Christian missionaries, usually regarded as relics of an outgrown and mostly discredited colonialism, are still playing an active role in many parts of the world. Their number is, in fact, increasing. In this book, Kenelm Burridge examines their work from a new perspective, combining anthropology with insights from history, sociology, missiology, and theology. He exposes and explicates the contradictions and ambiguities involved in missionary endeavours and establishes a theory about theapparently inevitable processes that arise out of the nature of Christianity and the building of a Christian community.