Reflections on the Jesuit Mission to China

Kenneth Winston and Mary Jo Bane
Additional contact information
Kenneth Winston: Harvard University
Mary Jo Bane: Harvard University

Working Paper Series from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government

Abstract: With the explosive growth of transnational dealings, professionals in developed countries have expanding opportunities to spread their particular ways of doing things around the world. However, missionary work, whether religious or secular, raises difficult questions about ends and means. What warrant do missionaries have for inducing others to act and believe as they do? What devices are permissible in the effort to bring about change in a host population? This working paper addresses some of these questions by reflecting on the Jesuit mission to China in the 17th century. The Jesuit mission was the first instance in the modern period of sustained missionary work by westerners in China, and it remains of enduring significance. By focusing on the "ethics of missionary work" in the Jesuit case, we draw some conclusions for 21st century would-be missionaries.

Date: 2010-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/work ... ?PubId=7095&type=WPN

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp10-004

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Paper Series from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().