Communicating Christ Cross-culturally: An Introduction to Missionary Communication

David J. Hesselgrave

Zondervan, 1991 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 672 pages

This revised edition of Dr. David Hesselgrave's great work Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally updates the original edition and interacts with the most recent literature on this increasingly important topic. The original edition went through fifteen printings and, very deservedly, has come to be one of the most widely used textbooks on Christian cross-cultural communications. The revisions in this new edition are extensive and carry on the high level of discussion maintained throughout the original edition, taking into account, for example, the current discussion on the relationship between form and function and the enormous body of literature that has sprung up recently on contextualization. To enhance the volume's usefulness for students, Dr. Hesselgrave has added an extensive bibliography of twenty-five pages on various aspects of cross-cultural communications. This revision of Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally is superb. It raises a great book into a unique category, undoubtedly the finest book on this topic available today.

Contents

• Figures: 13
• Preface: 19
• Man the Communicating Creature: 27
• The Legacy of Rhetoric to Christian: 33
• Perspectives From the Science: 39
• Why Do Missionaries Communicate?: 79
• The Role of Culture in Communication: 95
• Christ and His Communicators Confront: 115
• ContextualizationIts Theological Roots: 131
• CrossCultural CommunicationClassic: 145
• Categories and Paradigms: 161
• Respondents of Other Cultures: 175
• WorldviewsWays of Perceiving: 191
• Communicating Christ Into the Naturalist: 213
• Communicating Christ Into the Tribal: 221
• Communicating Christ Into the Hindu: 237
• Communicating Christ Into a Chinese: 255
• Worldviews: 271
• Communicating Christ Into the Worldviews: 281
• Cognitive ProcessesWays of Thinking: 287
• Cognitive Maps: 297
• Conceptual Thinking and the Western: 305
• Communicating Christ in Cultural Areas Where: 311
• Communicating Christ in Cultural Areas Where: 325
• Linguistic FormsWays of Expressing: 341
• Why Bother to Learn the Language?: 349
• Learning About Language Learning: 357
• What Can We Learn From Language?: 367
• Behavioral PatternsWays of Acting: 387
• The Missionary and Behavioral Norms: 403
• Seven Aspects of the Behavioral Dimension: 413
• Where the Action Is: 445
• Communication and Societal Orientations: 453
• Status and Role: 459
• Kindred and Lineage: 475
• Nonkinship Groupings: 483
• Urban and Rural Societies: 507
• Free and Totalitarian Societies: 517
• Media InfluenceWays: 525
• Using Simple Media: 537
• Using Syndetic Media: 553
• Motivational ResourcesWays: 571
• Points of Contact: 596
• Missionary Appeals: 602
• Motivation Decision Making and Conversion: 613
• Receptivity and Missionary Response: 631
• Bibliography: 639
• Index of Persons: 657
• Index of Places and Peoples: 663
• Index of Scripture References: 671

About the author

David J. Hesselgrave served as a missionary in Japan for twelve years. He is now professor of mission and director of the School of World Mission and Evangelism at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Communicating Christ Cross-culturally: An Introduction to Missionary Communication
• Author: David J. Hesselgrave
• Edition: revised
• Publisher: Zondervan, 1991
• ISBN: 0310368111, 9780310368113
• Length: 672 pages
• Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies; Religion / Christian Church / Growth; Religion / Christian Living / Personal Growth; Religion / Christian Ministry / Evangelism; Religion / Christian Ministry / Missions; Religion / Christian Theology / Apologetics; Religion / Christian Theology / General