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THE WORD IN THE THIRD WORLD by Joseph P.--Ed. Cotter

THE WORD IN THE THIRD WORLD

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Pub Date: June 1st, 1968
Publisher: Corpus Books

Most Christian denominations traditionally have placed a high value on missionary activity. It is paradoxical, then, that there has been comparatively little work done on mission theology. The present collection is composed of the papers read at a symposium designed, not to evolve a synthesis of mission theology in one fell swoop, but to ask the questions that, one may hope, will engender the ferment necessary for that work to be undertaken. The papers generally deal with the three principal areas of mission thinking: the oikoumene or universal mission of Christianity, the trans-cultural problems of missionary work, and the wider dimensions of mission responsibility. It is significant that the speakers at this symposium, which was organized by the Jesuits of Woodstock College, are mostly Protestant, with a few Catholics, and one Moslem. Given this denominational diversity and the disparity of nationality, sufficient intellectual tension is created to stimulate the interested reader to think for himself along the lines suggested by the speakers. Such was the intention of the book, and, in those terms, this collection must be classified as unusually successful. The trouble, from the commercial standpoint, is that the ""interested reader"" in this instance is a very small number of priests, nuns, and brothers who are active in missionary work.