For over five hundred years, since the great age of exploration,
Western Christians have visited, traded with, conquered and
colonized large parts of the non-Western world. In virtually every
case this contact has been accompanied by an attempt to spread
Christianity.
This volume explores the manner in which Western missionary
Christianity has been shaped and transformed through contact with
the peoples of Peru, Mexico, Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
China, and Japan. Indigenous Responses to Western Christianity
demonstrates how local populations, who initially encountered
Christianity as a mixture of religion, culture, politics, ethics
and technology, selected those elements they felt suited their
needs. The conversion of the local population, the volume shows,
was usually accompanied by a significant indigenization of
Christianity. Through the detailed examination and comparison of
events in a range of countries and cultures, this book points
provides a deeper understanding of mission history and the dynamics
of Christianity's expansion. The encounter with Western
Christianity is vital to the history of contact between Western and
non-Western civilizations. Western Christians have visited, traded
with, conquered and colonized large parts of the non-Western world
for over five hundred years, and their migration has almost always
been accompanied by an attempt to create new Christians in new
lands. Just as indigenous people have been converted however, so
too has Christianity become variously indigenized. Local
populations initially encounter a Christian package of religion,
culture, politics, ethics and technology. This volume illustrates
the ways in which peoples have selected elements of this package to
suit their specific needs, and so explores the myriad
transformations missionary Christianity has undergone through
contact with the peoples of Peru, Mexico, Africa, India, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, China and Japan. Contributing are Erik Cohen (University
of Jerusalem), Yochanan Bar Yafe Szeminski ?, John F. Howes ?, D.
Dennis Hudson ?, Daniel H. Bays (University of Kansas), and Eric
Van Young (University of California, San Diego). The chapters are
linked by their attempt to overcome conventional regional and
disciplinary barriers in order to achieve a deeper understanding of
mission history and the dynamics of the expansion of Christianity.
A remarkable work, this volume will pave the way for entirely new
approaches to a particularly complex and demanding subject.
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