While William Carey (1761–1834) is often hailed as the “Father of Modern Missions” for his innovative work in India and for advancing the modern theology of missions—particularly in his commitment to respect the indigenous culture—he nevertheless drew heavily on the work of those who had preceded him in the work of missions. Among his predecessors was the “Apostle to the (American) Indians,” John Eliot (1604–1690). For his part, Eliot was also the product of his predecessors, especially in his adoption of the then-popular notion of civility before conversion. However, Eliot was also an innovator to whom the world of missions owes a great debt. His commitment to learning the indigenous language (Algonquin), creating a written language and a grammar of it, and translating the Bible into it are worthy of special note, as is his commitment to training indigenous pastors and teachers. The ministry of Eliot informs the foundational tenets of contemporary missiology.
In the history of missions in Myanmar, a number of missiological practices and stratagems have failed to promote unity between different groups of converts and, in fact, have fostered or encouraged disunity among a people already predisposed toward isolationism. Tribal exclusivism, Western individualism, and denominational separatism have all served to extend and expand that gulf of identity, which already separates many people in Myanmar. Furthermore, a lack of proper theological education hinders unity, as a host of conflicting doctrinal systems collide among the local churches, resulting in congregants looking ever-increasingly inward for fellowship, seeking only those most similar to themselves.
Each of the many ethnic groups in Myanmar has its own unique worldview; however, these are all principally related, in some respects, to the three primary worldviews in Myanmar, as informed by the culture historically: animism, Buddhism, and, to a lesser extent, Hinduism. For the purposes of this article, I am defining “worldview” as: A culturally-informed, yet personal, system of thought, wherein are held existential beliefs, such as regards the existence or non-existence of a god or gods; evaluative beliefs, such as regards proper and improper expressions of social intercourse; and prescriptive beliefs, such as regards value and purpose. In light of this definition, the worldviews in Myanmar will be explored as to their existential, evaluative, and prescriptive beliefs, with a summary statement, addressing the missiological challenges, which those worldviews present, in particular, to Christian unity.
In addition to the challenges of competing religious and secular worldviews in Myanmar, there are also a number of inherent social and political realities, which hinder intertribal Christian unity, that must be addressed missiologically. This article considers, first, the theme of isolation in Myanmar’s social construct: specifically, the reality of the “plural society”; the way in which tribes are identified independently of one another (ethnonyms); and the way in which the tribes (as in-groups) view outgroups (“image theory”). Then, it considers the mistrust that has developed in the wake of political destabilization and human rights concerns, while recognizing the political fluidity presently on display in Myanmar’s apparent climate of rapprochement.
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