LINES OF FLIGHT AND FAITH: REIMAGINING CHRISTIAN MISSION THROUGH DELEUZIAN LITERARY CONCEPTS

Abstract

This study, Lines of Flight and Faith: Reimagining Christian Mission Through Deleuzian Literary Concepts, observes the connection of Gilles Deleuze’s philosophical concepts and Christian missiology, offering a fresh framework for understanding missionary activity. By engaging with Deleuze’s ideas of nomadology, the fold, immanence, and assemblages, this study reinterprets Christian mission as a dynamic process of movement, transformation, and multiplicity. Deleuze’s concept of deterritorialization is applied to the Apostolic journeys, suggesting that mission involves continuous adaptation rather than rigid territorial expansion. Furthermore, the fold serves as a metaphor for spiritual conversion, while the concept of immanence challenges traditional transcendental approaches to the divine. This paper also observes missionary communities as assemblages, stressing the multiplicity of evangelistic efforts and the expansion of the collective faith body. By synthesizing Deleuzian philosophy with theological insights, this work proposes new pathways for missiological thought, emphasizing fluidity, interconnectedness, and the ongoing process of becoming in Christian mission.