Missions and Unity: Lessons from History, 1792--2010 (American Society of Missiology) - Hardcover

Thomas, Norman E

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1498212794 ISBN 13: 9781498212793

Publisher: Wipf and Stock, 2010

Synopsis

This study is the first comprehensive history of the impact of the modern missionary movement on the understanding of and work toward Christian unity. It tells stories from all branches of the church: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant in its many types (conciliar, evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent). Part 1, "Historical," highlights the contribution of modern missions to Christian unity, from William Carey and his antecedents and peers to present-day missions. Part 2, "Ten Models of Unity," takes an inductive approach to history, asking not "how should Christians cooperate?" but "how has the missionary movement helped Christians to work together at the local, national, regional, and global level?" Part 3, "Wider Ecumenism," broadens the evidence to include how the missions movement has helped not only institutional churches but also broader society to have concern for the unity of the entire human family. Included here is the story of how the Protestant missionary movement influenced the forming of the United Nations as well as the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The study also covers the movement's impact on Christian attitudes toward, and relations with, persons of other faiths. Mission and Unity is the standard reference work in the field for persons studying modern history, modern church history, missions, and ecumenics.

About this title

About the Authors

Norman E. Thomas is Professor Emeritus of World Christianity at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He is the editor of Classsic Texts in Mission and World Christianity (1995) and of the International Mission Bibliography: 1960-2000 (2003).

Wilbert R. Shenk is Senior Professor of Mission History and Contemporary Culture, School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Among Shenk's recent publications are: North American Foreign Missions, 1810-1914: Theology, Theory, and Policy (2004), By Faith They Went Out: Mennonite Missions, 1850-1999 (2000), and Changing Frontiers of Mission (1999). He was a consulting editor of the Dictionary of Mission Theology: Evangelical Foundations (2007).

Edition details

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1498212794
• ISBN 13: 9781498212793
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 346