Critical Readings in the History of Christian Mission

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Christian Mission ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals Intertwining Christian Mission, Theology, and History: A Case Study of the Basel Mission among the Thiyyas and Badagas of Kerala, 1870–1913

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Tiasa Basu Roy
Keyword(s):  
Caste System ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Christian Mission ◽  
Mission Theology ◽  
The People ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medical Aids ◽  
Basel Mission

For centuries, various denominations of Christian missionaries have contributed in a larger way towards the spread of Christianity among the people of Indian sub-continent. Each Church had its own principles of preaching the word of God and undertook welfare activities in and around the mission-stations. From establishing schools to providing medical aids, the Christian missionaries were involved in constant perseverance to improve the ‘indigenous’ societies not only in terms of amenities and opportunities, but also in spiritual aspects. Despite conversion being the prime motive, every Mission prepared ground on which their undertakings found meanings and made an impact over people’s lives. These endeavours, combining missiological and theological discourses, brought hope and success to the missionaries, and in our case study, the Basel Mission added to the history of the Christian Mission while operating in the coastal and hilly districts of Kerala during the 19th and the 20th centuries. Predominantly following the trait of Pietism, the Basel Mission emphasised practical matters more than doctrine, which was evident in the Mission activities among the Thiyyas and the Badagas of Malabar and Nilgiris, respectively. Along with addressing issues like the caste system and spreading education in the ‘backward’ regions, the most remarkable contribution of the Basel Mission established the ‘prototype’ of industries which was part of the ‘praxis practice’ model. It aimed at self-sufficiency and provided a livelihood for a number of people who otherwise had no honourable means of subsistence. Moreover, conversion in Kerala was a combination of ‘self-transformation’ and active participation which resulted in ‘enculturation’ and inception of ‘modernity’ in the region. Finally, this article shows that works of the Basel Mission weaved together its theological and missiological ideologies which determined its exclusivity as a Church denomination.

Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Berger
Keyword(s):  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Core Beliefs ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Good Standing ◽  
Christian Mission ◽  
Jewish Resistance ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Second Coming

The focus of this book is the messianic trend in Lubavitch hasidism. It demonstrates how hasidim who affirm the dead Rebbe's messiahship have abandoned one of Judaism's core beliefs in favour of adherence to the doctrine of a second coming. At the same time, it decries the equanimity with which the standard-bearers of Orthodoxy have granted legitimacy to this development by continuing to recognize such believers as Orthodox Jews in good standing. This abandonment of the age-old Jewish resistance to a quintessentially Christian belief is a development of striking importance for the history of religions and an earthquake in the history of Judaism. The book chronicles the unfolding of this development. It argues that a large number, almost certainly a substantial majority, of Lubavitch hasidim believe in the Rebbe's messiahship; a significant segment, including educators in the central institutions of the movement, maintain a theology that goes beyond posthumous messianism to the affirmation that the Rebbe is pure divinity. While many Jews see Lubavitch as a marginal phenomenon, its influence is in fact growing at a remarkable rate. The book analyses the boundaries of Judaism's messianic faith and its conception of God. It assesses the threat posed by the messianists of Lubavitch and points to the consequences, ranging from undermining a fundamental argument against the Christian mission to calling into question the kosher status of many foods and ritual objects prepared under Lubavitch supervision. Finally, it proposes a strategy to protect authentic Judaism from this assault.

Jean Paulmier, Gonneville and Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of a Myth

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-23
Author(s):  
MARGARET SANKEY
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Christian Mission ◽  
Cape Of Good Hope ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
History Of

The first mention of Gonneville’s land occurs in Abbé Jean Paulmier’s Mémoires of 1664 petitioning the Pope to approve a Christian mission to the as yet undiscovered Terres australes. Central to Paulmier’s argument was the extract from a document purporting to be the travel account of a sixteenth-century navigator, Gonneville. The extract details how the unknown land was discovered after the navigator’s ship L’Espoir had lost its way and landed in the fabled Terres australes, south-east of the Cape of Good Hope. His utopian account of the unknown land played an important role in French voyages of discovery during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. After Cook’s refutation of the existence of a Great South Land, Gonneville’s land was identified in the nineteenth century as being in Brazil. Recent scholarship, however, has revealed that Gonneville and his story were probably invented by Paulmier. This article examines how and why the Gonneville story became part of the history of French exploration, then details the elements which led to its being discredited.

Global health: A new paradigm for medical mission?

2020 ◽  
pp. 009182962097238
Author(s):  
Giles N Cattermole
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Medical Missions ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Medical Mission ◽  
Christian Mission ◽  
Health Care Context ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global Health Care ◽  
The 19Th Century

This article explores the practice of Christian mission in the developing field of global health care. First, the definition and context of global health is discussed. Second, the history of medical missions is traced, from their origins in biblical healing, through traditional medical missions in the 19th century, to today’s global health-care paradigm. Third, the situation of Christian medical mission today is described – in hospitals and non-governmental organisations, and in partnerships with governments and other secular agencies delivering health care. Two key challenges for Christian mission in the global health-care context are then discussed: increasing distance from individuals and increasing pressure not to evangelise. The reasons for evangelicals sometimes appearing to succumb to this latter pressure are considered. Finally, an attempt to resolve this tension is made in the context of Christian calling and the task all Christians have to make disciples, whatever their role in life.

The Oberi Okaime Christian Mission: towards a history of an Ibibio independent church

Africa ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 496-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monday B. Abasiattai
Keyword(s):  
Christian Mission ◽  
History Of ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

Opening ParagraphThe Oberi Okaime Christian Mission has for long attracted the attention of scholars because of the way it developed a special script and even a language of its own. As early as 1937 the International African Institute was encouraging study of it. Today there is again a revival of interest in both the script and the language, and specimens of both as used in 1986 are included below, so as to put them once again on record some fifty years after they were invented. But these are not the primary focus of this article, the purpose oi which is to outline a history of the church, and by doing so to call attention to the wider phenomenon of Christianity in the context of Ibibio culture. The way Ibibio so readily took up Christianity after about 1910 has yet to be understood in detail, while the Spirit Movement in the region needs to be differentiated from such superficially similar movements as the contemporary Aladura or the earlier Garrick Braide movements.

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