Sunday, December 14, 2008
Conniry #14: Modern Missionary Movements
14. Be prepared to reflect on the question as to whether the modern missionary movement, which was principally of Western origins, was limited in its effectiveness by virtue of its association with Western European colonizers (whether or not this association was entirely justified).
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As Christianity declines in Europe and grows in the South, historians need to recognize what the International Missionary Council saw in 1938: the future of world Christianity rests with the so-called younger churches and their daily struggles. Ultimately, the most interesting lessons from the missionary outreach during the Western colonial era is what happened to Christianity when the missionaries weren’t looking, and after the colonizers withdrew. The challenge for historians lies in seeing beyond an extension of Western categories and into the hearts, minds, and contexts of Christ's living peoples in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
ReplyDeleteDana L. Robert, “Shifting Southward,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 24, 1 (2000): 50-58
Says Robert, “As Christianity shifts southward, the nature of Christianity itself evolves. The movement of the faith from one culture to another typically has caused a major change in the self-understanding and cultural grounding of the Christian movement.”
See the section titled, “A Global/Local Christian Fabric.”