Abstract
Like other movements throughout history, the Protestant missionary enterprise arose out of zealous activism, and only later turned to reflective analysis. Even then, missiology as a discipline developed very slowly within the halls of academia. Furthermore, as senior missiologist, R. Pierce Beaver points out in this paper originally presented to the Association of Professors of Missions (at St. Louis, June, 1973), some belatedly-established chairs of missions saw only a decade or two of occupancy before the Great Depression reversed these gains; and the changes brought about by World War II accentuated this downward trend. With the renewal of interest now appearing in some Protestant circles, this historical analysis should encourage every missiologist as to the cruciality of his task.
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