Creating Understanding: Christian Communication Across Cultural Landscapes

by Donald K. Smith

This book is built on twenty-three propositions about communication, propositions that, when taken together, encompass fundamental truths about human communication from a Christian perspective. Creating Understanding puts communication media into proper perspective. It makes meaning and understanding the focus of the effort of communication. It is committed to having the purposes of communication determine the means to be employed. This book is a foundation on which the enterprise of Christian ministry can be built or refined. It provides perspective, constantly, on the ways the cultural landscape is informing and affecting the communication process.

Genres: School, Communication

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 24, 1992

About the author

Donald K. Smith was for twenty-one years Distinguished Professor of Intercultural Communication and Missiology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is presently Dean of WorldView Institute (a graduate level international living-and-learning community). For 30 years a missionary evangelist, journalist and educator in Africa, based in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya, Dr. Smith was founder of Daystar University in Nairobi. His experience includes teaching, editing, publishing, developing literacy materials in African languages, anthropological research, evangelism, preaching and supervising Bible translation programs in more than 40 languages. His books, Creating Understanding and Make Haste Slowly, are used widely in missions training. Through WorldView Institute he continues an extensive overseas ministry, focusing on emerging Third World mission societies and leadership of national churches.

Reviews

[Gabriel Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just okay. I enjoyed the cross cultural emphasis, and the several illustrations and anecdotes peppered throughout. I think the book was slightly simplistic and did not give enough attention to the role of the Holy Spirit in the reception of a message. The author also tends to belabor a point.

[Vicktur Otao · Rating 5 out of 5]

awsome book, with great insights on communication and the essence of the interaction.