Book Reviews In the Way: A Study of Christian Missionary Endeavours. By Kenelm Burridge. Vancouver, B.C.: Univ. of British Columbia Press, 1991. Pp. xoi, 307. $39.95. As anthropologist, as observer of two by both their critics and their support­ Paradoxically, the abstractness with. generations of Christian mission, and ers. He shows that this missionary faith which the anthropologist lays out the now as interpreter of Christian life and . is a dialectical process: metaculturally structures of missionary life reveals history, Kenelm Burridge has no peer transcendent in its "devotional" patterns that recur concretely in mis­ in discussing the interaction of mis­ pole, and inculturationist in its "af­ sion. To grasp Burridge's point is to sions and culture. In the Way is a book firmative" pole. The dialectic, though, develop tolerance of those with whom no student of mission can afford not rises not in a conflict of ideas but in the one disagrees theologically without to read. While remaining an anthro­ concrete experience of God's love in giving up the need to debate the issues pologist, Burridge gives us a magister­ Christ as the source of mission's dis­ that divide, for In the Way reveals a ial work on the history and theology parate labors. process through which God writes of mission. To those who know his work In the Way gives insights into the straight with the crooked lines of mis­ on millenarianism ("cargo cults") in pluralistic nature of Christianity, into sionary efforts. Papua New Guinea and his other writ­ the relationship of social sciences and -William R. Burrows ings, In the Way will be another feast. missiology, and into the structures of To those who have never encountered Christian community and missionary his work, this is a wonderful book to endeavors. Professor Burridge's book begin with. is essential reading for both missiology William R. Burrows, Managing Editor of Orbis Burridge sees Christianity as an and missionary anthropology courses, Books, spent five years in Papua New Guinea intrinsically missionary faith and mis­ a book that is intellectually demanding and is at work on a book on mission and its sionaries as people understood poorly but that also repays careful attention. conceptual dilemmas in a postmodern age. Black Christians and White Some may find the collection of Missionaries. essays less connected than anticipated; others may wish for a stronger con­ By Richard Gray. New Haven: YaleUniv. demnation of that most unsalvageable Press, 1991. Pp. viii, 134. $20. term "syncretism." But in this re­ viewer's opinion, the size, price, ac­ This book is a collection of essays that the kingdom of Kongo, where Chris­ cessibility and scope endear this book are the fruits of both recent research tianity was far from being a "fragile both as a textbook and as a general and long-term reflections of the author, exotic plant" (p. 9). work, providing local and historical who is emeritus professor of the his­ Following his reassessment of depth to African appropriations, trans­ tory of Africa at the University of Lon­ Kongo Christianity-its advances, set­ formations, and interpretations of don. The overriding theme of the book backs, misunderstandings, and fruitful Christianity. It is hoped that Professor is the transformations of Christianity exchanges-Professor Gray moves to Gray will continue to bring his vast by Africans. It is a welcome contribu­ wider reflections in the second part of knowledge to bear on these complex tion to the growing number of works the book concerning the varied rela­ developments-past, current, and fu­ that seriously address African agency tionship of the missionary movement ture--and that his work will be made rather than "Western initiatives" with colonial rule. He once again em­ available to those most actively in­ alone. Particularly valuable is the first phasizes the contributions of African volved in such processes. section of the book, which deals with cosmologies to nineteenth- and twen­ -Rosalind I. J. Hackett the relationship between the papacy tieth-century Christianity (particularly and central Africa in the seventeenth in the overlooked area of eschatology), century, highlighting cosmological despite the disillusions and disparities similarities for both black and white of power. In the last chapter, we are Rosalind I. J. Hackett, from Britain, hasbeen in Christians, the significant role of the confronted with insights that are often the United States since 1984; she teaches at the African confraternities in the local re­ valuable, yet sometimes debatable (how University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has spent more thaneightyears doing research and teach­ sponse to the Capuchin mission in IIradically new" is the concept of Kongo and Angola, the interventions satanic forces for Pentecostalists com­ ing in Nigeria, with shorter visits to Ghana, of Lourenco da Silva in Rome on behalf pared to witchcraft in the precolonial Cameroon, and Kenya. of oppressed slaves, Fra Girolamo's context?) concerning the restructuring close rapport with Soyo Christians in of concepts and symbols of evil. 168 INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH Mission and Meaninglessness: chapters to the theme of the book at The Good News in a World of times seems forced, yet detracts rela­ Suffering and Disorder. tively little from a stimulating and, in some ways, ground-breaking volume. By Peter Cotterell. London: SPCK, 1990. -Kenneth B. Mulholland Pp. xii, 332. Paperback £12.95. In this unique book, Peter Cotterell, a develop a holistic view of mission con­ former missionary to Ethiopia who stitutes a major contributioin to evan­ Kenneth B. Mulholland is Dean and Professor currently serves as Principal of London gelical missiology. Cotterell's work of Missions at Columbia Biblical Seminary and Bible College, as well as Senior Lec­ encompasses a broad range of topics Graduate School of Missions, Columbia, South turer in Missiology and Linguistics, in a scholarly fashion, yet is seasoned Carolina. Previously, heserved fornearly fifteen emphasizes that the task of Christian with the practicality of a veteran mis­ years asa missionary to Central America under mission is to make sense of life in a sionary. His attempt to relate all of the the United Church Board for World Ministries. world where the general unsatisfac­ toriness of ordinary empirical exist­ ence is of such magnitude that life appears meaningless. The book's thirteen chapters are divided into four parts. Part One, "Religion, Religions, and the Ap­ parent Meaningless of Life," consists PROPOSALS INVITED FOR of six chapters in which Cotterell ana­ lyzes the apparent meaningless of life, PROJECTS IN MISSION RESEARCH surveys seven ways in which Chris­ tians have approached the other reli­ gions of the world, sets forth a Christian The Overseas Ministries Study Center, New Haven, worldview, struggles with the prob­ Connecticut, announces a research enablement lems occasioned by the classic Chris­ program for the advancement of scholarship in tian insistence on the finality of Christ and the claim that salvation is to be studies ofmission andChristianity, particularly in found exclusively in him. The back the non-Western world. Grants will be awarded on cover states the significance of his con­ a competitive basis in the following categories: clusions: "It is the first book by a leading British Evangelical to recog­ nize God's saving activity among those Field research for doctoral dissertations who live without the church and with­ Post-doctoral book research and writing projects out an overt knowledge of the Gos­ pel." This fact alone guarantees that Missiological consultations (small scale) the book will be controversial. Translation ofmajor works ofmission The second part of the book con­ sists of eight chapters which appear to scholarship into English be a collection of independent essays Oral history projects (non- Western world) on a variety of topics the author has grouped together under the rubric Planning grants for major inter-disciplinary "Mission as Response to the Ap­ research projects parent Meaningless of Life." Cotterell emphasizes ecclesiology and includes Projects that are international and cross-cultural, a perceptive critique of the Church Growth Movement. Other chapters of collaborative and interdisciplinary are preferred. particular merit include an incisive sur­ Initial letters ofinquiry(no more than three pages) vey of the church in Europe, an at­ outlining the purpose, components, and budget of tempt to construct a theology of the poor, a thoughtful discussion of the the project, should be sent to: relationship of Christianity to Judaism, and a brilliant exposition of the mission Geoffrey A. Little, Coordinator theology contained in the Gospel ac­ cording to Matthew. Research Enablement Program Part Three surveys three move­ Overseas Ministries Study Center ments that Cotterell regards as alter­ 490 Prospect Street native responses to meaningless: Islam, New Haven, CT 06511 Marxism, and Liberation Theology. The fourth and final part consists of a single chapter summary of the relationship This program is supported by a grant between mission and meaningless and from The Pew Charitable Trusts. a concluding postscript. Extensive notes, a select bibliography, and three indices add to the usefulness of this volume. This comprehensive attempt to OcroBER1992 169 An African Theology of Mission. the growing number of studies on the subject. By Gwinyai Henry Muzorewa. Lewiston, The book is rather repetitive; with N. Y.: EdwinMellen Press, 1990. Pp. xvi, chapter after chapter repeating the same 204. $89.95. criticism of missions. Furthermore, in connection with religious pluralism the In this book the author investigates the nel a n d resources and that the author makes statements that can only concept of mission , having in mind the traditional religiocultural system has be described as misleading, such as: church in Africa, which has played host nothing to contribute to the formation "Evangelism among the Africans to a vast number of mission aries from of Christian life and thought in Africa.