4. The public theology of David Bosch
4.1 Introduction
Throughout this study Smit’s conclusion (2008), that our ecclesiology will to a large
degree determine our public theology, has been importanct. Now that we have at least
painted a general picture of Bosch’s ecclesiology, we need to consider his understanding
of what it is that the church should be doing in the world. For Bosch this was what he
called . A short comparison between Bosch and the field of public theology alsomission
needs to be made, after which we can attempt to sketch a picture of what the public role
of theology plays in the Bosch’s understanding.
4.2 The scope of mission and the scope of public theology
This heading refers to two articles. The one was written by Bosch in 1984, titled The
scope of Mission The scope of Public Theology
4, the other by Forrester in 2004, titled .
What follows is not simply a comparison between the two. I will also look at other
writings of Bosch, as well as other writings from the field of public theology.
4.2.1 The scope of mission for Bosch
Bosch’s important publication, (1980), is structured around theWitness to the World
tension between the “evangelical” and “ecumenical” models of mission. He concluded
that the evangelical approach might lead to a narrowing of the scope of the gospel, while
the ecumenical approach may lead to a watering down of the gospel (Conradie
2005:558). Similarly, the article which bears the same title as this section reacts against
two reductionist positions concerning the church’s mission: the one interpreting it in
narrow evangelistic categories, the other in liberationist categories (Bosch 1984:18).
4This was the publication of a 1982 sermon at the Church Missionary Society
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In this article Bosch expounds his exegesis of ,The Gospel According to Matthew
especially chapter 28:18-20, to counter the interpretation which says that this text talks
about leading non-Christians to a first commitment to Christ (make disciples), which only
then must be followed by a stage of “perfecting” (teaching them to observe) (Bosch
1984:19). As Bosch explains, the is not something which follows teaching making
disciples, but qualifies the main verb “make disciples” (Bosch 1984:24). Bosch
summarizes the content of the in two words: justice and love (Bosch 1984:26).teaching
“In summary then: Jesus has commanded the fulfilling of the Law which is the practice
of justice-love. To love the other person means to have compassion for him or her to see
that justice is done. Love of neighbour and enemy manifests itself in justice” (Bosch
1984:27). He endorses the words of Waldron Scott who wrote: “One must understand
discipleship in order to make disciples, and discipleship is not fully biblical apart from a
commitment to social justice…. To be a disciple is to be committed to the King and his
