October 1972 · Vol. 1 No. 4 · p. 133
Book Review
The Future of the Christian World Mission
ed. W. Danker and Wi Kang. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971. 181 pages.
A festschrift in honour of R. Pierce Beaver, Prof. of Missions at the University of Chicago, The Future brings together current observations on missions from twelve contributors representing European, American and Asian Christian communities. A key chapter is supplied by a Jesuit, Fr. Damboriena, who takes a hard line against the new Catholic universalism of Rahner and Kung. Other contributors include Harold Lindsell and Arthur Glasser, both of whom express reservations about the ability of the evangelical church to be flexible and open enough to take advantage of new approaches broached in missions strategy.
Other contributors focus on the role of the local congregation in missions, on economic bases for missions, and on dialogue with other religions. Stressed strongly is the need for a full recognition of the role of the laity (p. 19).
The Future provides fascinating insights into the current coming dimensions of the church outside North America.
