fiir Missionswissenschaft, 1945 (2), pp. 81 and 87; Alph. Mulders, Missie en
Mission Theology among Roman Catholics 129
bring matters of great interest to the area of systematic missiology.
What about this area of systematic missiology (dogmatic and moral)? It is mission theology in the strictest sense. It is concerned with the theological elaboration of mission. At the end of the Second World War scholars still noted a lack of serious studies in this field for several reasons.*1 The deficiencies of the approach
established by Schmidlin were matched by a near vacuum of ideas
for a more proper orientation. There was skepticism from mis-
sionaries who were unwilling to delve into theory and doctrinal
principles. There was a degree of proud contempt from some
theologians, perhaps very competent in traditional scholastic dis-
putations, who were not inclined to leave the sphere of speculation
in order to devote' doctrinal study to the complex ecclesiological
realm of missionary realities. Now the spirit of things has changed.
Missionaries everywhere are seeking for an elaborated systematic
theology of mission that will help guide them in the difficult
apostolate they bear in the name of Christ and the Universal
Church. Theologians are increasingly interested in mission ques-
tions, because of the greater emphasis given to ecclesiastical, ecu-
menical, and apostolic problems.
The first problem to be solved in systematic missiology concerns = the concept of mission. Schmidlin defined missionary activity, as noted above, according to the statement of Warneck, empirically based on the ideas commonly held at that time. In an effort to correct this incomplete and inaccurate delimitation, Grentrup in
1925 gave as the specific object of missions the planting of the Church in every country where it is not yet fully established." This theory was endorsed and divulgated by many, especially by Pierre Charles, who made the mistake, however, of minimizing the factor of conversion as well as the virtue of charity in the
2. See P. de Menasce, "Polarité de l'activité missionnaire," Neu Zeitschrift -
fiir Missionswissenschaft, 1945 (2), pp. 81 and 87; Alph. Mulders, Missie en
Wetenschap (Utrecht-Nijmegen: Dekker, 1946), p. 9.
2 Theodorus Grentrup, Jus Missionarium (Steyl, Holland: Typographia domus Missionum a S. Michaele Archang. nuncupatae, 1925), pp. 1-12. He had already expounded this view of mission in 1913 in "Die Definition _ des Missionsbegriffes," Zeitschrift fiir Missionswissenschaft, 1913, pp. 26574. Schmidlin presented his view as early as 1911 in his essay "Die katholische Missionswissenschaft," Zeitschrift fiir Missionswissenschaft, 1911, pp.
10-21; and this concept was further expounded in his Einfiihrung in Mis-— =e sionswissenschaft, op. cit., pp. 11-24, and in his Missionslehre, op. cit. :