The Missional Implications of the Theology of H. Richard Niebuhr

Abstract

The significance of the work of H. Richard Niebuhr for the field of mission studies has not yet been fully explored. Yet, as Edward Poitras put it, his “theological perspective throughout most of his career contained an implicit missionary dynamic.” This article argues that Niebuhr’s lifelong reflections on God’s sovereignty, the paradoxical and dialectical relationship between the church and the world, and the concept of conversion as a continuing, ever-renewed process have profound implications for missiological thinking today. It looks into, inter alia, Niebuhr’s influence on the International Missionary Conference at Willingen in 1952 and examines his essay “An Attempt at a Theological Analysis of Missionary Motivation,” one of his few writings of direct relevance to missional practice.