Missio Maritatus in the Missio Dei:Genesis 1:28 for Marriage Missiology
Jonas Sello Thinane 
Issue: Vol.5 No.6 Issue Article 2 pp.814-824
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024562 | Published online 4th June, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Marriage is a sacred institution that represents God’s sent interpersonal relationships to proliferate humanity, rather than just the act of remaining as husband and wife. The phrase “be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth” is perhaps a better way to describe this missio maritatus, or marriage mission, as God instructs humanity in Genesis 1:28. God, the eternal missionary here, calls on humanity to be fruitful, multiply, and steward the earth. Although missiology has frequently examined how marriage intersects with redemptive goals within the complex framework of missio Dei, no study has formally introduced the theoretical framework of missio maritatus. This paper therefore presented the theoretical underpinnings of missio maritatus, which embraces the complexity of missio Dei and interprets Genesis 1:28 as expressing marriage missiology. It firmly based this mission’s theoretical framework on the central Christian doctrines of predestination and divine foresight. It states unequivocally that the limited traditional understanding of marriage still has issues, but it leaves it to future studies to define missio maritatus in light of contemporary marriage trends. To put it another way, despite its shortcomings, missio maritatus is a useful theoretical framework in missiology, and the scope of this paper justifies further investigation into this area. This paper makes two important contributions to the respective areas of theology: The first and most general part concerns practical theology, as it examines the intersection of marriage with broader Christian social theological teachings. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the novel development of the missio maritatus in missiology adds a new missio-theological framework which incorporates the institution of marriage with the context of the missio Dei.
Keywords: Missio Dei, Human Creation, Genesis 1:28, Procreation, Missio Maritatus, Marriage Missiology.
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Dr. Jonas Sello Thinane is a researcher at the University of South Africa (UNISA), College of Human Sciences (CHS) within the Research Institute for Theology and Religion (RITR). With a PhD in Theology, specializing in Missiology, he has dedicated his entire career to the study and research of missionary work. Since then, he has published numerous scholarly articles in prestigious journals, covering a wide range of theological topics, but particularly Missiology topics. In addition to his publications, Dr. Thinane continues to actively participate in local and international conferences, seminars, and webinars. As such, his academic contributions continue to make a mark both in South Africa and internationally.
Thinane, Jonas Sello. “Missio Maritatus in the Missio Dei: Genesis 1:28 for Marriage Missiology,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.6 (2024): 814-824. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024562
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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