Author: Dr Jonathan Ingleby, Editor of Encounters and frequenter of bookshops.
Abstract:
The author teaches a postgraduate class on Christian mission with special emphasis on globalisation and postcolonialism. Research in the local bookshop turns up some interesting results.
A bookshop, it seems to me, provides an inventory of the things in our society that people find important for their lives. They buy books about their jobs, hobbies, passions and concerns, hoping to deepen their experience of life and perhaps even reach out to new undiscovered dimensions of existence. Also the books are written by the ‘movers and shakers’ in the land – certainly this is true of the novels and biographies, but of some of the DIY type books as well (think celebrity chefs) – and this in turn tells us something about our society.
So today I am in the bookshop, with notebook and pen in hand, and wearing my missiological hat.
Full PDF:
To discuss the article leave a comment below…
Encounters Mission Journal 