Mission: Proselytization and Conversion

Abstract

This article concentrates on the concept and practice of mission within the Christian tradition, and on interpretations of missionary activity by historians, social scientists, and theologians. Attention is paid to the origins of the terminology of Christian missions in the Jesuit order in the sixteenth century and to the more recent history of ‘mission’ as a theological concept within the churches. Developments in historical and anthropological scholarship in this field include the shift from earlier approaches which stressed the material connections of missions with the colonial powers towards a concern with elucidating the complex patterns of religious and cultural exchange created by missionary encounters. These trends are related to recent scholarship in African, South Asian, Chinese, and Latin American studies. Mention is also made of the growing interest by sociologists and feminist historians in the significance of missionary organizations for the sending and receiving cultures in modelling both conservative and innovative patterns of gender relations. The article concludes by noting attempts by many Christian theologians to dissociate the concept of mission from proselytization.