EDITORIAL: Pluralism and Mission
Timothy K. Park
The message of the church cannot be changed, but the message must be preached in a way people can best understand and accept. At the Asian Society of Missiology Forum held in Bali, Indonesia, we talked about the Christian mission in religious pluralist society. The ASM Forum was a productive and profitable gathering of missiologists from Asia, Canada and the USA…[read more]
REPORT ON THE 5TH TRIENNIAL ASM ACADEMIC FORUM
Eiko Takamizawam
The Asian Society of Missiology exists to serve churches in Asia, helping them to become dynamic missional churches through research, publication, consultation and education. In the past, ASM had four missiological forums in Bangkok, Semarang, and Seoul. In each forum, the prominent missiologists and scholars participated both from the West and the East…[read more]
ANY WHICH WAY, BUT WIN?!
Chris Gnanakan
People from India understand the challenges of a religiously pluralistic society. Most of the world’s “Great Faiths” were spawned in India, my motherland. Hinduism, the oldest of the living faiths, thrives with branches worldwide and manifests itself in the New Age Movement – the fastest growing eclectic “religion” in the west. Buddhism, from ancient India, is the most missional and popular faith in the west (beside the Abrahamic) with more adherents outside its land of origin….[read more]
CHRISTIAN MISSION IN RELIGIOUS PLURALISTIC SOCIETY: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MALAYSIA
Teresa Chai
I am a Malaysian. I live in a religiously pluralistic society. To give round figures on the current religious constituency of the country, approximately 60 percent of the population of Malaysia are Muslims, 20 percent are Buddhists, nine percent are Christians, six percent are Hindus and another two percent are Taoists plus a few more other groups. In the recent 14th General Election, religious and ethnic affinities were set aside for the common good of clean and fair elections….[read more]
RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 21ST CENTURY GLOBAL DIASPORA: A Case of Canadian Pluralistic Communities and the Evangelical Response
Sadiri Joy Tira
Migration or diaspora, the movement of people from one region to another, has at least four major off-shoots. These are: urbanization, multi-culturalism, “hybridity,” and in places where cultural diversity is embraced ? religious pluralism. This is true in my own country, Canada, and of our diverse nation. In this paper, I will focus on religious pluralism vis-a-vis migration and multi-culturalism, and will suggest to you that diverse diaspora communities, and the religious pluralism that they bring, has made Canada a fertile mission field, necessitating a thoughtful and pragmatic response from the Canadian Church, particularly from the Evangelical Canadians. Religious pluralism is not a new phenomenon….[read more]
THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL IN SOUTH KOREA: How to Cope with a Changing Religious Geography (1549-1945)
Moonjang Lee
The progress of Protestant Christianity in South Korea has been dramatic during the 20th century. While the Protestant Christianity as an imported faith and practice among Korean believers, has become a familiar phenomenon in the life of the South Korean people. However, South Korea is a land that still needs evangelistic and missionary outreaches. Being ushered into a post-colonial mission era when world mission ought to be carried out by global churches, we recognize that the mission in South Korea is primarily the task of the local churches in the country….[read more]
CONVERSION AND PUBLIC CONVERSATION IN ASIA
Martin Lukito Sinaga
The Latest controversies over the alleged defamation of the Quran by a Chinese born-Christian Governor of Jakarta, Mr. Basuki Tjahaya Purnama/Ahok (now jailed since 2017 for 2 years), have to do with the growing intolerance toward minority in Indonesian society. For some Christians, this sentiment have made them hesitant and cautious to manifest their roles in the public….[read more]