From Missionaring to Proselytism (Conceptual Differentiation, Historical Survey and Indications of Future Perspectives)

Todorović, Dragan (2004) From Missionaring to Proselytism (Conceptual Differentiation, Historical Survey and Indications of Future Perspectives). In: Evangelization, Conversion, Proselytism. Yugoslav Society for the Scientific Study of Religion; Komren Sociological Encounters; Punta, Niš, Serbia, pp. 5-28. ISBN 86-83119-99-8

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Abstract

Any consideration of the process of ethno-cultural separation or coming together of different religious and ethnic communities inevitably involves a complex scheme of evangelization, conversion and proselytism that has evidently been neglected in the domestic sociology of religion and even in theological disciplines. “A modern department store of religion and spirituality”, as E. Barker would call it, made the population of the Balkan societies in transition face religious pluralism, that is, the demand for peaceful co-existence of the traditional and the alternative religious structures. This encounter has actually launched a two-way process, namely, on one hand, there is diverse and controversial acceptance of religious innovations on the part of the believers (i. e., deeply devoted and traditional believers),and, on the other hand, the same ones are being transformed into objects of intensified influence of minority and, especially, new religions. Hence, in the whole whirl-pool of the relations among religions of the minorities and minority historical and unhistorical beliefs, traditional religions and new religious movements, a problem of evangelization, conversion and proselytism inevitably opens up. The paper first discusses the understanding of the crucial concepts, namely,“missionaring”, “conversion” and “proselytism” in domestic and translated layman and theological literature. Further on, we follow a historical development and inter-relations among the traditional religions as well as a chronology of differences in the religious worldviews in the Balkan societies from the Middle Ages till the very end of the twentieth century with a special reference to the territories of the “second” Yugoslavia. This is followed by making a map of the whole plurality of social and material reasons that favoured further spreading of minority and new religions all over the Balkan religious field which was, up to that time, mostly pervaded with the traditional national churches. The paper ends with an analysis of the character of the small religious communities’ religious engagement at the Balkans in the first decade of the new millennium.

Item Type: Book Section
Subjects: B Mission theology/theory > Conversion
B Mission theology/theory > Evangelism/Proclamation of Gospel
F Interreligious Dialogue and Witness > Islam > Christian-Muslim Dialogue
G Christian traditions/Denominations > Eastern Orthodox
Divisions: Balkan countries > Serbia‎
Depositing User: Users 3 not found.
Date Deposited: 25 Nov 2019 21:24
Last Modified: 16 Dec 2021 13:06
URI: https://ceeamsprints.osims.org/id/eprint/1711

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