"Christian missionaries often head out to the field with a single assessment of the human condition: Humans are fallen, sinful creatures in need of salvation. The reality of working in the field, however, challenges this theological assumption. In this book Charles R. Taber offers an overview of the interface between missiology and the social sciences, such as anthropology and sociology.

While the relationship between the two disciplines has often been superficial and uncritical, they have much to offer one another. Taber's book explores the possibilities and the limits of the conversation between these two fields."--BOOK JACKET.