Christians issue rule book on ‘Ethical Deception’

Christians issue rule book for spreading faith

GENEVA (Reuters)  -  A coalition of major Christian churches including the Vatican launched a rule book on Tuesday for spreading their faith that aims to reduce hostility from Islam and other religions to efforts to convert their followers.

The five-page code of conduct, which has been under negotiation since 2005, was unveiled at a Geneva news conference by the World Council of Churches (WCC), a senior Roman Catholic prelate and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).

It urges Christians wanting “to share the good news of God’s kingdom” — missionary work or simply publicly testifying to their faith — “to build relations of respect and trust with all religions” and adapt their approaches to local conditions.

It reaffirms their right to proselytise, or promote their beliefs and seek converts.

But it also urges them to abandon “inappropriate methods of exercising mission by resorting to deception and coercive means”, saying that such behaviour “betray the gospel and may cause suffering to others”.

The code, entitled “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct”, comes amid growing tension between small local Christian communities and majorities from other religions in many, especially Muslim, countries.

This is often sparked by the activity of missionaries, both overt and covert, who seek to convert non-Christians, and are often denounced by local religious leaders — Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist — as enemies of what they see as the true faith.

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