E-Book Overview
Exploring how Christianity became a world religion, this brief history examines Christian missions and their relationship to the current globalization of Christianity.A short and enlightening history of Christian missions: a phenomenon that many say reflects the single most important intercultural movement over a sustained period of human historyOffers a thematic overview that takes into account the political, cultural, social, and theological issuesDiscusses the significance of missions to the globalization of Christianity, and broadens our understanding of Christianity as a multicultural world religionHelps Western audiences understand the meaning of mission as a historical processContains several new maps that illustrate demographic shifts in world Christianity
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Christian Mission
Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion Dana L. Robert © 2009 Dana L. Robert. ISBN: 978-0-631-23619-1
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BLACKWELL BRIEF HISTORIES OF RELIGION SERIES This series offers brief, accessible and lively accounts of key topics within theology and religion. Each volume presents both academic and general readers with a selected history of topics which have had a profound effect on religious and cultural life. The word ‘history’ is, therefore, understood in its broadest cultural and social sense. The volumes are based on serious scholarship but they are written engagingly and in terms readily understood by general readers. Published Heaven Heresy Islam Death Saints Christianity Dante Spirituality Cults and New Religions Love Christian Mission
Alister E. McGrath G. R. Evans Tamara Sonn Douglas J. Davies Lawrence S. Cunningham Carter Lindberg Peter S. Hawkins Philip Sheldrake Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley Carter Lindberg Dana L. Robert
Forthcoming Judaism Ethics Reformation Monasticism Apocalypse Shinto Sufism
Steven Leonard Jacobs Michael Banner Kenneth Appold Dennis D. Martin Martha Himmelfarb John Breen and Mark Teeuwen Shahzad Green
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Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion Dana L. Robert
A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
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This edition first published 2009 © 2009 Dana L. Robert Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. The right of Dana L. Robert to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names u