Christianity Made in Japan: A Study of Indigenous Movements (Nanzan Library of Asian Religion and Culture)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent study based on original research.
Review: A good book, in my view, is one that provides new information about a worthy theme. A fine book is one that provides a new perspective from which to understand a significant body of information. A superb book is one that provides both new information about a worthy theme and a new, thought-provoking perspective from which to understand a significant body of information. This is a superb book. Mark Mullins, professor of sociology of religion and Christian studies at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, has devoted years of research to pursuing an answer to the question of "what happens to a world religion when it is transplanted from one culture to another." More specifically, he focuses on "made in Japan" forms of Protestant Christianity-not its mainline forms but its indigenous movements. "My primary concern," he says, "has been to understand what Japanese Christians have done with Christianity, independent of the authority and control of the mission churches." ... And let it be said at once: he has done a magnificent job. -- David Reid, Former editor of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies