The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization was riven by conflicts between evangelicals from the West and the South. These conflicts have traditionally been explained in terms of theological differences, but this article explores the part played by the different cultural and intellectual contexts of the participants, changes in international affairs over time, and the nature of the evangelical tradition itself. It thus provides a historical case study of the complexity of interactions between Christians from different countries. Understanding this history should help contemporary conversations in missionary situations and elsewhere. The article also suggests that diversity has posed particular problems for evangelicalism, a stream of Christianity rooted in both individualism and certainty.
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