Pluralism and Christian Commitment

“In the early centuries, the new Christian religion moved forward like an oriental caravanserai, with its complex baggage of exotic teachings, baffling mysteries, and an eclectic ethical code. In the jumble and tumble of social encounter, Christians spoke a bewildering variety of languages. … Christian missionaries assumed that since all cultures and languages are lawful in God's eyes, the rendering of God's word into those languages and cultures is valid and necessary. … Far from suppressing indigenous cultures, the effect of missionary translation has been to stimulate indigenous renewal.”