Today the language of mission is in disarray. Where do the language and idea of 'mission' come from? Do they truly have precedence in the early centuries of the church? Michael Stroope investigates these questions and shows how the language of mission is a modern phenomenon that shaped a 'grand narrative' of mission. He then offers a way forward.

Prologue
Acknowledgements
Introduction: the enigma of mission

Part 1: Justifying mission
1. Partisans and apologists
2. Reading Scripture as mission
3. Presenting history as mission
4. Rhetoric and trope

Part 2: Innovating mission
5. Holy conquest
6. Latin occupation
7. Mission vow
8. Ignatian mission

Part 3: Revising mission
9. Protestant reception
10. Missionary problems

Epilogue: towards pilgrim witness
Works cited