Paul Gordon Hiebert (13 November 1932 – 11 March 2007) was an American

missiologist Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology. It began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. Definition Broadly speaking, missiology is "an interdisciplinary field of inquiry into Ch ...

. He was "arguably the world's leading missiological anthropologist."

Biography

Hiebert was born in India to missionary parents, and studied at Tabor College, Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. Subsequently, Hiebert went as a missionary to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and was Principal of the Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College,

Shamshabad Shamshabad is a census town in the Indian state of Telangana. It is located in Shamshabad mandal of Rajendranagar revenue division. Sri Vendikonda Siddalingeswara Devastanam temple is situated in Siddulagutta Road in Shamshabad mandal. The inter ...

. After a period of missionary service, he proceeded to

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

where he taught at

Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an Evangelical seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller has a student body of approximately 2,300 students from 90 countries and ...

before becoming Distinguished Professor of Mission and Anthropology at

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is the divinity school of Trinity International University, an evangelical Christian university headquartered in Bannockburn, Illinois. The divinity school was founded in 1897. In April 2025, Trinit ...

. Paul became the Chair of the Department of Missions and Evangelism at Trinity in addition to maintaining his Professor duties. From 1974 to 1975, Hiebert lectured at

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, issued a ''firman'' calling f ...

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

on a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

.''Directory of U.S. Fulbright Scholars 1974-1975'', p.76
/ref> A ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' in his honor, ''Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity'' was published in 2006. Hiebert died of cancer in 2007.

Missiology

Hiebert developed several theories that widely influenced the study and practice of Christian missions. His model of "critical contextualization" describes a process of understanding and evaluating cultural practices in light of biblical teaching. It is one of the most widely cited models in evangelical doctoral dissertations dealing with contextualization. The concept of the "excluded middle" argued that most

Westerners The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...

see the universe as consisting of two tiers - the invisible things of the other world, and the visible things of this world. In this way, they exclude the part in between - namely, the invisible things of this world, and in particular the unseen personal beings, such as angels and demons. Hiebert suggested that non-Westerners are much more likely to accept this "excluded middle". Hiebert, who studied mathematics as an undergraduate, employed the idea of

set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies Set (mathematics), sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory – as a branch of mathema ...

to describe

bounded set In mathematical analysis and related areas of mathematics, a set is called bounded if all of its points are within a certain distance of each other. Conversely, a set which is not bounded is called unbounded. The word "bounded" makes no sense in ...

s versus centered or

fuzzy set Fuzzy or Fuzzies may refer to: Music * Fuzzy (band), a 1990s Boston indie pop band * Fuzzy (composer), Danish composer Jens Vilhelm Pedersen (born 1939) * Fuzzy (album), ''Fuzzy'' (album), 1993 debut album of American rock band Grant Lee Buffalo ...

s as different ways of conceiving Christian community and theology.Michael L. Yoder, Michael H. Lee, Jonathan Ro, and Robert J. Priest, "Understanding Christian Identity in Terms of Bounded and Centered Set Theory in the Writings of Paul G. Hiebert." '' Trinity Journal'' 30, no. 2 (Fall 2009): 177–88.

Selected bibliography

* ''Cultural Anthropology''. Second Edition ed. Grand Rapids, Ml: Baker Book House, 1983. * ''Anthropological Insights for Missionaries''. Baker Academic. 1985. * ''Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues''. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994. * ''Missiological Implications of Epistemological Shifts'' Harrisburg, Pa: Trinity Press International, 1999. * ''Transforming Worldview: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change''. Bakers Academic. 2008. * ''The Gospel in Human Context: Anthropological Exploration for Contemporary Missions''. Grand Rapids, MI: Bakers Academic. 2009.

References

External links

Hiebert Global Center for Intercultural Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiebert, Paul Gordon 1932 births 2007 deaths Academic staff of Osmania University Academic staff of the Senate of Serampore College (University) American Mennonites American Protestant missionaries Deaths from cancer in Illinois Fresno Pacific University alumni Fuller Theological Seminary faculty Mennonite writers Missiologists People from Ranga Reddy district Tabor College (Kansas) alumni Trinity International University faculty University of Minnesota alumni World Christianity scholars