Missions
Missions are efforts to spread religion.
Christian Missions
Jesus Christ ordered his disciples go forth and teach all nations (Matt. 28:19); Christian missions are the response to this command. The history of missions is, to a large extent, the history of the spread and growth Christianity from its origins in the Holy Land, to the Roman Empire, Europe and beyond. the Acts of the Apostles, written by Saint Paul, is the chronicle of the furst Christian missions.
[[File:Paul mission1.jpg|thumb|330]
Other religions
Judaism
Judaism sponsored missionary work in the early Roman empire. Jews came to think of their God not merely as a national deity but as the ruler of all humankind. Though Israel was his chosen people, God had a plan to benefit all people through them. Israel was to be the "suffering servant," whose sorrows would be a blessing to all humanity. The destruction of Jersualem by Titus in 70 AD dealt a major blow. Missionary activity largely ended after Emperor Hadrian crushed the Jewish rebellion in 131 AD and dispersed the Jewish residents of Palestine.
Further reading
- Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity (7 vol 1937-45)
- Neill, Stephen,and Owen Chadwick. History of Christian Missions (2nd ed. 1991) excerpt and text search
- Robert, Dana. Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion (2009) brif summary excerpt and text search