Abstract
Issues in Contextualization is the most recent work by Charles H. Kraft, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Intercultural Communication at Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies. Kraft is one of the most influential missiologists of the last 40 years, known particularly for his landmark Christianity in Culture (p. 1979). In that work, he proposed his signature model for contextualization based upon the concept of dynamic equivalence translation. In 2002, he edited a Festschrift for Fuller colleague, Dean S. Gilliland, titled Appropriate Christianity, in which Kraft contributed 11 chapters refining and expanding his understanding of contextualization. In the preface of the present volume, Kraft writes, “Those chapters, lightly edited, plus five new ones, are presented here in response to requests for just my thoughts and a shorter volume” (vii). Readers familiar with Kraft’s earlier works will not discover here any significant new contributions. However, this volume does present in a manageable 240 pages Kraft’s matured understanding of contextualization in a concise, if not simplified format previously unavailable. As such, it serves as a sort of primer to Kraft’s influential thinking. Readers wanting to explore Kraft’s approach more deeply will need to consult his earlier publications.
The chapters are grouped in five sections, whose headings map out the content and development of the subject matter: The Basics, What We are to Take, Typology and Dynamics, Relational Aspects, and Contextualization of Power. Kraft’s familiar positions on insider movements, receptor oriented communication, meaning equivalence, the nature of culture, worldview, power encounter, and the like are explained in a straightforward and readable manner making the material accessible to novices. The discussion occurs largely at the conceptual level with clear definitions enhanced by occasional tables, diagrams, and practical examples. His often provocative style provides good fodder for class discussion or debate.
One might have hoped that Kraft would update his material, engaging more contemporary views on the nature of culture, religion, globalization, and yes, contextualization. Nevertheless, readers familiar with current thinking on these topics will likely find Kraft’s views in need of revision. The bibliography contains only two entries (apart from his own works) published later than 1998, and he defers to Scott Moreau’s Contextualization in World Missions for a survey of more current material (p. 240). Nevertheless, the book introduces key themes of contextualization from a vintage Kraft perspective. That alone makes it worthy of consideration as a supplementary textbook for a course on contextualization.