Rethinking mission in the postcolony

de Marion Grau

"Much of the history of mission has been interlaced with imperial structures. Often the colonial and economic impulses of the colonial powers overshadow some of the counterimperial tendencies of biblical texts and ecclesial communities. Evangelical missionary theologies have led to cultural genocide. These missionary practices have been heavily critiqued in the last few decades. Christian progressives have been in the forefront of the critique of mission, but have often responded in ways that reject the mission of the word, instead highlighting a mission focused on developmental concerns that obscures the Christian content but continues to push Western capitalist structures into {u2018}developing{u2019} postcolonial societies. Instead, this book proposes an integration of gospel and culture. It aims to steer a third course towards an integration of the knowledges and treasures, the losses and laments of Christianities forged in colonizing and colonized societies. It proposes that these Christianities are more alike than different, and in need of each other for reconciliation of communities facing the ecological and economic collapse at the limits of what the planet can carry." -- Publisher's description.