Prof. Joy Thomas SVD, Chair in Christianity, University of
Mysore, India.
E-mail:
vidyaniketan@eth.net/jomysvd@hotmail.com
Abstract
Mission in the Context of Universities
From the introduction:
It is fashionable today to speak of paradigm
shifts. The extra ecclesiam nulla salus paradigm before Vatican II gave way to
“all religions are ways of salvation” after the great Council. The Second
Vatican Council was a very significant event in the history of the Church. Our
response to the renewed vision, proposed by the Council, in tune with the
changing conditions of the world and the reading the signs of the time, can be
described as a paradigm shift in the traditional Christian Mission. Thomas Kuhn
introduced the term paradigm shift and showed how almost every significant break
through in the field of scientific endeavour is first a break with tradition,
with old ways of thinking, with old paradigms.
In this sense the presence of a “missionary” in a Secular
University in India, that too as Professor to a Chair, could be seen as a
consequence of a paradigm shift in the missionary thinking of the Church. The
original purpose of our missionary service as recorded in the opening number of
the SVD Constitution reads, “Since God wills that all be saved and come to the
knowledge of the truth, he sent his Son as redeemer to form the one people of
God from all nations through the power of the Spirit. Our missionary service
helps gather the scattered children of the Lord and hasten the hour when all
will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (101). What is then the meaning and
purpose of ‘mission’ in the context of universities?
Intended for the workshop "World Religions and Mission"
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