| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.95
Trade in Christianity Rediscovered (SCM Classics) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.95, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Reconciliation Quarterly
A beautiful and important book for anyone concerned with Christian mission.
Methodist Recorder
This is one of those rare books which change the way you look at the world.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
One would think it would be a fairly simple matter to define missionary work, to describe it, to explain its meaning, its purpose, and the methods by which it must be carried out. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
One would think it would be a fairly simple matter to define missionary work, to describe it, to explain its meaning, its purpose, and the methods by which it must be carried out. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you are prepared to lay aside your view that God is an Englishman and that Jesus was a blue-eyed arian, you will be blown away by this book.
Vincent J. Donovan, was a Catholic Missionary in Kenya among the Masai people during the late 60's, and he realised that although they had been there about hundred years and done lots of 'good work', there were virtually no conversions. He realises that all they have done is 'import' their western Chritianity, and he comes to believe that every culture created by God has, withing its own culture, all it needs to believe in Jesus if someone will only tell them. So he started a really radical outreach which blew away all of the traditionally accepted forms of 'mission' and focussed on the communities. He laid out a 5-year plan to reach all of the communities of the Masai and simply tell them about Jesus and Salvation in the context of their own culture rather than a culturally western influenced Christianity. At the end of his 12 month 'telling' he gives them the choice to choose or reject the message. As simple as that. It is a disturbing book in that it lays out quite clearly that pretty much all of 'modern' mission (i.e. the last 150 years) might just have got it all wrong, and in some instances, devastatingly so. A difficult read if you have a rigid mind-set about Christianity and Mission. A revelation otherwise. As I read it I found myself thinking YES, YES, YES. This is what Christianity is all about.
Vincent J. Donovan, was a Catholic Missionary in Kenya among the Masai people during the late 60's, and he realised that although they had been there about hundred years and done lots of 'good work', there were virtually no conversions. He realises that all they have done is 'import' their western Chritianity, and he comes to believe that every culture created by God has, withing its own culture, all it needs to believe in Jesus if someone will only tell them. So he started a really radical outreach which blew away all of the traditionally accepted forms of 'mission' and focussed on the communities. He laid out a 5-year plan to reach all of the communities of the Masai and simply tell them about Jesus and Salvation in the context of their own culture rather than a culturally western influenced Christianity. At the end of his 12 month 'telling' he gives them the choice to choose or reject the message. As simple as that. It is a disturbing book in that it lays out quite clearly that pretty much all of 'modern' mission (i.e. the last 150 years) might just have got it all wrong, and in some instances, devastatingly so. A difficult read if you have a rigid mind-set about Christianity and Mission. A revelation otherwise. As I read it I found myself thinking YES, YES, YES. This is what Christianity is all about.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Suppose you were a missionary and you realised how questionable the whole system was. And yet suppose you believed in Christianity, believed that Christianity has something to say to the world... What then? What would you do?"
I'd hardly got to the end of the first page of this book when I recognised that sinking feeling in my belly. No, not disappointment. It was that feeling of, "Why, why, why did nobody recommend this book to me 10 years ago?!" I've been absolutely gripped by Vincent Donovan's story of reaching out to the Masai of East Africa. Having visited Tanzania last year (and climbed Kilimanjaro with the help of a Masai guide) the descriptions in the book really came to life for me.
But this is far more than a heart-warming tale. Donovan's searing critique of modern missionary methods really struck a chord with me. But anyone can find faults can't they. So what impressed me was the way that Donovan, more lucidly, poignantly and sensitively than anyone else I've come across, distills and translates the Christian message for a new cultural context. Unlike many contemporary missionaries to 'emerging culture' he never plays fast and loose with the gospel. Rather he patiently and faithfully uses the verbal transmission of seed form Christian concepts to grow new redeeming hope in the minds and hearts of those he's called to reach. As the preface to the 3rd edition (2001 by Lamin Sanneh) so ably discusses, this book has huge implications for the church in every global context, especially in the West. So have you read it yet?
I'd hardly got to the end of the first page of this book when I recognised that sinking feeling in my belly. No, not disappointment. It was that feeling of, "Why, why, why did nobody recommend this book to me 10 years ago?!" I've been absolutely gripped by Vincent Donovan's story of reaching out to the Masai of East Africa. Having visited Tanzania last year (and climbed Kilimanjaro with the help of a Masai guide) the descriptions in the book really came to life for me.
But this is far more than a heart-warming tale. Donovan's searing critique of modern missionary methods really struck a chord with me. But anyone can find faults can't they. So what impressed me was the way that Donovan, more lucidly, poignantly and sensitively than anyone else I've come across, distills and translates the Christian message for a new cultural context. Unlike many contemporary missionaries to 'emerging culture' he never plays fast and loose with the gospel. Rather he patiently and faithfully uses the verbal transmission of seed form Christian concepts to grow new redeeming hope in the minds and hearts of those he's called to reach. As the preface to the 3rd edition (2001 by Lamin Sanneh) so ably discusses, this book has huge implications for the church in every global context, especially in the West. So have you read it yet?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Vincent Donovan's description of his work with the Masai was refreshing for its open reflection of how he faced the searching questions of members of this deeply spiritual African tribe. If anyone needs evidence that God is at work outside the orthodox Christian section of the world's p[opulation, this book will provide it. If only the church today would emulate Vincent's approach!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Christianity rediscovered?
Vincent J. Donovan, a Catholic Missionary in Tanzania among the Masai people during the late 60's, realised that although the mission to East Africa had been there for nearly two... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ottmar B.
mission for our generation?
For a theology book this makes easy reading. If you want to know where modern mission is going wrong then this book will provide some of the answers. Read more
Published 7 months ago by David W.
25 years of sanity - but are we listening?
This book is as relevant as it was all those years ago and it seems at times, that we haven't yet got the message! Read more
Published 11 months ago by Fizz
Exciting Find
Many, many Christians that I've spoken to have already read this but it was a real discovery for me. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Geordie Tintin
STOP BRAINWASHING PEOPLE...
This is just another book on trying to brainwash people. I suggest you watch a Bruce Parry DVD and learn from him; visit and learn from other cultures but RESPECT their... Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2008 by S72
Absolutely brilliant and humbling
This book describes Vincent Donovan's personal spiritual journey with the Masai and is a rivetting read. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2008 by Ms. A. C. Borthwick
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
