Christian Mission
How Christianity Became a World Religion
Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion
CHRISTIAN MISSION
"Dana Robert distils a quarter of a century of her research into an erudite and accessible single-volume account of how Christianity became the largest religious tradition in the world. There is no better place for any reader to start becoming informed about this important subject."
David Hempton, Harvard University
"Remarkable for the range and depth of the material Robert is able to pack into so short a book. Reliable and readable, it is especially valuable for its treatment of the relation between western and non-western missionary activity."
David A. Hollinger, University of California, Berkeley
"Dana Robert's richly textured book shows us that the history of Christian missions is far from being merely a European colonial story, and will be immensely valuable to students and general readers who are concerned to uncover the historical roots of Christianity's current status as a truly global faith."
Brian Stanley, University of Edinburgh
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 multi-cultural world religion.
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
Part I The Making of a World Religion: Christian Mission through the Ages 5
1 From Christ to Christendom 7
From Jerusalem into "All the World" 10
The Creation of Catholic Europe, 400-1400 21
2 Vernaculars and Volunteers, 1450- 31
Bible Translation and the Roots of Modern Missions 32
The Revitalization of Catholic Missions 36
The Beginnings of Protestant Missions 41
Voluntarism and Mission 44
Protestant Missionary Activities in the Nineteenth Century 48
3 Global Networking for the Nations, 1910- 53
The Growth of Global Networks 56
International Awakenings 60
Awakening Internationalism 64
Postcolonial Rejection of Christian Mission 67
Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans in Mission 69
Part II Themes in Mission History 81
4 The Politics of Missions: Empire, Human Rights, and Land 83
Critiques of Missions 87
Missionaries and Human Rights 98
Missionaries and the Land 107
5 Women in World Mission: Purity, Motherhood, and Women's Well-Being 114
Women as Missionaries 118
Purity and Gender Neutrality 119
The Mission of Motherhood 124
Women's Well-Being and Social Change 131
6 Conversion and Christian Community: The Missionary from St. Patrick to Bernard Mizeki 142
Who Was St. Patrick? 144
Bernard Mizeki, "Apostle to the Shona" 159
Missionaries and the Formation of Communal Christian Identities 171
7 Postscript: Multicultural Missions in Global Context 173
Bibliography 178
Index 193
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)
" Dana Robert distils a quarter of a century of her research into
an erudite and accessible single-volume account of how Christianity
became the largest religious tradition in the world. There is no
better place for any reader to start becoming informed about this
important subject."
-David Hempton, Harvard University
"Remarkable for the range and depth of the material Robert is
able to pack into so short a book. Reliable and readable, it is
especially valuable for its treatment of the relation between
western and non-western missionary activity."
-David A. Hollinger, University of California,
Berkeley
"Dana Robert's richly textured book shows us that the history of
Christian missions is far from being merely a European colonial
story, and will be immensely valuable to students and general
readers who are concerned to uncover the historical roots of
Christianity's current status as a truly global faith."
-Brian Stanley, University of Edinburgh