Christian mission takes place in a world with increasing interreligious tensions, including violence and persecution. Politics, economics, religion, ethnicity, and other factors play a role in these tensions. Christians, too, are involved in such conflicts, sometimes as those who are persecuted and sometimes as those participating in violence. "Freedom of Religion and Belief" is a core value in the UN Human Rights Declaration. It is also a core biblical value. Obstacles to and attacks on freedom of belief are therefore a central concern for witnessing to Christ. The purpose of this volume, Freedom of Belief and Christian Mission, is to bring to public attention a broad overview of the history, development, and perspectives of the role of mission and freedom of belief and to reflect on these issues within a context of authentic witness in mission.
