Mission as Globalization

That Christianity and the global mission movement have been driving forces in globalization is not a new idea. What makes Scott’s study invaluable is the substantial evidence he offers about the early years of globalization and the role of religion in this process.... The book contributes both to an academic study of mission history in Asia and to a growing body of literature that discusses the transformation of the Christian movement in the tension between what Andrew Walls so aptly called the “pilgrim principle and the indigenizing principle”.... The book will be attractive to many types of reader: those interested in the history of mission in general; to readers in cultural history willing to understand that globalization has always been more than an economic expansion; to those wanting to learn about characteristics of the Methodist tradition; and to anyone interested in the history of Southeast Asia, where Methodist Christianity played an important role, particularly in education and among the Chinese and Tamil minorities. The book is a most welcome academic contribution to the discussion of globalization at a time when it has come under fire in new ways. * Mission Studies *
By focusing on three decisive decades of the Methodist missionary enterprise in Southeast Asia, David Scott has added a meticulously researched and delicately stitched history of fervent evangelism, ecclesiastical growth and institutional development. Scott artfully places Methodist missionary expansion in Malaysia and Singapore in the context of a rapidly changing socioeconomic and political environment emphasizing their interconnectivity and mutually reinforcing patterns..... Scott takes the reader on a fascinating journey.... Scott makes an original contribution to mission studies by providing remarkable insights into the unfolding of the Methodist church’s methodical movement from the U.S. temperate climes (especially Minnesota) into the tropics of equatorial Malaysia.... Having come to this project knowing very little about the status of mission in Southeast Asia at the turn of the twentieth century, I was swept away by the scope and depth of this historical survey. Not only was I immersed in the macro-realities of a complex region undergoing profound transnational connections, but also of the talent, commitment, and courage of my missionary forebears and the people their ministries touched. Scott’s innovative approach to consider the missional experience in the context of globalization worked. Hopefully it will encourage other scholars to follow in his footsteps. * Methodist History *
By focusing on the spread of Methodism in Malaysia, David Scott illuminates the interface between missionary Christianity and globalization. This excellent volume brings mission history into the mainstream of World History. I highly recommend this book as a substantial contribution to the study of cultural globalization and of Christianity as a worldwide, interconnected religion. -- Dana Robert, Boston University
Employing a nuanced construction of globalization as research framework, David Scott's careful study of Methodism in Malaysia, and southeast Asia more broadly, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brims with provocative insight and fertile possibilities for future research. Meticulously researched, thoroughly versed in the subject matter, and well written, Scott's work is an important contribution not only to world Christian historiography but also, and especially, to Methodist historical and theological studies. -- Hendrik R. Pieterse, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
David Scott's study of the Malaysia mission provides a refreshing look at Western missionary expansion by moving past typical explanatory frameworks of mission and colonialism or recipient responses by embedding mission history thoroughly within the discussion of the forces of globalization. By doing so, he exemplifies a method and approach crucially needed in today's scholarship. -- Charles Farhadian, Westmont College