| Description |
xi, 311 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-300) and index. |
| Contents |
American Baptists and the "wild" Karen people of Burma -- The challenge of Karen Christianity -- The native ministry in the United States -- An Appalachian revivalist in Queen Victoria's colonies -- The circuit-riding missionary and gilded age Methodism -- The African-American Great Awakening -- The AME Church and South Africa -- Holiness conversions -- And ever the twain shall meet. |
| Summary |
This work challenges the conception of evangelical missionaries as cultural imperialists. The astonishing growth of Christianity in the global South over the course of the twentieth century has sparked an equally rapid growth in studies of ''World Christianity,'' which have dismantled the notion that Christianity is a Western religion. What, then, are we to make of the waves of Western missionaries who have, for centuries, been evangelizing in the global South? Were they merely, as many have argued, agents of imperialism out to impose Western values? In An Unpredictable Gospel, Jay Case examines the efforts of American evangelical missionaries in light of this new scholarship. He argues that if they were agents of imperialism, they were poor ones. Western missionaries had a dismal record of converting non-Westerners to Christianity. The ministries that were most successful were those that empowered the local population and adapted to local cultures. In fact, influence often flowed the other way, with missionaries serving as conduits for ideas that shaped American evangelicalism. Case traces these currents and sheds new light on the relationship between Western and non-Western Christianities. - Publisher. |
| Subject |
Missions, American -- History -- 19th century.
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Missions, American. |
|
History. |
| Chronological Term |
19th century |
| Subject |
Protestant churches -- Missions -- History -- 19th century.
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Protestant churches -- Missions. |
|
Christianity and culture -- History -- 19th century.
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Christianity and culture. |
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Missions, American -- History -- 20th century.
|
| Chronological Term |
20th century |
| Subject |
Protestant churches -- Missions -- History -- 20th century.
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Christianity and culture -- History -- 20th century.
|
| ISBN |
9780199772315 paperback alkaline paper |
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9780199772322 hardcover alkaline paper |
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0199772320 hardcover alkaline paper |
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0199772312 paperback alkaline paper |
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