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Missiology: An International

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 DOI: 10.1177/009182961204000317

2012 40: 352MissiologyLarry Poston

Early Modern Ottoman EmpireBook Review: Contested Conversions to Islam: Narratives of Religious Change in the

  

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352 Book Reviews

of Jesus’s disciples as his “friends,” and finds in Jesus a true “Mestizo Messiah” for his Mexican Latino peasant compa- triots. Copeland shows how the humble, humiliated, despised Jesus who yet brings freedom works as a powerfil model in black churches.

Sobrino indicates the Realm of God in Jesus’ practice and teaching as a para- digm for us. “Jesus the Evangelizer and Missioner was ‘available’ to his Father God, and was ‘free’ before humanity” - and we must be the same. Lassalle- Klein shows how the Historical Reality of Jesus is crucially different from the so-called “historical Jesus” of the schol- ars, which are “positivistic claims about his words and deeds” rather than “the defining commitments mediated through them.”

God raises up new disciples, not to be crucified yet again, but so that, moved by their faith in the resurrection of Jesus, they might help to break the endless cycle of oppression and crucifixion by taking today’s crucified peoples down from the cross and supporting their struggles to live and make a life for their children and grandchildren (1 16).

These “Starting Points” are then followed by Contextual Bible Studies -Alonso on Mark 7.24-30 in contemporary migra- tion communities, Mbona on Luke 1.2- 38’s Mary as “handmaid” seen in Igloo women, Park on Luke 24.13-24 as model for a post-Minjung theology, and Perego on Mark 14.51-52 as a Discipleship model of “Stripping.”

Papers on Theology and Spiritual- ity conclude the collection 4oizueta on option for the poor as “gratuity,” Minj on Jesus as Paramadivasi, Sols on Secular discipleship, and Doak on globalization as demanding a revival of community based on Jesus.

Extending inclusion and dignity to the marginalised and demeaned, Jesus embod- ied a freedom from preoccupation with socio-economic security, from striving to climb up (as well he might have) or at least to avoid being dragged further down ( 2 2 5 4 ) .

Lee sees Jesus being “raised in Jerusa- lem” as a clue to his - and our - hybridity (with Nicodemus as model), and Groody ends with a reflection on Matthew 25 in the context of global migration.

Well worth a read-and a life!

Contested Conversions to Islam: Narratives of Religious Change in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire By Tijana KrstiC Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press 2011. xii, 264pp, cloth. $60.00 Reviewed by Larry Poston

Missiologists wrestling with the “Jesus-mosque’’ and C-6 forms of con- textualization-in which converts to Christianity remain outwardly indis- tinguishable from Muslims-will find KrstiC’s work of particular interest. Her highly detailed study of conversion to Islam in the Ottoman Empire during the 15th to 17th centuries reveals that the present-day controversy is simply the latest iteration of this phenomenon. Readers who hold tightly to a stereo- typical view of Islam will likely be surprised by the author’s observations, including the following:

I . The Ottomans encouraged “mixing” between Muslims and Christians in order to stimulate conversion to Islam. While there was often a double standard in that Jews and Christians were forbidden by law to criticize the Muslim faith in any way and Mus- lims were granted complete freedom

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Book Reviews 353

to critique their fellow Abrahamic faiths, dialogue was nevertheless a regular occurrence;

2. The overwhelming majority of conversions were entirely volun- tary. Indeed, Ottoman regulations required converts to Islam to profess allegiance to their new faith in the presence of their next of kin and ofi- cials of their previous religion, all of whom were given the opportunity to dissuade the new convert from mak- ing his or her choice a permanent one;

3. Certain Muslim traditions-in par- ticular the Qur’an’s allowance of plural marriage and concubinage- were considered by Christian patri- archs and priests to be more socially and culturally practical than historic Christian teachings in these areas;

4. Muslim eschatology, because of its emphasis on current and anticipated events in contrast with the “unex- citing” tenets of Christian amillen- nialism, served to attract Christians whose interpretation of history was closer to that of Muslims;

5 . Nearly all conversions from Chris- tianity or Judaism to Islam were considered “syncretistic” by Muslim clerics and scholars in that they pro- duced “Muslims” who were in many ways still mainly “Christian.” This fact was not considered to be particu- larly troublesome, however;

6 . Muslims taught that true Christians were really Muslims who would eventually be shown by Allah the advantages of conversion to Islam.

KrstiC’s work is a good springboard for discussion regarding conversion to Islam in general, raising questions of motiva- tion (for instance, widowed Christian

women would often convert because of better financial benefits within Islam) and sincerity (since despite harsh measures against apostates, many seem to have stepped back and forth between the reli- gions as a matter of convenience).

Korean Diaspora and Christian Mission Edited by S. Hun Kim and Wonsuk Ma Oxford: Regnum Books International and Korean Research Institute for Dias- pora Regnum Studies in Mission Series 2011. xvii, 301 pp, paper $35.00 Reviewed by Birgit Herppich

Seven million Koreans live outside Korea and plant numerous churches among Korean migrant communities. They send many passionate missionaries to all parts of the world, Christian Korean businessmen travel around the globe sharing the gospel, and, increasingly, churches in Korea reach out to migrant workers attracted by the economic suc- cess of their countries. These facts make this a timely volume that illustrates the potential of diaspora studies to extend the frameworks of mission studies.

The collection came out of the Spring 20 10 conference of the Korean Diaspora Forum and the International Forum for Migrant Mission in Seoul. It is strongly endorsed by the Chairman of the Global Diaspora Network of the Lausanne Movement, Sadiri Joy Tira, as a “semi- nal work on Korean Diaspora mission” that should be read by “anyone engaged in missions and evangelism” (xiv). The editors and most contributors are them- selves Korean migrants with extensive missionary and teaching experience. Of the three parts, the first is intended “to provide a theological framework for the Korean Diaspora . . . and its missiological

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