My writing on missional hermeneutics; imposter syndrome in academia; and Church planting and missional hermeneutics

Welcome to my newsletter, ‘Bible, Mission, and More’, where I share what’s on my mind as I teach, research, and write on the Bible and mission, children-at-risk in the Bible and contemporary society, Psalms and Wisdom Literature, and a range of other topics. I teach at All Nations Christian College in the UK, though views are my own. You may also like to check out my Bible and Mission website.

Each Tuesday I’ll share something I’ve read, something I’ve written or recorded, something on learning and teaching, and a quote to reflect on.

Something read – Church planting and missional hermeneutics

What does it mean to read the Bible missionally in particular ministry contexts? Charles E. Cotherman explores missional hermeneutics in relation to church planting in his 2019 chapter ‘How Do We Discern God’s Activity in Scripture and in Our Community? The Missio Dei and the Missional Hermeneutic.’

Part of the volume, Sent to Flourish: A Guide to Planting and Multiplying Churches (edited by Cotherman and Len Tang; IVP), Cotherman’s chapter is, happily, available in full from the publisher’s website as part of a free sample from the book.

Cotherman offers a helpful, brief overview of the development of the idea of missio Dei and ‘missional’ church. He then explores the idea of ‘following the sending God’, majoring on the need to experience God and embrace the Scriptures, both essential aspects of sustaining ministry. So, he says, ‘In short, we need both a missional pneumatology (i.e., a missional understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit) and a missional hermeneutic (i.e., a missional framework for understanding Scripture).’ (p. 15)

Developing the idea of a missional hermeneutic he accounts for the movement of the church’s biblical basis of mission from focusing on particular texts to more of a whole-Bible approach. He then discusses ‘missional sensibilities’ (pp. 21-25):

• Jesus cultivated a lifestyle of prayer

• Jesus was at home in the Scriptures

• Jesus walked the streets

• Jesus knew his context

• Jesus trusted in God

I appreciated Cotherman’s reflections on how a missional reading of the Bible fits within the wider ministry and spirituality of those involved in church planting. There is still so much work to be done to apply the many wonderful insights of missional hermeneutics to specific ministry contexts and practices. This is a welcome example of what this could look like.

You can read the whole chapter for free by accessing the product sample on the publisher’s website. Click on the ‘Start reading’ icon to download the PDF.

Something written – My writing on missional hermeneutics

If people ask me what my areas of focus are I usually say I concentrate on two things: missional readings of the Bible, and children-at-risk in the Bible and contemporary society. Although I do write and teach on broader areas (as evidenced not least in my substack posts!) it is these two topics that I usually orbit around.

You can find an overall listing of all my publishing and speaking on my website: Tim’s Writing. However I recently listed in a substack post my work focused on children-at-risk, which I thought was a helpfully way of setting these out for those more interested in that aspect. To that end here is a list of my various writing and speaking projects on missional readings of the Bible, or missional hermeneutics. There is some overlap, of course, as sometimes I am able to combine the two areas. I’ve also put links to relevant substack posts or more details (if available). In a number of cases these includes details of how to get access.

Forthcoming

• Davy, Tim J. ‘Towards a Missional Reading of Ecclesiastes’ (forthcoming in edited volume by Tyndale Fellowship Old Testament study group). Substack post

Completed projects

• Davy, Tim. J. ‘Connecting a Missional Reading of Psalm 10 with the Trafficking, Abuse, and Exploitation of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in Europe.’ In Stepping Out of the Traffick: Pausing for Theological Reflection on Christian Response to Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking, edited by Glenn Miles and Christa Foster Crawford with Bill Prevette, 135–154. Oxford: Regnum, 2024. Substack post

  

• ‘Missional readings of the Bible: looking back and looking forward’ paper recorded for Global Mission Forum held in Korea. 2023. Substack post

• ‘Reading Genesis 1–12 within the Context of Mission to, for, with and by Vulnerable Children’’ paper given at Tyndale Fellowship Old Testament Study Group, High Leigh conference centre. 2023

• Presented at Mission Research Network Mission Studies Day: ‘Lament, Joy, and a Missional Reading of Job’. 2022

• Davy, Tim J. The Book of Job and the Mission of God: A Missional Reading. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2020. More details here

  

• Lecture in OCMS Montague Barker Lecture series, ‘Missional Hermeneutics: trends, problems, and what the next decade will bring’. 2019.

• Gave paper at Trinity College, Bristol, Doctoral Research Seminar: ‘Reading the Book of Job Missionally, with Special Reference to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children’. 2017.

• Plenary session being given at the annual conference of the Norwegian Council for Mission and Evangelism (NORME), Oslo: ‘The Authority of the Bible and its Consequences for Mission’. 2017.

• ‘Missional Hermeneutics Bibliography’, co-written with Michael Goheen, in Reading the Bible Missionally (Eerdmans). 2016. I now curate and update this at https://bibleandmission.org.uk/missional-hermeneutics-bibliography/

  

• Paper at Global Connections Mission Educators Forum: ‘Bible and Mission after Bosch’. 2016.

• Speaker at Global Mission Conference, London: ‘Reading Scripture as an Invitation to Global Mission’. 2016.

• World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission Global Consultation, Panama. ‘Ted’-style ‘MissioTalk’: ‘The Book of Job: Finding polycentric mission in unlikely biblical places’. 2016.

• Seminar for local churches at Redcliffe College: ‘Making it Missional: a fresh approach to preaching, reading and studying the Bible’. 2016.

• Paper given at Oxford Centre for Mission Studies: A Missional Reading of the Book of Job, with special reference to children in the UK care system (December). 2015.

• Davy, Timothy J. The Book of Job and the Mission of God: An Application of a Missional Hermeneutic to the Book of Job. PhD Dissertation, University of Gloucestershire. 2014. More details here

• Edited issue of Encounters Mission Journal on ‘The Psalms and Mission’ including ‘The Nations in the Psalms and the Psalms in the Nations – a response’. 2010. Available here

• Edited issue of Encounters Mission Journal on ‘The Bible and Mission’ . 2009. Available here

• Edited issue of Encounters Mission Journal on ‘The Old Testament and Mission’ including ‘Mission: What the Bible is All About: An Interview with Chris Wright.’ Available here

Learning and teaching – Imposter syndrome in academia

Ever looked around the classroom and everyone else seems to know more than you? Has read more than you? Understands more than you? Do you live in fear that somehow you’re going to be ‘found out’ and your institution is going to realise they made a big mistake letting you on the programme?!

Welcome to imposter syndrome in academia – I’m guessing an experience that most people have at one time or another. Here’s how the University of Sheffield talks about it:

‘During your time at university, there will be moments where you feel less confident than your peers or less familiar with the material that you are working on. This is entirely normal and all part of your learning journey.

There may be times, however, when these feelings occur for extended periods of time and prevent you from engaging with all the opportunities that university has to offer.

Below are some example scenarios to help you recognise the signs of imposter syndrome.

• While we all want to feel prepared for an upcoming exam, imposter syndrome can lead to overstudying (i.e. studying without taking proper breaks and getting enough sleep). This is often driven by the belief that we are less intelligent than those around us and need to work hard to catch up.

• Despite often receiving praise from tutors or supervisors, imposter syndrome might result in never opening feedback because of the fear that we have finally been ‘found out’ by them.

• Although we all have times where we are less focused than usual, imposter syndrome can result in putting off tasks due to the fear of not being able to complete the assignment to the right standard. This can sometimes result in missing important deadlines and milestones.’

They offer advice like accepting that perfection is impossible, owning your strengths (for example, through a careful review of feedback), working on your academic voice, and talking to someone.

I certainly experienced imposter syndrome as a student, especially as I arrived at my MA in Biblical Studies programme without a BA degree in theology. Although I had some undergrad level theology my original degree was in Business Management; I had to work hard to plug some gaps.

And guess what – imposter syndrome isn’t just for students!

Academia is a weird world where it is possible from day one of training to the day of your retirement (and beyond) to compare your standing with others, often with actual statistics available to back it up. How many articles and books have you written? How have they been received? How are your student evaluations? Who else is at this conference? What will people think of your paper? What if people think your question is stupid? And, yes, even how many people follow your substack?

This is why - student or teacher - we need to cultivate a resistance to finding our security and sense of worth in outward approval and ‘success’.

In sum, imposter syndrome is very common and completely normal, but don’t let it persist. Don’t let it rob you of making the most of your time at University – no one benefits from that.

Quote – Walter Brueggemann on creation and God’s delight

‘The text [of Genesis 1:1-2:4] further proclaims that creation is a source of rejoicing and delight for creator and creature. All of creation is like Leviathan, which God has created for his enjoyment (Ps. 104:26). All of creation is characterized by God’s delight:

I was daily his delight,

rejoicing before him always,

rejoicing in his inhabited world

and delighting in the sons of men (Prov. 8:30–31).

Delight is here understood as structured into the character of reality. The wisdom which rejoices belongs to createdness. (On God’s delight, see Isa. 5:7; Jer. 31:20, where the same term reports his attitude toward Israel.)

The creature’s proper mode of speech about creation is not description but lyric, not argumentation but poetry. The texts most closely paralleled to Gen. 1:1—2:4a are not scientific explorations but the Psalms which speak of God’s generosity and the world’s grateful response. Thus, the morning and evening shout for joy (Ps. 65:8). God waters, enriches, blesses, and crowns (vv. 9–11); and as a result, the hills are wrapped in joy (v. 12) and sing and shout for joy (v. 13). God’s movement toward creation is unceasing generosity. The response of creation is extended doxology (Job 38:7; Ps. 19:1).’

(Walter Brueggemann. Genesis. Westminster John Knox Press, 1982, pp. 27–28)

Thanks for joining the journey and see you next week,

Tim