The Roman Catholic Church, the World Council of Churches (representing "mainline" Protestants), and the World Evangelical Alliance (representing the Sarah Palin/Pat Robertson crowd) recently got together to draw up "Recommendations For Conduct" for Christian missionaries.The "recommendations" begin with a preamble that outlines the "Basis for Christian witness". The fourth point of these bases states:
"4. Christian witness in a pluralistic world includes engaging in dialogue with people of different religions and cultures (cf. Acts 17:22-28)."
In the passage of the Book of Acs cited above, Paul "engages in dialogue" with the Pagans of Athens by telling them, "you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you." And then, in verse 30, Paul further clarifies what his idea of "engaging in dialogue" is: "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent."
For more on the Christian conception of "dialogue" see these other posts from this blog:
- "Playing the Fish" (What they mean by "dialogue", pt. 2)
- Banding together in the Cretan fashion
- "On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate" (What they mean by "dialogue", pt.1)
And for more on Christian missionary activities in general, check out these:
- "Travesty In Haiti": The truth about Christian missions, food aid, etc
- Did the Yaquis Convert to Christianity?
- A Witch Burning in Ghana: How the role of Christianity has been obscured
- "Children Accused of Withcraft": New UNICEF Report on Africa's "Witch Children"
- Human Rights Watch on "Children Accused of Sorcery" in DR Congo
- Save the Children report: "Christianity & the Invention of Child Witches in Africa"
- Pentecostalism, Spiritual Warfare & The "Witch Children" of Africa
- World Vision: Only Christians Need Apply
- Heart of Darkness: Christianity and the Rwandan Genocide (a five part series)
- On the Christian-Maoist United Front against Hinduism
- Lies, Damned Lies, and the "Persecution" of Christians in India
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