39). When He rose on the first day of the week, the sun shone brightly. The power of darkness disappeared. Jesus' disciples were called and trained by their Master to become fishers of men (Mk1:17). For about three years they were always together with their Lord. However, they were scattered when their Lord Jesus Christ was arrested and persecuted by Jewish leaders under Pilate. Some women from Galilee followed Him to Golgotha, where He was crucified. Judas betrayed Him. Peter confessed that he would never leave Him alone. However, he denied Him three times before the rooster crowed twice (Mk14:30). The disciples were rebuked by their Lord because they did not understand God's salvific will, that is, Jesus' death and His resurrection for the whole mankind (Mk10:45). The Gospel of Mark reveals that the primary purpose of His incarnation was to proclaim the Kingdom of God, the core of the Gospel (Mk1:38). The Kingdom of God was already initiated through His ministry among the people who were physically sick, economically poor, and socially isolated. It can be established and expanded through His presence and the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was forsaken completely by His Father, the God Almighty, for our sins. The Gospel of Mark denies any forms of imperialism in which Christendom, rather than Christianity is expanded through weapons under the name of Jesus Christ. The Gospel does not show the easy or successful ways of mission. Rather, to follow Jesus Christ the Gospel points to the cross which every Christian should bear. Jesus Christ will come again in clouds with great power and glory (Mk13:26). Whoever follows Him to die with Him will rise with Him on the Day of His coming. The Lord will gather His people from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens (Mk13:27). The work of God enables the Gospel to meet receptive hearts and the Kingdom of God will be accomplished.