What is it about?
Christians believe that God is at work in the world. This article describes how we can do empirical research in a way that recognises this, and seeks to discover more about how God is at work in people's lives and/or the world. It provides an example from the author's PhD on why people become Christians today.
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Why is it important?
Practical theologians and missiologists often borrow their research methodologies from the social sciences. Those methodologies are great, but they usually bracket or discount any possibility of God's involvement in the world. This paper demonstrates that does not need to be the case. Rigorous research, attentive to God's work, is possible. In addition, the article outlines how and why contemporary conversion to Christianity occurs.
Perspectives
I hope you'll find this article helpful, either as you consider how to do good practical theology/missiology that has "room" for God to be at work, and/or as you seek to understand how God is at work, drawing people into relationship with God.
Lynne Taylor
University of Otago
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Making Room for the Missio Dei in Missiological Research, Mission Studies, May 2020, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/15733831-12341696.
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