Mission as Transfiguration: Commemorating the Second Vatican Council

Abstract

The text provides an epistemological reading of Matthew’s transfiguration account looking at the transformation of the epistemic situations of the three disciples. Transfiguration has been identified as a key to mission making three claims: (i) Mission is an invitation and a commitment to the transfiguration of the Church and the World; (ii) mission happens through people who have experienced the transfiguration of Christ; (iii) mission is an invitation to allow people to experience the transfiguration of Christ. In the transfiguration story four types of knowledge are distinguished: directed knowledge, demonstrative knowledge, overwritten knowledge, redefining knowledge. These four types of knoweldge have a relevance for mission; they can also be linked to key concerns of the Second Vatican Council, namely, as normativity of the local, a 2nd person perspective, institutional humility, and a commitment to the transformative power of the weak.