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Loading... Errand to the World: American Protestant Thought and Foreign Missionsby William R. Hutchison
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In this comprehensive history of American foreign-mission thought from the colonial period to the current era, William R. Hutchinson analyzes the varied and changing expressions of an American "sense of mission" that was more than religious in its implications. His account illuminates the dilemmas intrinsic to any venture in which one culture attempts to apply its ideals and technology to the supposed benefit of another. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)266.023Religions Christian church and church work Missions; Home and Foreign Missions; Home and ForeignLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The debate reflected the developing divide in the United States between modernists and fundamentalists. Hutchinson prefers to look at the debate in the United States itself, but does include some missionary writings. Fundamentalists believed that proselytization was the most important goal of missions to bring their converts closer to God and salvation. Liberals believed that they should implement Christian teaching and try to raise up their fellow man's standard of living. Liberals also assumed a position of relativism, where local beliefs should be valued instead of discarded. The debate raged back and forth until after World War II. At that point, growing nationalism meant that many missionaries were unwelcome in foreign lands. Liberals often left, not wanting to try to impose their values, while evangelicals stayed and increased their numbers. The effect was the fundamentalization of missions.
This is book does a great job of explaining the splintering of missionary ideology and how they dealt with modernity. It is also an excellent book for how the United States tried to deal with the world. Hutchinson did not make grand claims for missionaries representing all of America, but he does show that they represented a crusading aspect of American exceptionalism. Their crisis of conscience reflected a larger crisis in American society. ( )