This handbook surveys the history of inculturation and describes its essential methods and attitudes. Discusses the impact of inculturation in four areas of theology--revelation, grace, Christology and exxlesiology, presenting Africa and liberation theology in Latin America as two case studies.

Christians are much the richer for this accomplishment of a long-cherished dream by an experienced missioner-social anthropologist. Gerald Arbuckle has provided a book for the contemporary pastoral care team that mediates basic insights on ministry via the social sciences. He also challenges church workers to rethink and reassess their work in light of the profound cultural changes taking place around them. 'Earthing the Gospel' introduces pastoral workers in the First World to methods of social analysis pioneered by missionaries worldwide. It includes case histories, personal stories, and the results of fieldwork of hundreds of people in both the First and Third Worlds. Applying the insights of social anthropology to the parishes on the home frontÓ Arbuckle offers the tools required to address issues of mission and inculturation in the First World. Above all, 'Earthing the Gospel' is practical. It presumes no special knowledge of anthropology as it zeroes in on topical issues - racism, fundamentalism, the modern family, youth and senior citizen subcultures - affecting parishes and communities today. Each chapter ends with questions for reflection and action. For pastoral teams and workers on every level, the insights gained from mission around the world can, applying the methods described here, be just as fruitful in our own back yards.

The split between the Gospel and culture is without doubt the drama of our time," wrote Paul VI in 1975. Since that time there has been an increasingly urgent awareness that inculturation is an indispensable task of the church. But inculturation, the dialogue between church and cultures, demands first of all that we who would enter into the dialogue understand what "culture" itself means and what dialogue entails. To that end, cultural anthropologist Father Gerald Arbuckle gives us this important volume. He traces the history of the development of the concept of culture, and the too-often negative, rarely positive effects of encounters between church and culture. He explores how Jesus Christ approached the cultures of his time, and outlines the current treatment of culture and inculturation in church documents and in Catholic theology. He shows that modest progress in understanding has recently staled, and there are even forces working to turn that progress into regress. He concludes with a description of inculturation as it needs to happen 'and a sharp critique of those who resist. With a sense of prophetic hope, Arbuckle seeks to help us bridge the lamentable split between Gospel and culture, the drama that continues to unfold in our time.

'Inculturation' is a word come only recently into theological language, having its origin and impetus in a revolution in the perception of Christian mission--even of Christian identity. 'Toward a Theology of Inculturation' is the first book to bring together the many strands of current and historical Catholic thought on what might be called a theology of a multicultural church. Inculturation, Shorter argues, is the recognition that faith must in effect become culture to be fully received and lived. In the course of a wide-ranging discussion, the author explores the intimate relationship between inculturation and theology, focusing in particular on scripture, the history of Òmissions (especially in Africa), and contemporary Catholic thought. Shorter concludes with an exploration of the future of the church--a multicultural church. 'Toward a Theology of Inculturation' offers a substantive explication of what inculturation is, what it is not, how and when it occurs, and what its limits are or should be.

The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies represents more than a century of scholarship related to the theology, history, and methodology of the propagation of Christian faith and the engagement of Christians with cultures, religions, and societies worldwide. It contains more than 40 articles by experts from different disciplinary and ecclesial perspectives, who are from all continents. It not only offers a broad overview of key approaches and issues in mission studies but it also highlights current trends and suggests future developments. The Handbook builds on renewed interest in mission studies this century generated by recent key statements on mission from ecumenical, evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox sources, and by a spate of academic works on the topic. Western church leaders now apply insights from foreign missions (such as, inculturation, liberation, interfaith work, and power encounter) to today's multicultural societies. Meanwhile, there are new initiatives in mission from the Majority World, where most Christians live, so that sending is not only 'from the west to the rest' but 'from everywhere to everywhere'. Therefore, this volume aims to reflect the voices of the receivers of mission as well as its protagonists and to raise awareness of new movements. In a time of growing recognition of 'religions' more generally, this work examines and theorizes the missional dimensions of the world's largest religion: its agendas, growth, outreach, role in public life, effect on cultures, relevance for development, and its approaches to other communities.