A comprehensive overview of the historical expansion of Christianity from a missionary perspective. The seminar differs from a church history seminar in that the focus is upon factors in the spread of Christianity with regard to the agents and methods involved rather than on the development of theology and the church councils.

A thorough examination of the theology of missions, beginning with the development of a biblical basis for a proper understanding of God’s mission in the world and continuing through an analysis of historical perspectives on missions and concluding with the development of a biblically based contemporary theology of missions.

An investigation of the components of strategies for world evangelization. These components include planning, management, targeting specific people groups, maximizing the available resources, and analyzing methods to accomplish this task in a cross-cultural setting. Additional areas of investigation include the practicality and urgency of world evangelism, the principles and methods for the planting and development of indigenous churches, and contextualization on the mission field.

A survey of significant aspects of cultural concepts and social organization that have practical relevance to effective missionary communication of the Gospel in a culturally heterogeneous world. Special attention is given to family structure, kinship webs, tribal authority, and decision-making within a communal society. This course is also a study of the phenomenon of traditional religions in the missionary context, examining the primary characteristics of traditional religious expressions such as animism, the spirit world, demon possession, magic, religious specialists, veneration of ancestors, and concepts of God, even in the more developed formal religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.