Edinburgh to Athens: The Rough and Tumble of Ecumenical Missiology

A public lecture with Dr. Jesudas M. Athyal organised by the Overseas Ministries Study Center in New Haven.

At the first centenary of the Edinburgh Mission Conference, focus naturally falls on the legacy of this historic event. A significant development since Edinburgh 1910 has been the end of colonialism and the shift of Christianity's center of gravity from the North to the South. Despite its colonial and missionary baggage, Edinburgh 1910 attempted to redefine the meaning of Christian mission for a world coming of age. When we review the momentum created by Edinburgh, what needs to be noted is not so much the grandiosity of the event or triumphalistic slogans such as "the evangelization of the world in this generation," but the critical voices raised against a crusading spirit and the strong call for unity that rang out at the conference. The challenge today is to recapture this vision for our time.

Dr. Jesudas M. Athyal is a fellow at the Center for Global Christianity and Mission of the Boston University School of Theology. He was associate professor of social analysis and philosophy at the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai, India.

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