Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion

The Gospels record that Christ commanded his disciples to “go forth and teach all nations.” Thus began the history of Christian mission, a phenomenon which brought about massive shifts in the nature and practice of Christianity, and one that many say reflects the single most important movement of intercultural encounter over a sustained period of human history.

To understand Christianity as a global movement, therefore, it is essential to study the role of mission – defined as the transmissi...