Missions' interaction with other Cultures and Religions
Some conservative Protestants had adopted a “theory of degeneration,” which held that a primordial global monotheism had been corrupted and distorted in non-Christian contexts. Their more liberal counterparts often adopted a more Darwinian approach, which held that Christianity was the supreme religion, and Western civilization its greatest achievement. The inferiority of other religions was demonstrated by their social inadequacy. Though very different, both these theologies encouraged a triumphalist and negative attitiude on the part of Christian missionaries toward nativer cultures.
In marked contrast to both these approaches, [the great Edinburgh mission conference of 1910] adopted a fulfillment theology of mission that saw Jesus Christ as the “fulfillment of other religions.” Holding that “all religions await their fulfillment in Christ,” the Edinburgh Conference gave its missionaries a mandated to respect and engage with naitive cultures, seeing these as capable of being fulfilled in and through Christ. This led to a new interest in finding “points of contact” between indigeonous cultures and the gospel.
Christianity’s Dangerous Idea, Alister McGrath, p442
