Christianization Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Missions == Historian [[Dana L. Robert]] has written that the significant role of Christianization in shaping multiple nations, cultures and societies is understandable only through the concept of [[Christian mission]]. Missionaries "go out" among those who have not heard the gospel and preach.{{sfn|Robert|2009|p=1}} Missions, as the primary means of Christianization, are driven by a universalist logic, cannot be equated with western colonialism, but are instead a multi-cultural, often complex, historical process.{{sfn|Robert|2009|p=1}} [[David Abulafia]] and [[Nóra Berend]] speak of religious activity in relation to the "frontier" regions at the borders of civilizations. Berend sees a frontier as "a contact zone where an interchange of cultures was constantly taking place".{{sfn|Abulafia|2017|p=xi}} In this way, the missionary religions of Buddhism, Islam and Christianity spread themselves geographically, through teaching and preaching, with interaction sometimes producing conflict, and other times ''mingling'' and accommodation.{{sfn|Neely|2020|page=4}} Alan Neely writes that, "wherever Christianity (or any other faith) is carried from one culture to another, intentionally or not, consciously or not, it is either adapted to that culture or it becomes irrelevant."{{sfn|Neely|2020|page=4}} In his book ''Christian Mission,'' Neely provides multiple historical examples of adaptation, accommodation, indigenization, inculturation, autochthonization and contextualization as the means of successful Christianization through missions.{{sfn|Neely|2020|page=4}} Neely's definitions are these: * Accommodation is a form of adaptation that occurs when the missionary adjusts their own thinking and vocabulary to keep only what is essential and let go of what is expendable in communicating the faith.{{sfn|Neely|2020|page=5}}{{refn|group=note| The earliest accommodation was made by the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:1-29 when accepting Gentiles. Pope Gregory's seventh century letter to Mellitus can be seen as another example (there are also numerous examples of those who disagreed with Gregory and followed the "eradication" approach instead.){{sfn|Neely|2020|page=6}}}} * Indigenization, in this application, refers to taking something that is native to one culture and making it native to another culture; that is, taking Christianity and making it more native by including aspects of native language and practices.{{sfn|Neely|2020|p=6}}{{sfn|Bromley|1993|p=abstract}} * Autochthonization means the same as indigenization, but is specific to Spanish and Portuguese.{{sfn|Neely|2020|p=6}} * Inculturation, or acculturation, is the gradual process of adopting aspects of Christianity, but it has often mistakenly been seen as socialization to another culture.{{sfn|Neely|2020|pp=6-7}} Changes of dress, customs and names have sometimes been confused with actual Christianization which involves internal and not simply external changes.{{sfn|Neely|2020|p=7}}{{sfn|Hanigan|1983|pp=25–26}} Whenever the gospel has been linked to a particular culture, [[Gustavo Gutiérrez]] forcefully insists the result has been subjugation not conversion.{{sfn|Neely|2020|p=8}} * Contextualization is a way to be faithful to the essence of the message while also being relevant to the people to whom it is being presented.{{sfn|Neely|2020|p=9}} In the 21st century, contextualization has led missions to build daycare centers, wells for clean water, schools, address housing and economic injustice issues and more.{{sfn|Neely|2020|p=8}}{{sfn|Ojewunmi|Amodu|2021|p=Intro.}}{{sfn|Hyatt|1970|pp=94-96}} It depends on the people being addressed, as well as "geography, language, ethnicity, political and economic systems, class gender and age, time frame, sense of identity, religion, values and history".{{sfn|Neely|2020|pp=8-9}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page