Book Reviews

Allah: A Christian Response.

By Miroslav Volf. New York: HarperOne, 2011. Pp. 326. $25.99; paperback $15.99.

Anyone who works in the field of it can encourage resistance to idolatries the history of reflection on such issues in Christian-Muslim relations knows that associated with national and religious connection with the missionary encounter the question “Do Christians and Muslims identity; it can provide the possibility of of Christians with Muslims—think of the worship the same God?” is asked with life together in politically plural societies; work of Kenneth Cragg and others—or in great regularity. In this wise book, the fruit and it can lead to a common struggle the writings of Arabic-speaking Christians of a lifetime’s experience but especially against extremist violence. The real who, already in the early Islamic centuries, of encounters, dialogue, and reflection differences between Christian and Islamic knew God as Allah and had to defend occasioned by the document “A Common God-discourse are not “deal-breakers” but their Trinitarian faith in an Islamic context. Word Between Us and You” (2007) and rather invitations to deeper reflection— But these are minor complaints about its responses, Miroslav Volf tackles the beautifully exemplified in Volf’s chapters a book from which I learned on every question head-on. After seeking insight (8–9) on God’s mercy and “eternal and page. With it, Volf has not only provided from the encounters with Islam of Nicholas unconditional love.” a meticulous theological analysis; he has of Cusa and Martin Luther, Volf argues, This is an ambitious book that aims given us a vision of a peaceful future in a in precise, step-by-step fashion, that to reflect on a wide range of difficult world that Christians share with Muslims. Christian and Islamic descriptions of issues in an inviting and accessible way. Furthermore, he makes a very timely God and God’s commands, while by no Naturally, the discussion of some topics appeal to his Western Christian readers means identical, are sufficiently similar to could be expanded. Volf’s presentation to be consistent disciples of Jesus, avoiding allow the affirmation that Christians and of the doctrine of the Trinity (chap. 7) the temptation to make religion into an Muslims (at least, those who represent their tends toward the formal and abstract, identity marker and heeding the command traditions well) do worship the same God. while the complex political issues tackled to love one’s neighbor—including in our (As Volf points out, the somewhat parallel in chapter 12 (“Two Faiths, Common theological analyses. case of divergent Christian and Jewish God, Single Government”) could use a —Mark N. Swanson descriptions of God is instructive here.) book of their own. Readers of the IBMR Furthermore, this result has important may be surprised by the suggestion that Mark N. Swanson, the Harold S. Vogelaar Professor consequences for Christians and Muslims: serious attempts to address the “same of Christian-Muslim Studies and Interfaith Relations it can allow for respectful, mutual witness God” question are mostly a post–9/11 at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, is to their faith, as well as joint witness to phenomenon, at least in the West (p. 111). the author of The Coptic Papcy in Islamic Egypt, the true source of human flourishing; And I missed any acknowledgment of 641–1517 (American Univ. in Cairo Press, 2010).

Christianity and Chinese Culture. are fostering the unity and healthy development of the nation” (p. xvi). Edited by Miikka Ruokanen and Paulos Huang. This is no exaggeration. Across China’s Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010. Pp. xx, 384. affluent cities, students, intellectuals, Paperback $40. professionals, and entrepreneurs are embracing Protestantism in ever greater This timely book emerges from a 2003 sym- state-approved temples, mosques, and numbers. They are using their newfound posium in Finland entitled “Christianity churches. With two million baptisms a wealth—a “gift from God”—to extend and Chinese Culture: A Sino-Nordic Con- year, China will soon surpass America as Christian charity and pastoral training into ference on Chinese Contextual Theo- the center of evangelical Protestantism. the still-impoverished countryside, even logy.” In it, Chinese academicians and During the past decade, a framework as pseudo-Christian sects and non–Three- church leaders assess their efforts to called “Reconstruction of Theological Self Christians preach millennial visions encourage postdenominational Chinese Thinking” (RTT) has guided “patriotic” of distributive justice, which foment Protestantism to “contribute more actively Three-Self Protestants in developing an antigovernment unrest in many villages. and positively” to a “new spiritual “authentic Chinese way of biblical inter- It is clear that RTT can succeed only culture” in the search for a durable moral pretation” as they shed their missionary if the government continues its policy compass for twenty-first-century China. origins and, in dialogue with resurgent of limited tolerance of the “patriotic” Contrary to Marxist expectations, China’s Chinese religions, address the life-altering church, while pursuing its two-thousand- growing prosperity in its globalizing challenges of hypermodernization. year practice of subordinating religion economy sees more, not fewer, Chinese Supported by Three-Self leaders, academic to the state and encouraging China’s embracing religion. Today, forty years experts on religion, and the government’s religions today to contribute to building after the Cultural Revolution, one in Religious Affairs Bureau, RTT seeks a “harmonious” society. (The conference three Chinese acknowledges a personal to integrate China’s “moral ethics did not discuss the problematic relations religious inclination. Some eighty million of benevolence” with Christianity’s between the unregistered house churches Protestants (compared with 750,000 in “religious ethics of love” into the basis and the government.) 1949) are the fastest-growing segment of of the country’s new moral foundation. As headlong modernization exacts the estimated 200 million worshippers in According to the editors, “Christians an escalating toll on Chinese society, the

42 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 1 church’s challenge is to preach biblical outreach, which required the study of or crisis was the main reason for relapses principles and exercise its prophetic voice, Amerindian languages and ways of life. by neophytes (pp. 36–61). even while remaining within the confines From this engagement arose the concept The strict focus on Jesuit missionary of the state’s very narrow parameters of of reductions, which became the signature scientists in Latin America is a strength religious freedom. Jesuit way of doing mission there, notably as well as a limitation of this study, which —P. Richard Bohr in Paraguay (pp. 29–35). The reductions cries out for comparison with like efforts also served as “contact zones” for exchange elsewhere, notably in China. P. Richard Bohr is Professor of History and Chair of of information about the natural world, —Christoffer H. Grundmann Asian Studies at the College of Saint Benedict and especially the medicinal properties of Saint John’s University in Minnesota. plants and minerals, the intelligent use of Christoffer H. Grundmann is the John R. Eckrich which by missionaries proved vital for the University Professor in Religion and the Healing success of their enterprise, since recourse Arts at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana. to shamanic treatment in cases of disease

Missionary Scientists: Jesuit Science in Spanish South America, RECENT BOOKS from Eerdmans 1570–1810. FOR THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCHES By Andrés I. Prieto. Nashville: Vanderbilt The Contribution of the Groupe des Dombes Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. x, 287. $59.95. Catherine E. Clifford, editor This book—though not a missiological “A useful resource for teaching, exploring ecumenical history, and treatise proper—is a good read and providing resources for church leaders in their response to Christ’s highly instructive for everyone interested in the history and cultural impact of prayer that they all may be one.” — Jeffrey Gros, FSC Christian missions in Latin America, in ISBN 978-0-8028-6532-8 · 231 pages · paperback · $30.00 particular the scholarly and scientific impact of Jesuit missionaries in the then Spanish viceroyalty of Peru (at times CHRIST JESUS AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE TODAY stretching down to what is today Chile, New Explorations of Theological Interrelationships Argentina, and Paraguay). The author, Philip A. Cunningham, Joseph Sievers, Mary C. Boys, professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Hans Hermann Henrix, and Jesper Svartvik, editors intends to document the neglected Foreword by Walter Cardinal Kasper “contributions to the study of nature “This work is a bold step forward in Catholic searching for a closer made by Jesuits working in the Spanish theological bond to Judaism without giving up the differences between American missions” (p. 2) until their expulsion in 1767. Prieto first outlines the the two faiths. . . . Offers the cutting edge of Christian theological views development of Jesuit missionary work of Judaism.” — Alan Brill on that continent (pp. 13–87) and then ISBN 978-0-8028-6624-0 · 334 pages · paperback · $36.00 describes the institutional network that enabled the personal relationships that sustained Jesuit missionaries in the pur- WALK HUMBLY WITH THE LORD suit of scientific quests, even when working Church and Mission Engaging Plurality in remote areas (pp. 91–140). In part 3 he Viggo Mortensen and Andreas Østerlund Nielsen, editors compares seminal publications on the (natural) history of the New World by “A marvelous collection of refl ections on mission that will be especially Jesuit authors of the period (pp. 143–220). helpful to Christians committed to living faithfully and missionally in An epilogue (pp. 221–28) addresses the today’s pluralistic world.” active involvement of displaced Jesuits — Stephen Bevans, SVD from Latin America, notably from Chile. ISBN 978-0-8028-6630-1 · 322 pages · paperback · $45.00 While part 2 tells about the flow of scientific information within the CHRISTIANITY AND CHINESE CULTURE Society of Jesus in those days and part 3 traces the arguments advanced in Miikka Ruokanen and Paulos Huang, editors explaining (strange) natural phenomena “This is a most timely publication on the current issues and research by recourse to Aristotelian-informed on Christianity and Chinese culture in the PRC. . . . This book should Thomistic theology, in which all Jesuits were trained, it is part 1 that deserves the be on the shelf of any scholar interested in the subject.” special attention of missiologists. In it the — Edmond Tang author explains the significant differences ISBN 978-0-8028-6556-4 · 404 pages · paperback · $40.00 between Jesuit missionary endeavors in Spanish South America and those in Europe. In general, Jesuits were to run At your bookstore, schools and institutions of higher learning or call 800-253-7521 1024 in urban areas. In the Spanish viceroyalty www.eerdmans.com of Peru, however, they were forced to do parish work (doctrina) and missionary

January 2012 43 The History of the Catholic Church weakness of the Latin American church in in Latin America: From Conquest producing its own clergy and in sending to Revolution and Beyond. missionaries to its unevangelized areas, much less to other regions of the world, By John Frederick Schwaller. New York: New will seem symptomatic of deeper prob- York Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. ix, 318. $35. lems, but the underlying disease is only hinted at. This volume traces the major themes and priest’s rebellion against Cortés during Another weakness of the book is its issues in the history of the Catholic Church the conquest of Mexico, to the Bourbon treatment of the Catholic Charismatic in Latin America from Columbus to the monarchs’ showdowns with the Jesuits, Renewal (CCR), which receives only present, a difficult task for a region today to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s one paragraph of attention, compared to comprising eighteen nations, each with confrontations with Cardinal Raúl Silva several pages for recent progressive forms its own distinctive history. Understanding Hénriquez, the relationship between of Catholicism such as liberation theology that he cannot be encyclopedic, John the church and secular powers has had and base ecclesial communities. As Andrew Frederick Schwaller presents a “general profound implications for the direction Chesnut and Edward Cleary have shown, framework” designed to help readers and stability of Latin American society. the CCR is the fastest growing part of the make sense of a long and complicated Given the centrality of the church in Catholic Church in Latin America and the history by paying particular attention to Latin America, the ongoing struggle for only movement within the church that the political and economic influence of priestly vocations detailed throughout seems able to compete with the juggernaut Catholicism in the region. the book strikes a slightly discordant of Pentecostalism. Despite these lacunae, There is little doubt, argues Schwaller, note. That a region heavily evangelized this is a clear, fair, and intelligent treatment that the Catholic Church is the “central in the sixteenth century still depended of a complicated subject that would work institution” in the history of Latin heavily on foreign priests in the twentieth well in an introductory-level course on America. He demonstrates convincingly century—with some countries still having Latin America or World Christianity. that church-state relations have usually a majority of foreign priests—begs for more —Todd Hartch been one of the most important issues, explanation than Schwaller chooses to if not the single most important issue, in give. Especially for readers interested in Todd Hartch teaches Latin American history at any given viceroyalty or nation. From a the missionary aspects of Christianity, the Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky.

God’s Empire: Religion and ecclesiastically organized, directed and Colonialism in the British World, maintained, representing the culmination c. 1801–1908. of the colonial missions movement, was “achieved only with the eradication of the By Hilary M. Carey. Cambridge: Cambridge native population” (p. 370). God’s Empire Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. xviii, 421. £60 / $99. reminds us that empire building, even in God’s name, was a divisive, disturbing “Why does the mere idea of empire “Protestant nation” expanded to become business. now attract division,” asks Hilary M. a “Christian empire” over the course of —J. Edmund Heavens Carey, “when over a hundred years ago, the nineteenth century (p. 40). The second imperial church gatherings . . . captivated examines the objectives of the various J. Edmund Heavens teaches American history at the London metropole?” (p. xiii). God’s colonial missionary societies and the the University of Cambridge and the University Empire traces the waxing and waning planting of a sectarian network of churches of East Anglia. in the cohesive strength of the “dense throughout Greater Britain. The third focuses imperial religious networks” developed by upon the nature of the colonial clergy and the churches that ministered to the needs notes that Parliament found questions of the British diaspora colonizing “Greater of their patriotic loyalty and theological Britain” during the nineteenth century orthodoxy sufficiently irritating as to (p. 68). Empire created transnational legislate for their regulation in 1874. The final Korean Diaspora and Christian opportunities for the development of part explores the “systematic” or religious Mission. religious missions to both the indigenous colonization, which sought to address the and the colonizing peoples of the British late-Victorian debate over the morality of Edited by S. Hun Kim and Wonsuk Ma. world, but Carey seeks to understand why colonization and its generally disastrous Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2011. the former enterprise is still celebrated results for the indigenous inhabitants of Pp. xviii, 339. £31.99 / $35. today, while the latter has almost been colonized territories (p. 308). forgotten. Although her theoretical touch Carey concludes that the colonial With the growing interest in non-Western is light, with only a passing mention Christian consensus was gradually mission movements in the past few de- of hegemony or postcolonial theory, undermined by the centrifugal cultural cades, there has also emerged an aware- the author explicitly focuses upon the dynamics of religious sectarianism, ness of the role of diaspora Christians “Christian consensus which supported the colonial nationalism, and internationalism. as both missionaries and subjects of expansion of the British world through the By the turn of the century, it was the souls mission. Korean Christians present an planting of religious institutions in every of the heathen, rather than those of the especially interesting example of how conceivable corner of the Empire” (p. xiv). colonists, that occupied the metropolitan the diaspora can be utilized in mission. This excellent book is organized in missionary mind. This book provides an With the second-largest number of inter- four parts. The first discusses terms such honest answer to its author’s primary national missionaries in the world, South as “Greater Britain” and traces how the question: even the colonization that was Korean churches have a keen interest in

44 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 1 cross-cultural mission, although at times introduction to the life of Jan Tzatzoe, Missionary Society (LMS) and with it has been hindered by the monocultural who helped bring together the worlds of British colonial officers in the nineteenth background of its missionaries. Outside of Africa and Europe into a new South African century. With creative imagination, Levine South Korea, millions of Koreans dwell reality, and in its discussion of the crucial tells the missionary story in Xhosaland in large numbers in such countries as the roles of Africans as agents of cultural and by exploring closely the life of Tzatzoe, United States, Japan, China, and Brazil. intellectual change in a world of swart focusing on his success as “a religious, The Korean diaspora communities have gevaar (Afrikaans for “black threat”) in linguistic, and intellectual innovator in the been the subject of mission, but many Xhosaland in the nineteenth century. regimented setting of European missions within them are now playing an active Divided into three well-crafted and the more syncretic settings of various role as missionaries. parts, the book presents the geography, Xhosa communities” (p. 5). Korean Diaspora and Christian Mission, history, politics, and lifestyle of the Xhosa Roger Levine transcends the stereo- edited by S. Hun Kim and Wonsuk Ma, is people and their interaction with the typical narrative history of missionary the first book to focus on this fascinating European missionaries from the London work in Africa. He argues that, because and multidimensional subject. The first part, “Foundations,” examines the theological, historical, and social elements of the Korean diaspora and the concept of diaspora in general. The second section, “Setting the Stage,” considers the Word Made Global emergence of migrant mission and some of the cultural barriers that inhibit the growth of Korean cross-cultural evangelism. The final part, “Korean Diaspora in Mission,” Stories of African Christianity in New York City delves into some existing and planned projects set up for migrants in South Korea Foreword by Andrew F. Walls and the Korean diaspora. Throughout the work true enthusiasm is displayed about Mark R. Gornik Afterword by Emmanuel Katongole the potential of Korean diaspora mission. There is a disappointing lack of in- depth examination of existing diaspora ministries both within and outside of South Korea, with some exceptions, such as Steve Sang-cheol Moon’s “The Korean Diaspora Models of a Missional Church” and David Chul Han Jun’s “A South Korean Case Study of Migrant Ministries.” This shortcoming, however, follows from the view of a number of authors within the book that a fully functioning Korean diaspora mission is still more of a vision than a present reality. While Korean Diaspora and Christian Mission covers a wide variety of topics, “Mark Gornik’s fascinating, in-depth look at African Christianity the reader will come away with a greater in New York City should be read by anyone concerned to awareness of the Korean diaspora and migrant ministries within South Korea, understand the future of the new, global Christianity, and as well as an enhanced knowledge of the especially by those doing urban ministry. . . . This is the kind Korean missionary movement. —Amy Mormino of analysis sorely needed today.” — Timothy Keller

Amy Mormino is Professor of Missiology and Church History at St. Petersburg Seminary in Florida. “This unique and illuminating study, based on extensive religious ethnography, is indeed a vital contribution to our understanding of the dynamics, mission, and vitality of new African Christianity in New York City. It will assume a significant reference point for future research in a relatively nascent field. It is a must-read!” A Living Man from Africa: Jan Tzatzoe, Xhosa Chief and — Afe Adogame Missionary, and the Making of Nineteenth-Century South Africa. ISBN 978-0-8028-6448-2 · 368 pages · paperback · $30.00 By Roger S. Levine. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. xiii, 291. $30.

This book will doubtless be hailed as a At your bookstore, landmark in the study of Christianity or call 800-253-7521 1047 among the Xhosa people of South Africa. www.eerdmans.com It does double duty both as an excellent

January 2012 45 Tzatzoe lived on the margins between but also adapted to and mobilized African Protestant missionary movement on East Christianity and his African roots, he had influences, while Africans in turn ignored, Asia in the pre-Edinburgh period, and credibility among both the missionaries acknowledged, absorbed, and confronted Xinping Zhuo argues that Christianity and his fellow Xhosa citizens. Tzatzoe was European civilization. Tzatzoe traveled in China has played an important role in a man of faith and an intermediary, and he back and forth between his African roots politics, although its sociocultural role personified the hybrid nature of the new and Christianity, which meant that he was has been limited. self created by the colonial encounter with crossing vast political, cultural, spiritual, As regards China, John T. P. Lai Africans in South Africa. and ideological chasms. examines the Christian literature ministry A Living Man from Africa will strength- A Living Man from Africa is richly in China and Japan, highlighting the en mission scholarship, and its contribu- researched and splendidly written. It is a different ways of distribution and policies tions to the production and dissemina- welcome and innovative addition to the of self-support. Kevin Xiyi Yao argues that tion of Christian knowledge in narrative growing interest in narrative missionary fundamentalism in the region was a local history of mission will be far-reaching. history. but international movement, showing The author has resurrected the story of —Caleb O. Oladipo a marked variation: in China, it was the missionary encounter with the Xhosa major and apolitical; in Korea, major and people, showing a conflicted relationship Caleb O. Oladipo is the Duke K. McCall Professor political; and in Japan, minor. Peter Tze characterized by mutual acceptance and of Mission and World Christianity at the Baptist Ming Ng and Yongguang Zhang explore rejection. The colonial authorities critiqued Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia. the impact of Christian education on nationalism and modernization. In Japan it was “an enemy”; in Korea, “a pro- moter”; and in China, “a mediating tool for dialogue” between nationalism and cosmopolitanism (pp. 71–72). According Culture, Inculturation, and to Jiafeng Liu, unlike in Japan, Christian Theologians: A Postmodern socialism in China was a minor and Critique. short-lived movement. Comparing Sino theology with the Mukyokai movement, By Gerald A. Arbuckle. Collegeville, Minn.: Pan-chiu Lai views it as “a cultural rather Liturgical Press, 2010. Pp. xxiv, 200. than religious movement” (p. 103). Paperback $24.95. With reference to Japan, Thomas G. Oey’s essay on John Liggins reveals In Culture, Inculturation, and Theologians, cultural hybridization and discontent—is that resistance to Christianity forced this the distinguished Marist anthropologist the nature of this universe. The Gospel does pioneer to do mission work indirectly Gerald Arbuckle returns to themes he not take us out of this world but orients us rather than directly. Yuko Watanabe’s traced in his 1990 book Earthing the Gospel. in a life lived toward death, the ultimate article on the Chinese YMCA in Tokyo But where his former book was a practical chaos. Given this chaos, in Arbuckle’s view, sheds light on the internationalization of handbook to help missioners and pastoral the church’s role is one of helping human missionary efforts in the early twentieth workers think about cultural systems beings embrace the paschal mystery of century. Naoto Tsuji scrutinizes how in their everyday work, Arbuckle’s death and life as Christ did, not to struggle to theological views, conservative and liberal, most recent book seeks to clarify our restore or create an imaginary, pristine Eden. dominated the landscape of Christian situation today in which terms such as God’s call is into an increasingly intercultur- education. “cultural” and “multicultural” have al drama and to being light in darkness. Concerning Korea, Chong-ku Paek’s become ubiquitous—without careful —William R. Burrows article on John Ross, a China missionary attention being given to what they mean working for China and Korea, shows how in a rapidly changing world. William R. Burrows, a contributing editor of the missionary work in one nation could be Arbuckle succeeds in clarifying the IBMR, is Research Professor of Missiology, Center for mobilized for a neighboring country. field of anthropology and drawing out its World Christianity, New York Theological Seminary. Ji-il Tark investigates Canadian missions, implications for understanding an almost which worked in Japan, Manchuria, and universal judgment by the educated, Korea but concentrated mainly on one namely, that “metanarratives” are tools to ethnic group, the Koreans. Examining dominate others. This is a profoundly theo- the Holiness mission and church in the logical book rooted in a biblical outlook, but region, Jong-hyun Park investigates how it shows great awareness that churches and Christian Presence and Progress their seemingly apolitical doctrine of the mission bodies are often guilty of passing in North-East Asia: Historical and second coming of Christ was interpreted off particular, culturally derived principles Comparative Studies. politically by the indigenous governments. as biblical and universally mandatory. Byung-tae Kim considers the effect of the Accordingly, the question that Edited by Jan A. B. Jongeneel et al. Frankfurt: Korean War on the development of Chinese underlies everything in this superb book Peter Lang, 2011. Pp. xiv, 242. SFr 70 / €44.70 and Korean churches, pro-Communist is, What use can churches make of the / £40.20 / US$69.95. versus anti-Communist, in the postbellum welter of conflicting anthropological years. In sum, as a collection of papers, insights? And even deeper, What is the This book is a selection of papers originally this book leads us through a kaleidoscopic Gospel? As a Catholic, Arbuckle confronts presented at the Seventh International array of issues, all the while contributing a clerical system whose approach to Conference of the North-East Asia to our overall knowledge of this region culture resembles the McDonald approach Council of Studies in the History of and its history. to nutrition. (This, by the way, is not Christianity, held in China in 2009. The —Kyo Seong Ahn the problem of Protestant missiologists first two articles put into context the and church leaders.) Arbuckle’s book is discussion of the conference: Jan A. B. Kyo Seong Ahn is Assistant Professor of Historical nonetheless important for such readers, Jongeneel surveys the impact of the Theology, Presbyterian College and Theological because he knows that chaos—including interdenominationalism of the Western Seminary, Seoul, Korea.

46 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 1 Jesus and the Incarnation: The In-Between People: A Reading Reflections of Christians from of David Bosch Through the Lens Islamic Contexts. of Mission History and Contemporary Challenges in Edited by David Emmanuel Singh. Oxford: Ethiopia. Regnum Books, 2011. Pp. vii, 245. Paperback £24.99. By Girma Bekele. Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, Pickwick Publications, 2011. Pp. xvi, 461. Jesus and the Incarnation is a collection Paperback $51. of papers representing a wide range of Christian voices and perspectives around Girma Bekele’s published Ph.D. thesis enhances the growing body of Ethiopian the themes of “The Word Made Flesh” from Wycliffe College (University of scholarship. Prior to his Toronto graduate and “The Word Made Book” within the Toronto) is a magisterial tome that studies, Girma was employed in the context of global Muslim-Christian encounters. After the introductory chapter by David Singh, the book is divided into three major sections: “The Word,” “Community,” and “Witness.” Instead of simply focusing on the old RECENT BOOKS FROM polemics between Islam and Christianity on the divisive topic of the Incarnation, this collection is an attempt to “make way for creative forms of conversation and debate” EERDMANS (pp. 16–17) between the two faiths. Some of the articles seem to be more FAITH AND ORDER IN THE U.S.A. relevant to the stated theme of the book A Brief History of Studies and Relationships than others. As always, Kenneth Cragg William a. NorgreN brings out fresh and creative insights by showing how, even within the Islamic “ A narrative of an unrecorded part of the American understanding of revelation, “if the eternal ecumenical story and an indispensable resource for ecumenists and historians.” is to enter into the temporal, there must — William G. Rusch be a point of entry where the universal ISBN 978-0-8028-6599-1 has become the particular, the timeless 103 pages • paperback • $20.00 the time-old” (p. 24). Mark Beaumont’s article is a helpful summary of some of the classic disputes on the Incarnation in the MUHLENBERG’S MINISTERIUM, early centuries of the encounter between Muslim and Christian theologians, BEN FRANKLIN’S DEISM, while Jonathan Culver introduces us AND THE CHURCHES OF THE to the apologetic works of Hamran TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Ambrie, an Indonesian Muslim convert to Christianity. Reflections on the 250th Anniversary of the Some other articles do not seem to Oldest Lutheran Church Body in North America fit naturally within the stated aim of this JohN reumaNN, editor work. Mary Kay McVicker’s article on the religious rituals of an Indian Shi‘ite ISBN 978-0-8028-6246-4 community or David Grafton’s pre- 244 pages • paperback • $22.00 sentation on the Van Dyck Arabic trans- lation of the Bible fall in this category. Some voices raise important BRITISH MISSIONARIES challenges to the church regarding AND THE END OF EMPIRE incarnational ministry among Muslims East, Central, and Southern Africa, 1939–64 (articles by Peter Riddell and Phil Parshall), and others move beyond the boundaries STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS SERIES of historic orthodoxy in regard to Chris- JohN Stuart tology (Clinton Bennett). “Authoritatively and elegantly written, crackling I believe this book could have been with insight, and drawing on a huge range of significantly enhanced if it had been more archival sources, this book will be recognized as focused on the theological themes around indispensable in the study of both mission history the doctrine of the Incarnation and also if it and decolonization.” had presented more voices from Christian — John Darwin writers who had come out of a Muslim ISBN 978-0-8028-6633-2 background. 253 pages • paperback • $40.00 —Sasan Tavassoli

Sasan Tavassoli, a former Shi‘ite Muslim from Iran, At your bookstore, Wm. B. Eerdmans serves as a missionary among Iranians. Publishing Co. or call 800-253-7521 1527 2140 Oak Industrial Dr NE www.eerdmans.com Grand Rapids, MI 49505

January 2012 47

Eerdmans Ad 1527-d development sector of the Ethiopian Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Kale Heywet Church. He is to be Christian Mission Today. commended for his scholarly “double listening” (credit to John Stott): first, to By Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder. South African missiologist/theologian Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2011. Pp. xi, David Bosch through some eighty-six 194. Paperback $35. articles, essays, letters, and books; and second, both to historiographers of the Catholic Theological Union professors there is a sufficient degree of ecumenical Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOTC) and Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder openness. to contemporary writers on the emerging have become well known for their wide The last two chapters of the book deal Ethiopian evangelical movement. Girma vistas on mission theology—seeing with church/mission history and recent may be the first historian to suggest a their names on the book cover raises Magisterial mission documents that the creative partnership between the two expectations! This time they tackle the authors consider to have contributed seemingly disparate Ethiopian church issue of prophetic dialogue, the generally toward a deepened understanding of traditions. accepted description of the nature of mission as prophetic dialogue. The In part 1 Girma considers Bosch’s mission in their religious order, the church-historical chapter reads like a fast- sociotheological journey and trans- Society of the Divine Word (SVD). This forward version of two millennia from the formation as a Reformed Afrikaner issue became a compromise between chosen point of view. The chapter on the struggling with state-sanctioned apartheid. the context-affirming and the context- Magisterial documents is far more useful, Part 2 presents Bosch’s key missiological challenging nature of Christian mission. serving simultaneously as an analysis of concepts as basically grounded in the New While all mission needs to be dialogical the documents from the given point of Testament. In part 3 Girma focuses on and open to the other, it also needs to have view and as a condensed introduction to Ethiopia’s mission history and, through a challenging cutting edge. these documents. This chapter is highly the lens of Bosch’s various missiological The book consists of two parts (even valuable, especially for students. paradigms, describes the unique qualities if the parts are not marked), starting Most of the chapters were originally of the sixteen centuries of the EOTC, with constructive mission-theological written as independent articles, and even the two large “mission churches” (Kale deliberations and ending with two though they have been edited for this book, Heywet and Mekane Yesus), and the descriptive-analytical chapters. The the outcome hovers between a monograph Ethiopian Pentecostal movement, which first contains reflections on mission as and an anthology. The downside is the has greatly altered the landscape of prophetic dialogue from various per- number of redundant quotations and Ethiopian evangelicalism. Part 4 expands spectives. In these chapters, the authors statements, as well as a certain lack of on how the church as an “alternative skillfully craft a progressive mainline progress in argumentation. The book community” (p. 278) must broaden its Roman Catholic position on mission. It nevertheless makes for very enlightening quest for justice and social transformation attempts to balance openness and clar- reading for anyone wishing to gain a through missional involvement; in the ity of theological position. One of the picture of where today’s mainline Roman process he chides mission agencies for preferred ways in which this position is Catholic mission theology is on the way. separating evangelism and social justice. described in the book is David Bosch’s —Mika Vähäkangas In part 5 the author envisions a common famous phrase “bold humility.” Even if the ecumenical cooperation within Ethiopia to resulting mission theology builds largely Mika Vähäkangas, a Finnish citizen, is Professor of create an “in-between people,” a phrase on Roman Catholic foundations and is Mission Studies and Ecumenics at Lund University, coined by Bosch (p. 266). The cooperating unmistakably Roman Catholic in tone, Sweden. Ethiopian church bodies are to be the bridges within society, addressing the issues of government-endorsed ethnic- based federalism (which could fragment the nation), poverty in what is one of the poorest countries of the world, and the McDonaldisation, Masala impact of globalization. The in-between McGospel, and Om Economics: people themselves must first be “reconciled, Televangelism in Contemporary liberated and transformed” (p. 407). India. This is a significant book (though the editing/proofreading process could have By Jonathan D. James. New Delhi: Sage Pub- been more rigorous). In it Girma Bekele, lications, 2010. Pp. xxvii, 232. Rs 595 / $15. serving as Bosch’s “missiological dialogue partner” (p. 408), challenges Ethiopian This book is set in the broad context He likens global televangelism to Christianity (63 percent of Ethiopia’s of “the changing shape and form of “McDonaldisation” because of its population), as well as the wider global Christian ministry” (p. xvii) in the Indian standardized, one-size-fits-all approach. church, to live beyond a comfortable status church. The author, Jonathan D. James, is “Glocal” televangelism—the fusion of quo posture. This alternative community, convinced that in the Indian churches, the American and Indian evangelism—James as the inaugurated kingdom of God, “is pastoral techniques developed during the refers to as Masala McGospel. And Hindu in the world, but not of the world—for the colonial period are rapidly being replaced televangelism, a consequence of satellite world [and] against the world” (p. 405). by “techniques resembling the American technology and charismatic televangelism, We are indebted to Girma for being an model” (p. xviii). In this context, the book he characterizes as “om economics.” articulate spokesman for David Bosch, explores the American phenomenon of Chapter 1 introduces the key meta- who no longer walks among us. televangelism in India, reviewing its phors used in the book and also outlines —E. Paul Balisky historical, cultural, religious, political, and the methodology and the historical- economic setting. comparative framework of this study. E. Paul Balisky, with his wife, Lila, served with SIM At the outset, the author discusses In the second chapter James locates (Serving in Mission) in Ethiopia from 1966 to 2006. the rather unusual title of the book. charismatic televangelism in its global

48 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 1 context by tracing its roots to black namely, Abokobi, Accra, and Akuropon not overly dominate the discussion. In a American Pentecostalism. Chapter 3 (Akropong). Sill’s interpretation of a prologue and nine chapters, Sill examines examines the data on the history of Indian broad range of archival evidence shows the roots of women’s mission in the Basel missions and relevant issues pertaining an understanding of both Basel Mission Mission context; the roles and status of to the social and cultural aspects of policies and the mind-set of its leaders. several generations of European and Afri- Christianity in India. Chapter 4 discusses The Basel context illustrates the historic can missionary women, traditionalists, the place that charismatic televangelism contradiction of Christianity as “a and Christian nationals in nineteenth- has in contemporary India. religion embraced especially by women,” century Gold Coast; the socioeconomic The relationship between charismatic but where ironically the initiatives for functions of “space,” “clothing,” and televangelism and Hindu televangelism women’s mission were controlled by men schooling, and their appropriation by is explored in chapter 5, especially in (pp. 5–6). women in both traditional and Christian the way the Hindu channels exhibit the Such gender issues in mission may communities; the embodiment of Chris- practices of consumerism and market- be a major focus of the book, but they do tian womanhood and femininity; and ing techniques used by charismatic tel- evangelists. Chapters 6 and 7 analyze the influence of both global and glocal charismatic televangelism on the leaders of the Protestant Church and the Hindu community in urban India. In chapter 8 the author examines the intermediary role that television plays in broadcasting the Christian faith. The concluding chapter summarizes the study, as well as analyzing the findings and giving some broad predictions of mediated faith in today’s global world. As a pioneering study of the role and impact of televangelism in India, this book is essential reading for all students of religion and culture in pluralist societies. —Jesudas M. Athyal Walking with Jesudas M. Athyal is a Fellow at the Center for Global the Poor Christianity and Mission, Boston University School Principles and Practices of of Theology, Boston, Massachusetts. Transformational Development Revised and Expanded Edition Understanding BRYANT L. MYERS New MissionWorld Christianity Studies “A masterpiece of integration and The Vision and Work application that draws widely on of Andrew F. Walls the best Christian and scientific WILLIAM R. BURROWS, Encounters in Quest of Christian MARK R. GORNIK, and Womanhood: The Basel Mission in sources on development.” JANICE A. McLEAN, editors Pre- and Early Colonial Ghana. —from the Foreword by Paul G. Hiebert In place of the eurocentric 978-1-57075-939-0 model of “Christendom,” a new By Ulrike Sill. Leiden: Brill, 2010. Pp. xvii, pbk $30.00 420. €130 / $185. understanding has emerged Transforming Mission of Christianity as a “world” The Basel Mission work in the Gold Coast Paradigm Shifts in movement. At the cornerstone of in the second quarter of the nineteenth Theology of Mission this new perspective lies the work century was established at great cost 20th Anniversary Edition of lives of its first missionaries. Once of a remarkable scholar, Andrew the mission found a way to evade the DAVID J. BOSCH F. Walls. Understanding World scourge of malaria in the safety of the Foreword by William R. Burrows Christianity introduces Walls’ work Akuapem hills, however, it was able to With a new concluding chapter by and explores its wide-ranging Darrell Guder and Martin Reppenhagen settle down to the serious business of implications for understanding evangelizing the people. Before long, “Unquestionably the most com- of history, mission, the formative the arrival of missionaries’ wives and prehensive and enlightened work place of Africa in the Christian a couple of single women missionaries on mission models studied across changed the perspective not just on the story, and the cross-cultural Christian traditions and mission role of women but, quite fundamentally, transmission of faith. on the definition and goal of “Christian history.”—Louis Luzbetak, S.V.D. 978-1-57075-949-9 womanhood.” 978-1-57075-948-2 pbk $30.00 Ulrike Sill’s discussion, an expansion pbk $35.00 of her doctoral dissertation, draws widely on archival sources, notably the Basel From your bookseller or direct Mission (now Mission 21) Archives. ORBIS BOOKS Follow us Maryknoll, NY 10545 Her work traces the paths traveled by 1-800-258-5838 missionary pioneers and innovators in the www.maryknollmall.org towns where the Basel Mission operated,

January 2012 49 women’s aspirations beyond the Basel wasted, but it is presumably the main Mission context. reason why some important points were Sill writes from a sympathetic per- left uncovered, or largely ignored. spective, engaging with material from the First, there is hardly anything on fields of African history, mission history, Korea. In fact, it would have been more missiology, Christian education, sociology, truthful to replace “East Asia” in the title and gender studies. The summary of main with “China and Japan.” Second, it is clear issues at the end of each chapter, along with from the introduction, which addresses an extensive bibliography and glossary of the organizational and intellectual aspects Akan terms, makes Encounters a valuable of religion rather than the supernatural academic and historical resource. or soteriological, that the emphasis will The author of this very readable be on the interaction between religion volume maintains the reader’s interest, and politics at the top levels of society. even while presenting a wealth of Consideration of Buddhist views of the information. This study is a welcome and self and enlightenment is postponed significant addition to existing scholarship until a section on Zen and the samurai on the Basel Mission in the Gold Coast, in chapter 5 (pp. 114–16), while belief is which until now has focused primarily not dealt with until chapter 6, when it is on its male agents. examined in the rather extreme context —Maureen Iheanacho of millenarianism (pp. 123–31). There is nothing about the role of the dead or about Maureen Iheanacho served for fifteen years as the responsibility of family members, not ANNOUNCING executive assistant to the rector of the Akrofi- only to their living relatives, but also to Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission, and those who have passed away and those My Habitat Culture, Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana. She is who have yet to be born. There was also coauthor of By His Grace: Signs on a Ghanaian no space to consider whether there was Journey (Accra, 2004). any Weberian-type reason for the differing for Humanity: speeds at which Japan and China adopted the spirit of capitalism. Finally, the author, The (Mostly) Good a China specialist, is not always reliable when it comes to Japan. The book begins Old Days with a reference to the Catholic missionary Religion and the Making of activity that began with Francis Xavier in David Johnson Rowe Modern East Asia. 1549 and ended in bloodshed less than one hundred years later. Even this, however, By Thomas David DuBois. Cambridge: is misleading and inaccurate. Dr. Rowe, copastor of Green- Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. xii, 259. I hope that lecturers who use this field Hill Congregational £55 / $90; paperback £17.99 / $27.99. textbook will be able to supplement its flaws, and that the students who use it will Church, Fairfield, Connecti- This book is part of a series of introductory be inspired to read further for themselves, cut, spent fourteen years with textbooks that adopt “New Approaches both in English and in Asian languages. Habitat for Humanity Interna- to Asian History,” the “new approach” in —Helen Ballhatchet this case being the role of religion in the tional as president, volunteer, modern history of East Asia. After a brief Helen Ballhatchet, Professor in the Faculty of and staff. His new book, an in- introduction, in which Thomas DuBois Economics, Keio University, Tokyo, has published timate look at one of the world’s emphasizes the similarities between studies of the intellectual history of Meiji Japan and religions and compares the historical role the History of Christianity in East Asia. great charities, takes the reader of religion in Asia to that of Christianity in deep into Habitat for the best Europe, the author divides the book into and worst of moments, from roughly parallel sections on China and Japan. The first section on each country bitterness to forgiveness, from contains a brief outline of its religious rural America to India, from ho- background and early history, but the The Rise of Charismatic meowners to Jimmy Carter and focus is on events from the beginning of Catholicism in Latin America. the Chinese Ming dynasty (1368) and from Millard Fuller. It is a celebration the closing stages of the Japanese civil war By Edward L. Cleary. Gainesville: Univ. Press of humble beginnings, great period in the mid-sixteenth century. The of Florida, 2011. Pp. xiii, 309. $74.95. expectations, and God’s grace. final chapters bring us to the end of the twentieth century and the “globalization In the last four decades significant changes of Asian religion.” have taken place in Latin American Paperback, 142 pages To cover so much ground so clearly religion. In the 1970s and 1980s scholars of and entertainingly in such a limited num- Latin American Christianity devoted much including shipping $12.50 ber of pages is a tremendous achievement. of their energy to analyzing the importance The achievement is the greater because of the new theology of liberation. In To order, send an e-mail to: valuable space is, quite rightly, spent on the 1990s scholarly attention shifted to [email protected] basic explanations of essential background the astonishing growth of Pentecostal or go online to www.lulu.com factors such as the differences between Protestantism, with some pundits Buddhism in South and East Asia and predicting that within a few decades the life of Confucius. This space is not more Latin Americans would be Protes-

50 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 1 tant than Catholic. Now Edward Cleary, less than 100 yards apart in Colonia common themes, including testimonies, a well-respected, seasoned commentator Alta Vista Alegre, a lower-class working group practices, leadership styles, and on Latin American religion who has neighborhood in Cuernavaca, Mexico. social and political action, Wingeier- been in the forefront in explaining both The work is divided into two parts. Rayo found that, in comparison with the liberation theology and Pentecostalism The literature review, in part 1 (itself well Pentecostal congregation, members of to North American audiences, has broken worth the price of the book), surveys the the CEB were older, better established new ground with The Rise of Charismatic development of CEBs and Pentecostals, in the community, and more upwardly Catholicism in Latin America. as well as the theoretical interpretations mobile. The intellectual and rational Cleary points out that, while 35 emerging among scholars. In part 2, with nature of their Bible studies, designed to million Latin Americans were turning to an eye to field-testing these theories, raise political awareness through biblical Pentecostalism in the last few decades, Wingeier-Rayo presents the findings of his reflection, contrasted with the enthusias- more than twice that number had joined yearlong ethnographic study of the two tic and emotional worship services of the the ranks of the Catholic charismatic groups. Organizing his research around Pentecostals, where sermons focused, for movement. Indeed, so successful has this movement been that today there are more Catholic charismatics in Latin America than in any other region of the world. Thus it is no exaggeration to say that, just as Pentecostalism has transformed Latin American Protestantism, so the charismatic movement is transforming Latin American Catholicism. Although the charismatic movement has much in common with Pentecostalism, Cleary points out that it is solidly grounded in Catholic sacramental life and traditional Marian devotion. He further notes that there is no one model. Some groups, for instance, are pietistic and tend to be conservative, while others incorporate social justice concerns into their agenda. Most important in Cleary’s mind, it is a grassroots, lay movement that is committed to evangelization and that has the potential to revitalize the Catholic Church. Cleary is puzzled that commentators on Latin American religion have largely overlooked the Catholic charismatic movement. With the publication of this book, however, it seems safe to predict that they will now take notice. —Edward T. Brett

Edward T. Brett is Professor of History at La Roche College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Where Are the Poor? A Comparison of the Ecclesial Base Communities and Pentecostalism—a Case Study in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

By Philip D. Wingeier-Rayo. Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, Pickwick Publications, 2011. Pp. xi, 164. Paperback $20.

Why would some people living in the same barrio opt to participate in an Ecclesial Base Community (CEB) while others, often members of the same family, join a Pentecostal church? Philip Wingeier-Rayo responds to this question by offering a theoretical and empirical comparative analysis of an ecclesial base community and a Pentecostal congregation located

January 2012 51 the most part, on a spiritual encounter that evangelism is a legitimate human with the divine. A woman functioning activity (indeed he argues that it is necessary as a teacher-facilitator led the CEB, while for human dignity!), moves on to suggest the pastor of the Pentecostal congregation fifteen criteria of what makes it either was male, authoritative, and charismatic. ethical or unethical. In the process, he Members of both groups, especially engages a wide range of thinkers, from when the CEBs were compared with the John Locke to Lesslie Newbigin, and from “small group” meetings of the Pentecos- Aristotle to Noam Chomsky. tals, demonstrated a sense of ownership The book is explicitly aimed at both that was participative, empowering, Christian and non-Christian audiences. and purposeful, albeit not always for Thus in arguing that human dignity must the same reasons. They both acquired be the cornerstone of all proselytization, analytical, social, and communication Thiessen appeals equally not only to skills, essentials tools for coping with and Scripture and theology but also to phi- Plan Your 2012 even overcoming personal poverty. Both losophers such as Kant. This is valuable, groups seemed to have the potential for because the discussion needs to involve Summer Sabbatical social action and thus participation in more than the Christian community. In a democratization, although the sheer size delightful way, Thiessen’s “evangelizing” of the Pentecostal movement increased of his non-Christian readers exemplifies at OMSC exponentially its capacity for social change. the respectful, dialogic approach he Efficiency to three-bedroom. As this study demonstrates, CEBs and commends for proselytizers. Thus, when Pentecostals are, at least in Colonia Alta he says that “ethical proselytizing requires For summer rates and reservations, Vista Alegre and in spite of similar social coherence between the proselytizer’s e-mail a request with your choice outcomes, more than two expressions character and the message being conveyed” of dates to: of the same essence. For the foreseeable (p. 196), it is a pleasure to report that he future, whatever the similarities and practices what he preaches—making his Judy C. Stebbins differences, these grassroots groups will case all the more persuasive. Director of Finance and Housing impact the socioreligious landscape for My only concern with the book is that Overseas Ministries Study Center millions of Latin Americans. it is not one for the average reader. But [email protected] —Douglas Petersen it is right that the debate should first be engaged at this academic level. We need www.OMSC.org/summer.html Douglas Petersen is the Margaret S. Smith now for Thiessen’s thinking to percolate Distinguished Professor of World Mission and down to the general Christian public— Intercultural Studies at Vanguard University, Costa not least via preachers and teachers and Mesa, California, and the former president of Latin seminary professors—and beyond, to CIRCULATION STATEMENT America ChildCare. the public square of cultural discourse. Statement required by the act of August 12, 1970, section 3685. Title 39, The result would be Christians who are United States Code, showing ownership, management, and circulation of International Bulletin of Missionary Research. Published 4 times more confident and more courteous in per year at 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511. their evangelism, and a world that is more Publisher: Jonathan J. Bonk, Overseas Ministries Study open to hearing the Gospel because it is Center, 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511. ethically conveyed. Editor: Jonathan J. Bonk, Overseas Ministries Study Center, 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511. Senior Associate The Ethics of Evangelism: —John P. Bowen Editor, Dwight P. Baker; Associate Editor, J. Nelson Jennings; A Philosophical Defense of Managing Editor, Daniel J. Nicholas; Overseas Ministries Study Center, 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 06511. The Proselytizing and Persuasion. John P. Bowen is Professor of Evangelism and owner is Overseas Ministries Study Center, 490 Prospect Street, New Director of the Institute of Evangelism at Wycliffe Haven, Connecticut 06511. By Elmer John Thiessen. Downers Grove, Ill.: College, Toronto. The known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security IVP Academic, 2011. Pp. 285. Paperback $24. holders owning or holding one percent or more of total amounts of bonds, mortgages or other securities are: None. This book is a great gift to all who are Average no. Actual no. of of copies copies of reflective practitioners of mission and each issue single issue evangelism. In the past half-century, the during pre- published Christian world has been sensitized to David J. Bosch: Prophetic Integrity, ceding 12 nearest to months filing date ethical issues in evangelism by two things: Cruciform Praxis. the historical link between missions and Total no. copies printed 4,242 4,214 Paid circulation: sales colonialization, and (more narrowly) Compiled and written by J. N. J. (Klippies) through dealers, carriers, the scandals around various evangelists Kritzinger and W. Saayman. Pietermaritzburg: street vendors, and during the 1980s. Since then, however, a Cluster Publications, 2011. Pp. x, 214. counter sales 0 0 Mail subscriptions 2,944 2,820 bigger question has arisen in the secular Paperback R 85. Total paid circulation 2,944 2,820 world: not whether proselytization is done Free distribution 795 915 Total distribution 3,739 3,735 ethically or not, but whether it is ethical In this volume good friends, colleagues, Copies not distributed: 503 479 to do it at all. and the wife of David Bosch explain and office use, left over, unaccounted, spoiled Elmer John Thiessen, research explore the meaning of Bosch—a type of after printing professor of education at Tyndale thick description of a remarkable Christian Returns from news agents 0 0 University College in Toronto, has man. Twelve different people tell about Total 4,242 4,214 Percent Paid and/or addressed both these issues in a way that their experiences and relationships with Requested Circulation 78.7% 75.5% is careful, thorough, irenic, and ultimately David Bosch. The authors/compilers have I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and persuasive—to this reader’s mind at least. decided on an interpretive framework for complete. He rightly takes on the bigger and more Bosch’s life, first expressed in the subtitle (signed) Jonathan J. Bonk Editor recent issue first and, having concluded and then expanded using the praxis

52 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 1 matrix of UNISA that was developed by Bosch and others in the 1980s and 1990s. ...” The greater value of the book, however, “...the harvest is plentiful is seen in how the prophetic integrity of his life and his commitment to cruciform witness surfaced again and again. The chapter by Bosch’s wife, Annemie, is a sensitive and well-articulated presen- tation of Bosch the theologian, missionary, and family man. We learn that Bosch was forever a committed family man, an avid farmer, an accomplished and gifted linguist, and a deeply caring companion. “What brought so much healing to hurting people and situations was his astounding ability to apply his mind, combined with emotional intelligence and concern for people, in an outstandingly creative way” (p. 36). Reading between the lines, we see that he was also aided by a bright and gifted wife. The book contains a section “Recollections and Reflections” from colleagues, friends, and students; chapters on dimensions of his life (Afrikaner, public intellectual, organic theologian and missionary-missiologist, and practical ecumenist); and a concluding chapter that offers an interpretation of his life through analyzing his mission praxis. This reviewer was overwhelmed by how important it was for his theological development that Bosch studied in German-speaking Basel rather than in the Netherlands, by the consistent leadership he provided resisting apartheid, by his steady resis-tance to both revolutionary responses and passive acceptance of apartheid, and by his reasons for not signing the Kairos Document. The authors have published some new material from Bosch’s papers. They have been both fair and carefully critical. Bosch was a unique, strong, creative, sensitive theologian whose practice carved in bold relief his own life of cruciform praxis. This is a great read, filling in many of the gaps in our understanding of Bosch. —Scott W. Sunquist

Scott W. Sunquist is Professor of World Christianity at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies Pennsylvania. Doctor of Missiology

Please beware of bogus renewal notices. A genuine IBMR renewal Relocation not required • Accredited by the Association notice will have a return address of Denville, NJ 07834 on the outer of Theological Schools and Higher Learning Commission envelope, and the address on the reply envelope will go to PO Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000. Please e-mail [email protected] www.agts.edu or call (203) 624-6672, ext. 309, with any questions. Thank you. 800-467-AGTS

January 2012 53