• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In
MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission MattersNew
          • Missio Nexus
          • People First HR
          • Members Only Feed
        • Blogs
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mission Advisors
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Alliance for Benefits
    • Bible CertificateNew
    • Church Missions Coaching
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • ImproveNew
    • Mission Jobs
    • Publish
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission App
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Premier Events
          • Mission Leaders Conference
          • On Mission
        • Upcoming Events

          • Association Leaders Gathering
            Tue Mar 2 2021, 08:30am EST
          • Webinar: God's Heart for Oneness and Diversity
            Thu Mar 4 2021, 02:00pm EST
          • Women In Leadership - Special Events
            Fri Mar 5 2021
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missiographics
          • Mission Handbook
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Submit Data for Mission Handbook
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Association Leaders Gathering
    Tue Mar 2 2021, 08:30am EST
  • Webinar: God's Heart for Oneness and Diversity
    Thu Mar 4 2021, 02:00pm EST
  • Women In Leadership - Special Events
    Fri Mar 5 2021
  • On Mission 2021
    Wed Mar 10 2021, 12:00pm EST
  • Three Things Every CEO Needs to Know About Fundraising
    Tue Mar 16 2021, 03:00pm EDT

View all events »

Topics

author interview Canada CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting Conference Proceedings COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Evangelism Focus Future Innovation Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 MLC2021 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Personal Productivity Podcast Presenter Research Security Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached unreached people groups Weekly Roundup Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Sharing Jesus in the Buddhist World

Posted on January 1, 2004 by January 1, 2004

by David Lim and Steve Spaulding, editors

A collection of nine essays, coming out of the 4th SEANET forum held in Thailand in March 2002.

William Carey Library, P.O. Box 40129, Pasadena, CA 91104, 2003.

—Reviewed by Hugh P. Kemp, dean of studies, Manawatu Regional Centre of the Bible College of New Zealand, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Sharing Jesus in the Buddhist World is a welcome addition to a slowly growing body of literature on mission to Buddhists.

It is a collection of nine essays, coming out of the 4th SEANET forum held in Thailand in March 2002. This forum is a network of evangelical theologians, practitioners and strategists “concerned with developing biblical and effective ways to evangelize in the Buddhist world.” The editors’ aim is to “bring together a set of well-researched works that help the global church reach the peoples in the Buddhist megasphere for Christ” (vii). This, in the main, has been achieved.

The book’s contributors come from a variety of backgrounds: academics and practitioners, Western and Asian, male and female. Each essay has been well edited and each has a comprehensive bibliography.

After a “situationer” essay by David Burnett, four papers follow on theological issues, mainly around contextualization and incarnational theory. These are followed by two case studies from Thailand, then two further essays on socio-political ramifications of mission among Lao and Japanese. A call for prioritizing incarnational approaches is strong throughout, both from theory and from field-tested examples. In this the authors are not afraid to challenge the status quo; indeed if missions are to gain any success among Buddhists, then it is imperative that culturally-bound Western missional models be thrown out, or at least radically adapted. Hence this collection of essays has a prophetic edge with a challenge that should be heard by as wide an audience as possible.

The publication of this book indicates that the SEANET forum is gaining momentum. Although this first book leans towards Theravadan expressions of Buddhism, and also Asian-located incarnational challenges, the editors note that a wider selection of theological issues and methodological models will be included in subsequent publications. This is good news as regrettably there are only too few published titles on mission to Buddhists. Buddhism is no longer merely located “over there,” but is fast moving in next door to you; it has gained huge in-roads into the West (and Africa and South America!) in the last twenty years through both explicit and implicit means. Buddhism is now a global phenomenon, and the Church ignores it at its peril.

If as a church we are to get serious about mission to Buddhists, then we need to read this book (and subsequent publications from the SEANET forum) and start putting into practice the things it recommends.

Check these titles
Burnett, David. 1996. The Spirit of Buddhism: A Christian Perspective on Buddhist Thought. Crowborough, UK: Monarch Publications.

Tsering, Marku.1988. Sharing Christ in the Tibetan Buddhist World. 2 ed. Upper Darby, Penn.: Tibet Press.

—–

Copyright © 2004 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS.

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsBook ReviewsEMQSectionVolume 40 - Issue 1

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Join
  • Directories
  • Events
  • Donate

About

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Google+

PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

© Missio Nexus.
All Rights Reserved.

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks