ABSTRACT
Christians desire to communicate their faith and some followers of other religions seek to do the same. This chapter talks about how the theory of religious communication has evolved, defines the key terms and clarifies the concepts the theory requires and outlines the assumptions on which the argument is conducted. It suggests that a Christian is a member of a mainstream church, by whatever are its own criteria of membership, and who has not repudiated his or her membership. Clearly, if people claim to have become atheists or whatever and if they affirm that they are no longer Christians, they must be allowed to be so no more, despite perhaps membership of the church through Infant Baptism. Among Christians so defined, 'practising' Christians must be further distinguished from 'non-practising', in a way comparable to the use of such distinctions in respect to other faiths. Christianity, first, has to be communicated in a social context.
