Contextual theology and revolutionary transformation : the missiology of M. Richard Shaull, 1942-2002 / by Angel Daniel Santiago Vendrell.

2008.

xii, 363 leaves

Photocopy. Ann Arbor, MI : UMI, [2011] 22 cm.

Abstract: This dissertation studies the work of M. Richard Shaull, one of the foremost North American Protestant missionaries and ecumenical leaders in Latin America during the mid-twentieth century. In his roles as missionary, political activist, theologian, and ecumenist, Shaull engaged the significant theological and political issues of the day. He formulated a theology of revolution in response to rapid social changes in Latin America, and he created a socio-political ethic that took the perceived actions of God in history as a starting point for formulating options for social transformation. Throughout his life, his self-identity as a missionary guided his ministry and helped him construct a missiology relevant to the current situations of the times. The missionary career of Richard Shaull deserves an in-depth missiological analysis for several reasons. First, Shaull was an important and controversial figure in Latin American Christianity, as he was one of the first missionaries to move to a full-blown contextual methodology, which then had a broad impact on missiology in general. Second, because of his involvement with the World Council of Churches and the World Student Christian Federation, Shaull became an ecumenical figure throughout Latin America. He was instrumental in founding scholarly journals such as Testimonium (1953), Cristianismo y Sociedad (1963), and Paz e Terra (1966), and of programs such as the Sector of Social Responsibility of the Church in Brazil, and Iglesia y Sociedad en América Latina (Church and Society in Latin America). Third, Shaull never gave up the idea of being a missionary. When he returned to the United States, he became an advocate for Latin America through involvement with radical students in the New Left, the establishment of the North American Congress for Latin America, and the formulation of biblically-based alternatives to U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America. Ultimately, the study of Richard Shaull's life as a missionary illustrates major developments and transitions in the history of Latin American Christianity in the second half of the twentieth century, as he served as an interpreter of the ecumenical movement, liberation theology, and Pentecostalism.

Books / Dissertations & Theses

English

August 23, 2010

Thesis (Th. D.)--Boston University, 2008.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 339-363).