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A necessary task of missionaries in recent decades has been to help local Christians “inculturate” or “contextualize” their faith, although the criteria for doing so often came from outside the context in which new believers developed their understanding of Christianity.
Highlighting the voices of non-Western scholars, this work recognizes the importance of ritual and ceremony in the life of communities that seek to worship God in ways that reflect culturally appropriate responses to Scripture. The contributors—some of missiology’s leading lights—discuss rituals, beliefs, and practices of diverse peoples, supporting the conclusion that orthodox Christianity is hybrid Christianity.
Daniel Shaw is professor of anthropology and translation at the Fuller Graduate School of World Mission/Intercultural Studies.
William R. Burrows was managing editor of Orbis Books for twenty years and is now research professor of missiology in the World Christianity program at New York Theological Seminary. A past president of the American Society of Missiology, he received that society’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
