Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion

The Gospels record that Christ commanded his disciples to “go forth and teach all nations.” Thus began the history of Christian mission, a phenomenon which brought about massive shifts in the nature and practice of Christianity, and one that many say reflects the single most important movement of intercultural encounter over a sustained period of human history.

To understand Christianity as a global movement, therefore, it is essential to study the role of mission – defined as the transmission of the Gospel across cultures. Erudite and enlightening, this brief book explores the 2,000 years of mission history, covering topics such as the meaning of the missionary through history, gender and missions, and missions in culture and politics. Given that in the twenty–first century, Christianity is now largely practiced outside the West, Christian Mission is an inspirational and invaluable resource to broaden our understanding of the nature of Christianity as a truly multicultural world religion.

List of Illustrations.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

Part I: The Making of a World Religion: Christian Mission through the Ages:.

1. From Christ to Christendom.

From Jerusalem into “All the World”.

The Creation of Catholic Europe, 400–1400.

2. Vernaculars and Volunteers, 1450–.

Bible Translation and the Roots of Modern Missions.

The Revitalization of Catholic Missions.

The Beginnings of Protestant Missions.

Voluntarism and Mission.

Protestant Missionary Activities in the Nineteenth Century.

3. Global Networking for the Nations, 1910–.

The Growth of Global Networks.

International Awakenings.

Awakening Internationalism.

Post–Colonial Rejection of Christian Mission.

Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans in Mission.

Part II: Themes in Mission History:.

4. The Politics of Missions: Empire, Human Rights, and Land.

Critiques of Missions.

Missionaries and Human Rights.

Missionaries and the Land.

Missions and Ecology.

5. Women in World Mission: Purity, Motherhood, and Women’s Well–Being.

Women as Missionaries.

Purity and Gender Neutrality.

The Mission of Motherhood.

Women’s Well–Being and Social Change.

6. Conversion and Christian Community: The Missionary from St. Patrick to Bernard Mizeki.

Who Was St. Patrick?.

Bernard Mizeki, “Apostle to the Shona”.

Missionaries and the Formation of Communal Christian Identities.

7. Postscript: Multicultural Missions in Global Context.

Bibliography.

Index

Dana L. Robert is the Truman Collins Professor of World Christianity and the History of Mission at Boston University. She is the author or editor of numerous works on the history of Christian missions and non–western Christianity, including American Women in Mission: A Social History of their Thought and Practice (1997).

"Despite these concerns, Christian Mission is a valuable addition to the growing literature on world Christianity . . . our overall understanding of Christianity as a world religion is significantly increased by Robert′s work." (Christian Century, 8 March 2011)

"Robert′s book, by drawing on more recent scholarship incorporates a global view and puts world Christianity at the center of the narrative, where it belongs, This re–writing" of the history of Christian missions has just begun and likely will occupy scholars for years to come." (Church History, June 2010)"This work is a valuable contribution to the subject." (CHOICE, December 2009)"Roberts helpfully reminds the readers that this...must be understood by accounting for the various players and settings in which it unfolds: "It is important to study the spiders, but it is equally important to notice the web" (177).Christian Mission, appropriate as a college or graduate level text, is a commendable introduction to those seeking to make sense of this tangled web." (Missology, 2010)"[This book] does a lot of things (including a chronological and thematic study of 2000 years of Christian mission!). Along the way, Robert points out that Christian missionaries have done much good for the societies they have entered." (The Gospel Coalition, January 2010)

"A masterful survey of mission in Christian history from the very origins of the religion to the present. … It should be required reading for any undergraduate course on Christianity or world religions." (International Bulletin of Missionary Research, October 2009)

"Robert unerringly focuses on the most important issues. She is especially good on the persistence of gender issues in mission history." (Christian Century, October 2009)