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Church: World

The End of an Era

Western Christianity was not, as many believed, the guardian of a pure gospel, providing a universal church with a culture-free benchmark of orthodoxy.

I don’t think that this quote needs any explanation.

Clearly, the dominant role played by Europe and North America in the spread of Christianity around world is at an end. Western Christianity, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant, was not, as many believed, the guardian of a pure gospel, providing a universal church with a culture-free benchmark of orthodoxy, but was itself local, contextual and deeply shaped by specific cultural and historical traditions. For millions of believers around the world the modern missionary movement is increasingly viewed as an episode in their history, by no means unimportant or unappreciated, but now rapidly disappearing from consciousness, like an image passing from sight in a rear-view mirror.

David Smith in Liberating the Gospel: Translating the message of Jesus Christ in a globalised world.

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