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International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol 39, No. 1 Vol. 39, No. 1 January 2015 Witchcraft and Mission Studies was blamed for all these deaths in the village, wrapped cal settings live unconcerned about winter clothing, the polar “I up in fishing nets, and beaten up severely.” So recounted vortex, or ice hockey. star Indian javelin thrower Debjani Bora, recent target of a witch As for specifically Christian examples, consider patristic hunt in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. The accusation and theologians. More intensely than had been required of their attack were spearheaded by a woman village elder later arrested Jewish and apostolic forefathers, Tertullian, Athanasius, Cyril for inciting the violence. According to BBC News India, police in Continued next page Assam report that over the last five years nearly ninety people, mostly women, have been “beheaded, burnt alive or stabbed to death” as a result of witch accusations.1 Such incidents occur incessantly and in various locations, as On Page articles here indicate. Indeed, challenges presented by witchcraft 3 Putting Witch Accusations on the Missiological and witch accusations have long been urgent concerns of countless Agenda: A Case from Northern Peru Robert J. Priest 8 Beyond the Fence: Confronting Witchcraft Accusations in the Papua New Guinea Highlands Philip Gibbs 12 Healing Communities: Contextualizing Responses to Witch Accusations Steven D. H. Rasmussen, with Hannah Rasmussen 14 Noteworthy 19 Toward a Christian Response to Witchcraft in Northern Ghana Jon P. Kirby 23 Witchcraft Accusations and Christianity in Africa J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu 28 Christianity 2015: Religious Diversity and Personal Contact Todd M. Johnson, Gina A. Zurlo, Albert W. Hickman, and Peter F. Crossing 30 My Pilgrimage in Mission John P. Martin http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martha_Corey-Longfellow.jpg 34 The Legacy of Frank Arthur Keller Martha Corey and seven others were convicted of witchcraft Kevin Xiyi Yao and hanged, Salem, Massachusetts, September 22, 1692. 38 Assembly of the International Association for Mission Studies, 2016—Call for Papers Christian communities worldwide. Even so, the reality of witchcraft 39 Longing for Community: Church, Ummah, or has escaped the notice of most missiologists and mission studies. Somewhere in Between? A Review Essay This issue of the IBMR seeks to help rectify this discrepancy. Michael Nazir-Ali We human beings notice what is important to us, but we 40 The Roman Catholic Church Worldwide routinely miss other realities that have little impact on our values (Changes from 2007 to 2012) or the daily cares of our lives. Thus, for example, over the last 42 Book Reviews decade Internet connectivity has become a daily and conscious 54 Dissertation Notices need for millions of us worldwide. In contrast, people in tropi- 56 Book Notes of Alexandria, Nestorius, and others formulated answers to realities of witchcraft must be honest, active engagement—even questions arising from their Greco-Roman contexts, that is, to if my colleagues and I might not think that witches are cursing their contemporaries’ pointed philosophical questions about our own families or congregations. Missiologists as well as theo- God and Jesus the Lord. A few centuries later and further east, logians—contextually bound as both are—must finally become Patriarch Timothy of Baghdad defended Christian teaching to fully engaged with the issues of spiritual agents, sociological Islamic authorities, under whose rule he administered extensive dynamics, and people’s assumed universes. ecclesiastical and missionary structures. Multidisciplinary analyses are needed, including Evans- For modern Western missionaries, Jesuits in China and Prot- Pritchardesque anthropological examinations of relational estants in Africa alike have had to deal with beliefs and practices dynamics involved in perceived witchcraft activities. We also involving active and influential ancestors. The European heritage need Paul Hiebert–type critical realist approaches that are self- of Western missionaries has typically come to terms with ances- aware of Western “excluded middle” assumptions (that rule out tors either through sainthood or by “scientifically” explaining spiritual realities within a middle tier between God and this- them away. The unexpected encounter with both benevolent and worldly, scientifically observable phenomena). Related biblical malevolent powers regularly consulted by powerful chiefs and studies must wrestle with the medium, sometimes translated priests has presented an ongoing and vexing reality to expatriate witch, of Endor (1 Sam. 28) and related topics. The articles about missionaries unprepared for such interactions. witchcraft in this IBMR issue, which consider biblical, theological, The same has been true with witchcraft. Contemporary anthropological, sociological, historical, and pastoral aspects of Europeans and North Americans may blush at the early modern the subject, beckon us to accept the challenge and stride ahead. witch trials in Europe and in Europe’s North American colonies. Thankfully, we can rest assured that God graciously deals Accordingly, modern Western theologians and missiologists with us in our particular settings. That is, God does not dismiss have for generations conveniently turned a blind eye to such but takes seriously Christians who experience witchcraft realities, phenomena, which have been rumored to take place elsewhere. even while some expatriate critics might haughtily act otherwise. In actuality, however, witchcraft-related activities—including God’s gracious particular dealings also take seriously Christians violent witch hunts directed toward women and children— who honestly do not sense or believe in witchcraft matters—but stubbornly plague Christian communities all around the world. are genuinely open to being instructed otherwise. May we all Missiologists must catch up with these acute, long-neglected heed this urgent missiological call that for most of us has gone spiritual and pastoral issues. largely unnoticed far too long. Today, we as Christians and as human beings are more glob- —J. Nelson Jennings ally interconnected than ever before. This statement becomes Note more than platitude as we note recent worldwide reactions to the 1. Subir Bhaumik, “Indian Athlete Debjani Bora Beaten in ‘Witch West African Ebola epidemic or to the religio-military conflicts Hunt,’” BBC News India, October 17, 2014, www.bbc.com/news in Syria and Iraq. Today’s requisite missiological response to the /world-asia-india-29655662. INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH Established 1950 by R. Pierce Beaver as Occasional Bulletin from the Missionary Research Library. Named Occasional Bulletin of Missionary Research in 1977. Renamed International Bulletin of Missionary Research in 1981. Published quarterly in January, April, July, and October by the Overseas Ministries Study Center, 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511. (203) 624-6672 • Fax (203) 865-2857 • [email protected] • www.internationalbulletin.org • Join IBMR on Facebook Editor Contributing Editors J. Nelson Jennings Books for review and correspondence regarding editorial matters should be addressed to the Catalino G. Arévalo, S.J. Senior Associate Editor editors. Manuscripts should be submitted to the editor as e-mail attachments. Opinions expressed J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu Dwight P. Baker in the IBMR are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. Daniel H. Bays The articles in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Bibliografia Missionaria, Book Stephen B. Bevans, S.V.D. Assistant Editors Review Index, Christian Periodical Index, Guide to People in Periodical Literature, Guide to William R. Burrows Craig A. Noll Social Science and Religion in Periodical Literature, IBR (International Bibliography of Book Angelyn Dries, O.S.F. Rona Johnston Gordon Reviews), IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature), Missionalia, Religious Samuel Escobar Managing Editor and Theological Abstracts, and Religion Index One: Periodicals. John F. Gorski, M.M. Daniel J. Nicholas ONLINE E-JOURNAL: The IBMR is available in e-journal and print editions. To Darrell L. Guder Senior Contributing Editors subscribe—at no charge—to the full text IBMR e-journal (PDF and HTML), go to www Philip Jenkins Gerald H. Anderson .internationalbulletin.org/register. Index, abstracts, and full text of this journal are also available Daniel Jeyaraj Jonathan J. Bonk on databases provided by ATLAS, EBSCO, H. W. Wilson Company, The Gale Group, and Graham Kings Robert T. Coote University Microfilms. Back issues may be purchased or read online. Consult InfoTrac database Anne-Marie Kool at academic and public libraries. Steve Sang-Cheol Moon Circulation PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS: Subscribe, renew, or change an address at www Mary Motte, F.M.M. Becka Sisti, [email protected] .internationalbulletin.org or write INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH, P.O. C. René Padilla (203) 285-1559 Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000. 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