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( Missionary)
A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missionem (nom. missio), meaning "act of sending" or mitto, mittere, literally meaning "to send" or "to dispatch",[citation needed] the equivalent of the Greek-derived word "apostle" from apostolos, meaning "messenger". In Christian cultures the term is most commonly used for Christian missions, but it applies equally to any proselytizing creed or ideology. Buddhism launched 'the first large-scale missionary effort in the history of the world's religions'.[1] Since the Lausanne Congress of 1974, a widely accepted definition of a Christian mission has been "to form a viable indigenous church-planting movement." Recognizing justice as being at the heart of the Gospels, most modern missionaries now promote the development of western government, education[2] and economic structure in the place of pre-existing local systems and tradition. Missionaries can be found in many countries around the world, even posing as tourists or working as charity personnel to gain entry where their proselytizing is prohibited by law (e.g. India and Morocco). The New Testament missionary outreach of the Christian church from the time of St Paul was extensive throughout the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages the Christian monasteries and missionaries such as Saint Patrick, and Adalbert of Prague propagated learning and religion beyond the boundaries of the old Roman Empire. In the 7th century Gregory the Great sent missionaries including Augustine of Canterbury into England. During the Age of Discovery, the Roman Catholic Church established a number of Missions in the Americas and other colonies through the Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans in order to spread Christianity in the New World and to convert the Native Americans and other indigenous people. (See Canadian residential school system.) At the same time, missionaries such as Francis Xavier as well as other Jesuits, Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans were moving into Asia and the far East. The Portuguese sent missions into Africa. These are some of the most well-known missions in history. While some of these missions were associated with imperialism and oppression, others (notably Matteo Ricci's Jesuit mission to China) were relatively peaceful and focused on integration rather than cultural imperialism. Much contemporary Catholic missionary work has undergone profound change since the Second Vatican Council, and has become explicitly conscious of Social Justice issues and the dangers of cultural imperialism or economic exploitation disguised as religious conversion. Contemporary Christian missionaries argue that working for justice is a constitutive part of preaching the Gospel, and observe the principles of inculturation in their missionary work.
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Missionary Subcategories
Missionary Articles
Dental patients deserve more than the missionary - ask for the Gow gates. by Haynes Darlington M.Sc. PharmD.
Most situations with which dentists are confronted today are a test of their artistic skills. The frequency with which they use all or some of these, especially injectable approaches makes a big difference in the comfort level of the patient during...
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