World Christianity and Christian Mission: Are They Compatible? Insights from the Asian Churches Peter C. Phan

wo terms in the title of this essay seem to cancel each embeddedness in a particular moment of Jewish history and in Tother out and therefore prompt questions about their a specific geography, is confessed to be the universal Lord, at theological and pastoral compatibility. If Christianity is already whose name “every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth a world religion, is there still a need for mission and evangelism? and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10), and is proclaimed the savior If there is, how should Christian mission be carried out in the of all, Jews and Gentiles alike. The Holy Spirit, who is the gift context of world Christianity? These two questions are made all of the risen Christ, is poured out “upon all flesh” (Acts 2:17) so the more complex by the fact that both “world Christianity” and that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” “Christian mission” are today highly contested concepts. To shed (Acts 2:21). While Jesus’ mission itself was limited to “the lost some light on these issues I begin with a discussion of what is sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24) and while, during Jesus’ meant by “world Christianity” and “Christian mission.” Next, I lifetime, the apostles were told not to visit pagan territory or to highlight some of the ways in which they seem to be mutually enter a Samaritan town but to go instead to “the lost sheep of the conflicting and then attempt to answer, on the basis of the experi- house of Israel” (Matt. 10:5–6), after Jesus’ resurrection, when full ences and teachings of the Asian Catholic churches, the questions authority had been given to him “in heaven and on earth,” the of whether Christian mission is still mandatory today and, if so, apostles were commissioned to “make disciples of all nations” how it should be done. and were assured of Jesus’ presence “always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18–20). As a result of the universal destination “World Christianity”: What’s So New About It? and dynamism of God’s action in Christ and the Spirit, Jesus’ disciples will be witnesses to him “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and In a sense, from its very birth Christianity has always been Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Clearly, then, portrayed as a world movement with a divine commission to Christianity is by nature a universal or global religion, and in bring the Good News to all peoples, at all times, and in all places. the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, This globality of Christianity is rooted in the universal mission catholicity is professed to be one of the four marks of the church.1 of the Trinitarian God. The Christian God is professed to be the What, then, makes the notion of “world Christianity” new or creator of the whole universe, and God’s providence and rule even controversial today? Of the many contributing factors, I are said to extend beyond Israel to the entire human race and will mention three. across the whole of human history. The risen Christ, despite his A different history of Christianity—the myth of Christianity as a Western religion. A new way has recently been emerging of Peter C. Phan, a Vietnamese-American theologian, is 2 the inaugural holder of the Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J., Chair interpreting the history of Christianity. In popular church of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University. historiography, partly as a result of a jaundiced reading of He has earned three doctorates and has authored a Acts, Christianity has been portrayed as a religious movement dozen books and over 300 essays on various themes that, though born in (southwest) Asia or the Middle East, from of theology including missiology and the history of its very beginnings moved to the eastern part of the Roman missions in Asia. —[email protected] Empire through Asia Minor and ended in Rome as its final destination, where Paul and Peter completed their apostolic

October 2008 193 careers. From Rome as its epicenter, the Catholic Church sent Cyprian, Tertullian, and Augustine hailed from North Africa. As missionaries first to the other parts of Europe, then to Latin for spirituality, monasticism was an invention of the Egyptian America and Asia in the sixteenth century, and later still to Desert Fathers and Mothers. Africa, with the Protestants joining the missionary enterprise Furthermore, even the so-called European or Western Chris- in the nineteenth century and beyond.3 In this narrative, the tianity, whose apparent cultural unity was rooted in the Greco- role of the papacy within the church, as well as papal en- Roman civilization of the Mediterranean world and was greatly tanglements with secular authorities and the vicissitudes of facilitated by the use of Latin as a common language, was by no the Reformation, receives the lion’s share of attention from means unified. Rather, it was made up of various elements of church historians. Standard church history texts accord these Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and West Asian cultures. In addition, events a majority of their pages. As a result, there is a skewed what was eventually referred to as European civilization was perception that Christianity is a Western religion, especially not the only one claiming to be the inheritor of the Greco-Ro- Roman Catholicism, with its papacy, its centralizing hierarchi- man civilization; besides the Holy Roman Empire, two other cal structure, its numerous cadres of missionaries, its canon empires—Byzantium and Islam—were contenders for the same law, its uniform liturgy, and the Vatican state. title. “Europa,” first used at the turn of the ninth century to refer Today, church historians have realized that the roots of to the geographic area controlled by Charlemagne, emerged as a Christianity are sunk deeper in the East than in the West and unified cultural-political unity only in modernity and the age of that its beliefs and practices, which were eventually clothed in colonialism, where it served as an identity marker separating it Greek, Latin, and Teutonic categories and exported to the so- from the colonized continents. Within this Europe, Christianity was never monolithic, but pluralistic and multiple. Dale Irvin puts it succinctly: “Even in Europe, there has not been one church, one history, or one historical essence of Christianity.”5 It has become clear that If this is the reality of Christianity, then a different narrative Christianity is neither of the Christian movement must be fashioned other than the a Western religion nor one peddled by standard textbooks of church history, of which a version—admittedly somewhat of a caricature—is given above. a monolithic entity. Fortunately, serious attempts have been made recently in this direction. Besides the pioneering work of church historians such as Walbert Bühlmann, Andrew Walls, Kwame Bediako, called mission lands, cannot be fully understood apart from their and Lamin Sanneh, we should note the landmark two-volume Asian/Semitic origins. Furthermore, there is a greater awareness work by Dale T. Irvin and Scott W. Sunquist, in collabora- of and appreciation for the diversity of early Christianity, so much tion with a team of consultants, History of the World Christian so that it would be more accurate to speak of Christianities, in Movement.6 In sum, to describe the historical developments of the plural, with their enormous variety of languages, cultures, Christianity, the most accurate image is not that of a single, theologies, liturgies, and church practices.4 many-branched vertical tree, with the trunk representing the Historical studies of early Christian missions have shown European Corpus Christianum of Christendom, but an image the fallacy of the conventional reading of Acts, with its version of rhizomes, that is, plants with subterranean, horizontal root of the Christian expansion toward Rome and the West. In fact, in systems, growing below and above ground and moving crab- the first four centuries the most successful fields of mission were like in all directions.7 not Europe, but (west) Asia and Africa, with Syria as the center of gravity of Christianity before 500. The most vibrant and influ- A different history of missions—local Christianities. A similar histo- ential Christian centers were found not in any city of the western riographical revolution has been simmering in the field of the part of the Roman Empire but in Asian and African cities such history of Christian missions. Again, to caricature somewhat, as Damascus and Antioch in Syria (where, incidentally, the fol- popular history of Christian missions has focused for the most part lowers of Jesus were first known as “Christians”), Edessa/Orhay on what the Western churches—the “sending churches”—have in Osrhoene, Dura-Europos in Adiabene, Alexandria in Egypt, done for the mission churches, the “receiving churches,” in the Axum in Abyssinia/Ethiopia; and in countries such as Armenia so-called mission lands. In commercial terms, the emphasis is (which was the first Christian nation), India, and, in the seventh laid on the “exporters” rather on than on the “importers,” and century, China. The non-Western character of early Christianity on the exported merchandise rather than on how the imported is shown in the fact that of the five ancient patriarchates, only merchandise is bought and put to use by the locals. In this his- Rome was located in the West, with one in the Eastern empire toriography, the major bulk of the history of Christian missions (Constantinople), two in Asia (Jerusalem and Antioch), and one is devoted to narrating the accomplishments as well as (though in Africa (Alexandria). less often) the failures of individual missionaries, religious orders, Doctrinally, the first seven ecumenical councils, from Nicaea I missionary societies, and mission boards. The emphasis is on in 325 to Nicaea II in 787, were held not in the West but in the East, how well these agents and agencies have fulfilled the twin goal where Trinitarian and Christological dogmas were formulated. of missions, namely, saving souls and planting the church. The The greatest theologians of the early church were also working measure of success for the first goal is the number of conversions in Asia, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius, and baptisms, and that of the second is the establishment, or more Bar-Daisan, Didymus the Blind, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of precisely, the faithful replication, of the ecclesiastical structures Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Theodore of of the exporting churches. Mopsuestia, Cyril of Alexandria, Aphrahat, Ephraem the Syrian, While not neglecting the narrative of the achievements and John of Damascus—and the list goes on and on. Even those who failures of foreign missionaries and mission agencies, contem- became influential in the West originally came from Asia, such porary historians of missions are less interested in the senders/ as Justin and Irenaeus, and Latin theological luminaries such as exporters and the forms of the exported Christianity than in the

194 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 32, No. 4 importers and their appropriation and transformation of the Christianity going South—the future of world Christianity. Not only received product. Here, as in the field of the history of Christian- does Christianity now appear vastly pluralistic and diverse, but ity, the works of Stephen Neill, Kenneth Scott Latourette, En- also its future seems to lie not in the West but in the non-Western rique Dussel, Andrew Walls, Lamin Sanneh, and many others parts of the globe, as recent demographic changes have indicated.13 are trailblazing. Neill argues that missions history should not This massive shift of the Christian population from the North be an extension of Western church history but a record of how (Europe and North America) to the South (Africa, Asia, and Latin indigenous Christianity comes into being and develops in its own America), a fact long known among missiologists, was recently context.8 In his monumental study of the expansion of Christian- brought to the attention of the larger public by Philip Jenkins in ity, Latourette studies the effects of Christianity on its surround- The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity.14 ings and of the surroundings on Christianity.9 Enrique Dussel’s While one may disagree with Jenkins’s prognosis that historical project investigates indigenous forms of Christianity “Southern Christianity” represents a return to a conservative pre-

Temple, Church, Mosque

Wat Ho Prabang Luang Prabang, Laos

Floating Church Chong Kneas Floating Village Tonle Sap Lake Siem Reap, Cambodia

Fatepuri Masjid Delhi, India

From left, photos courtesy of: Harlan Hague, http://softadventure.net Francis Tan, Tucson, Arizona Rob Feenstra, Davis, California in Latin America.10 Walls has investigated at length the process Tridentine Christendom,15 there is no gainsaying the fact that this of the transmission of the Christian faith through the missionary demographic shift presents at least two formidable challenges. enterprise. While recognizing the colonial impulse inherent in First, how should the churches of the Northern hemisphere and modern missions, he has shown how the local churches, far from those of the Southern relate to each other? While the latter used to being passive receivers of the Christian message or victims of be called the younger churches or daughter churches with respect ecclesiastical colonialism, were self-conscious and active trans- to the former, on which they depended for material support as formers of the Christianity exported to them from the West and well as personnel, this is no longer the case. have shaped it, and at times even subverted it, to meet their own The second, no less difficult challenge of the demographic cultural and spiritual needs.11 shift in Christian population concerns the church’s evangelizing By shifting attention from the exporters to the receivers, mission. If the membership of the church of the South will be scholars in missions study have unearthed exciting new data greater than that of the church of the North, and if the faith life in and opened up new areas of research such as the role of women the former is more vibrant than that in the latter, then who should in missionary work, which had been neglected, at least in Ro- evangelize whom? Now who should the exporters be, and who man Catholic circles, since the preponderant functions in the the importers? Furthermore, if the Christianity of the South is church were restricted to males. Similarly, greater attention has different in kind from that of the North, how should evangelism been given to the contributions of the laity to missions, which be carried out? To these questions I now turn. had also been ignored, since only the story of missions by the religious and the clergy was deemed worthy of telling. Further- What’s So Controversial About Mission? more, greater explorations have been made into the manifold contributions of Christianity to the local cultures in diverse Anyone with a passable knowledge of Christian missions needs areas such as linguistics, anthropology, history, philosophy and no lengthy explanation of why missions have been in the dol- religious thought, literature, music and songs, dance, the plastic drums, at least in the last fifty years, if by missions is meant the arts, architecture, and even economics and politics. What emerges evangelizing enterprise carried out by Western expatriates in for- is a more balanced and richer picture of Christian missions, not eign lands. External reasons for this eclipse are many and varied, in order to refute the charges of colonialism and imperialism of chief among which is the precipitous decline in the number of which Western Christianity has at times been guilty, but to place religious missionaries since the 1960s, a phenomenon nowhere Christian missions in the wider context of cultural preservation more evident than in the Roman Catholic Church. More important and transmission. Finally, and most important, in the history of than external contributing factors, however, are internal ones, Christianity as well as in the history of missions it has become which have to do with the changing theologies of mission itself. clear that Christianity is neither a Western religion nor a mono- The very nature of the church’s mission was under scrutiny, and lithic entity. Rather, there have always been Christianities, even its theology was undergoing a total overhaul. within Roman Catholicism, which, of all denominations, has most There is no need to present here an overview of the theology strongly and persistently promoted uniformity and centraliza- of mission. David Bosch’s classic work Transforming Mission tion—fortunately, to no avail.12 offers six paradigms of mission in the history of the church,

October 2008 195 each inspired by a particular biblical text.16 A recent magnum Jesus Christ as the unique and universal Savior. Each of these opus on the theology of mission, Constants in Context: A Theology three models, Bevans and Schroeder carefully note, has positive of Mission for Today, by Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder, and negative features, and, according to them, “only a synthesis provides another overview of mission theology. After identify- of all three will provide the firmest foundation for the model of ing six constant theological themes—Christology, ecclesiology, mission” for the twenty-first century. This synthesis they call eschatology, salvation, anthropology, and culture, which are “prophetic dialogue.”18 developed in various ways in different sociopolitical, religious, and institutional contexts—the authors outline four phases of Toward a Synthesis Christian missions and theology of mission in the twentieth century: certainty, ferment, crisis, and rebirth.17 The last part of this essay explores how the experiences and teach- In the current phase of the rebirth of mission, Bevans and ings of the Asian Catholic churches can help develop this model Schroeder identify three contemporary models of mission of mission as “prophetic dialogue” and provide an answer to the that contain the various elements of David Bosch’s “emergent two questions with which we started, namely, whether world paradigm.” The first, which is proposed by Vatican II and the Christianity has rendered Christian mission obsolete, and how Orthodox Church, regards mission as participation in the mis- mission is to be undertaken today. sion of the triune God. The second, which is found in Pope A latecomer to the Asian scene in comparison with other Paul VI’s Evangelii nuntiandi and the documents of the World religions, Christianity, like Asia itself, is characterized by diversity Council of Churches, emphasizes mission as liberating service and pluralism. Practically all Christian churches and denomina- of the reign of God. The third, which is embodied in John Paul tions are present in Asia today, with a long history of rivalry and II’s Redemptoris missio and the documents of the evangelical and collaboration, separation and union: Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Pentecostal churches, proposes mission as the proclamation of various mainline Protestant denominations, Anglicans, Pente-

196 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 32, No. 4 costals and evangelicals, and numerous indigenous Christian one-third of the world population. Thus, in spite of Pope John churches and groups.19 Of these churches, the largest is Roman Paul II’s conviction that “the character, spiritual fire and zeal” of Catholicism, and within the Catholic Church itself there are an- Asian Catholics “will assuredly make Asia the land of a bountiful cient and at times competing “rites,” or, more accurately, vastly harvest in the coming millennium,”22 sober analysis will quell different theological, liturgical, and canonical traditions. such enthusiasm. In other words, the thesis of the southward The teaching on and practice of mission within Asian Ca- movement of world Christianity requires severe qualification, at tholicism are inevitably shaped by the sociopolitical, economic, least with regard to Asia.23 In answer to our first question, then, cultural, and religious contexts of Asia as a whole and by the the emergence of world Christianity does not at all invalidate demographic situation of Christianity in particular.20 Concerning the necessity of Christian mission. the latter, as has often been pointed out, often with a sigh of regret, The issue then turns on how Christian missions should be after more than five centuries of active mission, Christians make carried out in Asia, with its three characteristics of extreme pov- up, according to David Barrett, at best 5.3 percent of the Asian erty, cultural diversity, and religious pluralism. To answer this population, a not-too-encouraging figure for those interested question, the Asian Catholic bishops invoke two basic concepts: in the numbers game and the bottom line. Despite the recent a new way of being church and a new mode of doing mission.24 breathless reports about “how Christianity is transforming China In terms of ecclesiology, the church is defined primarily as a and changing the global balance of power,” to use the subtitle “communion of communities.” Hence, this Asian way of being of David Aikman’s book,21 and the growing rapprochement church places the highest priority on communion and collegial- between the Vatican and Beijing, the prospect of a mass conver- ity at all the levels of church life and activities. On the vertical sion of the Chinese to Christianity, if past history is any guide, is axis, communion is realized with the Trinitarian God, whose more a fantasy than realistic prognosis. The same thing must be perichoresis (indwelling) the church is commissioned to reflect said about India, which together with China constitutes almost in history. On the horizontal level, communion is achieved with

October 2008 197 other local churches; and within each local church, communion Seventh Plenary Assembly put it concisely: “These issues are not is realized through collegiality, by which all members, especially separate topics to be discussed, but aspects of an integrated ap- laywomen and laymen, are truly and effectively empowered to proach to our Mission of Love and Service. We need to feel and use their gifts to make the church an authentically local church. In act ‘integrally.’ As we face the needs of the twenty-first century, particular, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) we do so with Asian hearts, in solidarity with the poor and the highlights the absolute necessity of making the laity, especially marginalized, in union with all our Christian brothers and sisters women, the principal agents of mission if the church is to become and by joining hands with all men and women of Asia of many the church of, and not simply in, Asia. different faiths. Evangelization, inculturation, dialogue, justice As for the new mode of mission and the way to become the and the option for the poor are aspects of whatever we do.”28 local church, the FABC prescribes dialogue. It is important to note that dialogue is understood here not as a separate activity Missionary Focus and Spirituality (for example, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue) but as the modality in which everything is to be done by and in the church A new way of being church and the triple dialogue—this is in Asia. Hence, dialogue is not a substitution for proclamation shorthand for a complex and ongoing theology and praxis of mission in Asia. The originality of the FABC’s teaching on mis- sion does not lie in revolutionary theses. In fact, it contains most Dialogue is the most if not all the main missiological teachings of the Catholic Church as a whole, which Robert Schreiter summarizes in four head- effective way in which ings: “(1) mission is first and foremost the work of God; (2) the proclamation of the Good trinitarian character of the mission of God; (3) the centrality of dialogue; and (4) the multiple aspects of evangelization.”29 What News is done in Asia. is new about the FABC’s approach is that it fashions its theology and praxis of mission not on an a priori reading of the Bible and church documents but on a reading of the so-called facts on the or evangelization, as Asian theologians have sometimes been ground in the light of the Gospel and of Tradition. This method accused of believing; rather, it is the way, and indeed the most impels the Asian bishops to understand and undertake mission effective way, in which the proclamation of the Good News is as “prophetic dialogue,” with its threefold component of peace done in Asia. and justice, inculturation, and interfaith dialogue. It is important to note also that dialogue as a mode of being Above all, this theology of church mission entails a new church in Asia does not refer primarily to the intellectual exchange missionary spirituality.30 Antonio M. Pernia, superior general of among experts of various religions, as is often assumed in the the Society of the Divine Word, suggests that it is composed of West. Rather, it involves a fourfold presence: three elements: powerlessness, contemplation, and stewardship. Powerlessness, because, given the minority status of Christianity a. The dialogue of life, where people strive to live in an open and in Asia and the heritage of colonization and exploitation to which neighborly spirit, sharing their joys and sorrows, their human Christianity was at times an accomplice, missionaries must ap- problems and preoccupations. proach mission from a position of powerlessness and humility. b. The dialogue of action, in which Christians and others collaborate Contemplation, because, given the Asian emphasis on prayer for the integral development and liberation of people. and contemplation, missionaries’ approach must not be marked c. The dialogue of theological exchange, where specialists seek to deepen their understanding of their respective religious heri- by frenetic activity but by contemplative presence among God’s tages, and to appreciate each other’s spiritual values. people. Stewardship, because, given the fact that Christianity d. The dialogue of religious experience, where persons, rooted in still remains very much a foreign religion in Asia, missionaries their own religious traditions, share their spiritual riches, for ought not to share the Christian faith as if they owned it, dictat- instance with regard to prayer and contemplation, faith and ing thereby the terms by which it must be understood, lived, ways of searching for God or the Absolute.25 and celebrated, but ought to share their faith as a gift from God of which they are not owners but stewards.31 As for concrete forms of dialogue, the FABC suggests that This kind of missionary spirituality might appear inappropri- this dialogue take place in three areas: with the Asian poor, their ate and defeatist for those for whom the measure of success of cultures, and their religions; it arises in response, respectively, to Christian mission is the number of conversions and the expan- Asian massive poverty, cultural variety, and religious diversity.26 sion of the sphere of church influence. But it has a tremendous In other words, the three essential tasks of the Asian churches are advantage for mission in world Christianity because, as Leo liberation, inculturation, and interreligious dialogue. It is vital to Kleden points out, it offers a golden opportunity for missionaries note that for the FABC, these are not three distinct and separate “to follow the example of the first disciples of Jesus, who were activities of the church; rather, they are three intertwined dimen- sent empty handed but who were inspired by the Spirit of the sions of the church’s one mission of evangelization.27 As the FABC’s Crucified and Risen Lord.”32 Notes 1. On the various meanings of “catholicity,” see Hans Küng, The Church, has shown how this new history of Christianity has parallels in trans. Ray Ockenden and Rosaleen Ockenden (New York: Sheed & American religious history in his “Internationalizing American Ward, 1967), pp. 296–300. Religious History,” Council of Societies for the Study of Religion Bulletin 2. For an overview of recent works on the history of Christianity as a 34, no. 2 (September 2005): 40–44. discipline, see Paul V. Kollman, “After Church History? Writing the 3. Perhaps the best image of this view of Christian history is the way History of Christianity from a Global Perspective,” Horizons 31, in which airlines depict their hubs (in this case, Rome), with a thick no. 2 (2004): 322–42. Kollmann surveys the writings of Justo Gonzál- net of lines crisscrossing the globe to the various destinations of their ez, Andrew Walls, Dale Irvin, and Scott Sunquist. Kurt W. Peterson flights.

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ÝÝݱM‰?±jaÖ ¤±oåå±ÉyÔ±|ÉyÔ 4. Even so-called Western Christianity was far from being monolithic. 20. The bibliography on mission in Asian Catholicism is immense. Historian Peter Brown has shown that it contained great linguistic and Among recent publications, see Peter C. Phan, Christianity with cultural diversities, for example, among Noricum, Ireland, Francia, an Asian Face (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2004), In Our Own Frisia, Germany, and Rome. See his Rise of Western Christendom: Tongues (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2004), and Being Religious Triumph and Diversity, a.d. 200–1000, 2d ed. (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, Interreligiously (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2005); Peter C. Phan, 2003). ed., The Asian Synod: Texts and Commentaries (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis 5. Dale T. Irvin, Christian Histories, Christian Traditioning: Rendering Books, 2002); John Mansfield Prior, “Mission for the Twenty-first Accounts (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1998), p. 120. For an Century in Asia: Two Sketches, Three Flash-Backs, and an Enigma,” illuminating “genealogy” of Christian histories (note the plural!) in Mission for the Twenty-first Century, ed. Stephen B. Bevans and that highlights diversity, multiplicity, and ruptures in Christianity, Roger Schroeder (Chicago: Chicago Center for Global Ministries, see pp. 100–122. 2001), pp. 68–109; Jacob Kavunkal, “A Missionary Vision for Asia in 6. Dale T. Irvin and Scott W. Sunquist, History of the World Christian the Twenty-first Century,” in ibid., pp. 162–75; Leo Kleden, “Missio Movement (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2001). For the historiography ad Gentes: An Asian Way of Mission Today,” in ibid., pp. 176–94; underlying this work, see Irvin, Christian Histories, Christian Sung-Hae Kim, “An East Asian Understanding of Mission and the Traditioning. Irvin argues for histories that would take into account Future of the Christian Presence,” in Mission in the Third Millennium, the multiple origins, the diverse developments, and the significant ed. Robert J. Schreiter (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2001), ruptures of the Christian tradition within a wider family of pp. 1–20; and Michael Amaladoss, “Identity and Harmony: Chal- traditions. lenges to Mission in South Asia,” in ibid., pp 25–39. 7. For the notion of rhizome as the metaphor for historical developments, 21. See David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming see Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Capital- China and Changing the Global Balance of Power (Washington, D.C.: ism and Schizophrenia, trans. Brian Massumi (Minneapolis: Univ. of Regnery, 2003). See also his Beijing Factor (Grand Rapids: Monarch Minnesota Press, 1987), pp. 3–25. Books, 2005). 8. See Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions (New York: Penguin 22. John Paul II, Ecclesia in Asia (Apostolic Exhortation, November 6, Books, 1986), A History of Christianity in India (Cambridge: Cambridge 1999), section 4. See Phan, Asian Synod, p. 289. Univ. Press, 1984), and Colonialism and Christian Missions (New York: 23. This lack of conversion to Christianity does not reflect negatively on McGraw-Hill, 1966). the nature of the Christian message but is the result of the dynamics 9. See Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity, of religious conversion itself. See Peter C. Phan, “Conversion and 7 vols. (New York: Harper, 1937–45). Discipleship as Goals of the Church’s Mission,” in Phan, In Our Own 10. See Enrique D. Dussel, ed., The Church in Latin America, 1492–1992 Tongues, pp. 45–61. (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1992), and A History of the Church in 24. The Catholic episcopal conferences in Asia are members, either full Latin America: Colonialism to Liberation (1492–1979), trans. and rev. or associate, of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. The Alan Neely (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981). FABC was founded in 1970 on the occasion of Pope Paul VI’s visit 11. See Andrew F. Walls, The Missionary Movement in Christian History: to Manila, Philippines. Its statutes, approved by the Holy See ad Studies in the Transmission of Faith (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, experimentum in 1972, were amended several times and were also 1996) and The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History (Maryknoll, approved again each time by the Holy See. For the documents of N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2002). the FABC and its various institutes, see For All the Peoples of Asia: 12. Kollman notes three new developments in church history or the Documents from 1970 to 1991, ed. Gaudencio B. Rosales and C. G. history of Christianity: giving a more comprehensive account of the Arévalo (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1992); For All the Peoples of entire Christian story from an explicitly global perspective, a fuller Asia: Documents from 1992 to 1996, ed. Franz-Josef Eilers (Quezon retrieval of the past of Christianity, and treating new themes by City: Claretian Publications, 1997); and For All the Peoples of Asia: placing Christianity in the wider context of the history of religions. Documents from 1997 to 2002, ed. Franz-Josef Eilers (Quezon City: See his “After Church History?” Claretian Publications, 2002). These will be cited as For All Peoples, 13. See David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, followed by the year of publication in parentheses. World Christian Encyclopedia, 2d ed. (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 25. Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Dialogue and 2001). Proclamation (May 19, 1991), section 42. The English text is available 14. Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity in William Burrows, ed., Redemption and Dialogue (Maryknoll, N.Y.: (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2002). Orbis Books, 1993), pp. 93–118; the quoted words appear on p. 104. 15. See Peter C. Phan, “A New Christianity, but What Kind?” Mission See also For All Peoples (1997), pp. 21–26. Studies 22, no. 1 (2005): 59–83. For an extensive examination of 26. See For All Peoples (1992), pp. 14–16, 22–23, 34–35, 107, 135, 141–43, Jenkins’s thesis, see Frans Wijsen and Robert Schreiter, eds., Global 281–82, 307–12, 328–34, 344; For All Peoples (1997), pp. 196–203. Christianity: Contested Claims (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007). 27. For reflections on the connection between evangelization and 16. See David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology liberation according to the FABC, see Peter C. Phan, “Human of Mission (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1991). For a synthesis of Development and Evangelization: The First to the Sixth Plenary this book, see Stan Nussbaum, A Reader’s Guide to “Transforming Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences,” Studia Mission” (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2005). For an evaluation of Missionalia 47 (1998): 205–27. Bosch, see Willem Saayman and Klippies Kritzinger, eds., Mission in 28. Final statement of the assembly, Samphran, Thailand, January 3–13, Bold Humility: David Bosch’s Work Considered (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis 2000, “A Renewed Church in Asia: A Mission of Love and Service,” Books, 1996). part 3, paragraph 3. 17. Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder, Constants in Context: 29. Robert Schreiter, “Mission for the Twenty-first Century: A Catholic A Theology of Mission for Today (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, Perspective,” in Mission for the Twenty-first Century, ed. Bevans and 2004), pp. 239–80. Schroeder, p. 33. 18. For their elaboration of this model of mission, see ibid., pp. 348–95. 30. See Peter C. Phan, “Crossing the Borders: A Spirituality for Mission 19. For a comprehensive survey of Asian Christianity, see Scott W. in Our Times,” in Phan, In Our Own Tongues, pp. 130–50. Sunquist, ed., A Dictionary of Asian Christianity (Grand Rapids: 31. See Antonio M. Pernia, “Mission for the Twenty-first Century: An Eerdmans, 2001), and Samuel H. Moffett, A History of Christianity in SVD Perspective,” in Mission for the Twenty-first Century, ed. Bevans Asia, vol. 1, Beginnings to 1500; vol. 2, 1500–1900 (Maryknoll, N.Y.: and Schroeder, p. 19. Orbis Books, 1992–2005). 32. Kleden, “Missio ad Gentes,” p. 188.

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