Conservative in Theology, Liberal in Spirit

“Karl Dahlfred’s study of the effects of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy on missions in Thailand offers a fascinating example of what makes Christianity a world religion: its kinetic interaction across cultural borders. This book offers much more than its title suggests. It is a carefully wrought view of how engagement with Thai people affected Western missionaries.”


—Joel Carpenter, senior research fellow, Calvin University





“This fascinating book fills two major gaps. First, it directs attention to Thailand, a country neglected by mission historians. Second, it uncovers the ambiguities surrounding the concepts of modernism and modernization that figured prominently in missionary discourse.”


—Brian Stanley, professor emeritus of world Christianity, University of Edinburgh





“Karl Dahlfred’s Conservative in Theology, Liberal in Spirit has admirably met the long felt need for a single volume book that shows how the church in Thailand evolved in the half century from 1890 to 1940. I recommend this book to all who want to understand the church in Thailand today.”


—Neel Roberts, missionary to Thailand





“With a missionary’s heart, a theologian’s mind, and a historian’s pen, Karl Dahlfred opens a window into the relationship between theological controversy and missiological methodology. He traces the effects of the early twentieth-century modernist controversy on the missionaries of Thailand and their theological formulation and cultural adaptation within the unique Thai context. A fascinating study.”


—E. D. Burns, professor of spirituality and missiology, Asia Biblical Theological Seminary–Thailand