Biblical Foundations for 21st Century World Mission

1. God is the first missionary. God was the first missionary. He spoke of judgment, but also of grace. Immediately after the Fall of man, when humanity's history already appeared doomed, God did not leave things as they were. Rather, in his grace he himself came into the Garden of Eden to search for Adam and Eve and to ask, ""Where are you?"" (Genesis 3:9). Like every good missionary, God was not deterred by the fact that humanity did not want to hear the good news. He proclaimed judgment to them, and then he proclaimed the coming redemption (Genesis 3:14-21). If a missionary is someone who brings the message of judgment and God's gracious answer for that judgment to people, not all of whom want to hear it (John 1:11: ""He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him""), then God himself is and was the first missionary."" (Thesis 1) Prof. Dr. theol. Dr. phil. Thomas Schirrmacher, PhD, ThD, DD (born 1960), serves the World Evangelical Alliance [networking 600 million Protestants] as Associate Secretary General for Theological Concerns (responsible for Theology, Intrafaith and Interfaith Relations, Religious Freedom and Persecution) and as Chair of its Theological Commission. As President of the International Council of the International Society for Human Rights (with sections in 55 countries), and as Director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom (Bonn, Cape Town, Colombo, Sao Paulo), Schirrmacher is one of the leading experts on human rights worldwide and regularly testifies in parliaments and courts worldwide, the OSCE and the UN in Geneva and New York. Schirrmacher is visiting professor of the sociology of religion at the state University of the West in Timisoara (Romania) and Distinguished Professor of Global Ethics and International Development at William Carey University in Shillong (Meghalaya, India). He is president of 'Martin Bucer European Theological Seminary' (Bonn, Berlin, Prague, Istanbul, Sao Paulo), where he teaches ethics and comparative religions. His has authored and edited 102 books, which were translated into 17 languages, his newest dealing with 'Suppressed Women' (2015), 'Corruption' (2014), 'Human Rights' (2012), 'Human trafficking' (2011), 'Fundamentalism' (2010) and 'Racism' (2009).