📖 Biblical Definition
The Great Commission is, by definition, a colonizing mandate — not of land, but of hearts. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Christianity has always crossed cultural boundaries. Paul did not "decolonize" the gospel to make it comfortable for Greek pagans — he proclaimed Christ crucified and demanded repentance from idolatry. The gospel is transcultural because it comes from the God who made all cultures. It does not need to be stripped of its content to be received; it needs to be believed. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
This word did not exist in 1828.
expand to see more
"Decolonize" did not appear in Webster's 1828 dictionary. Webster defined COLONY as "a company or body of people transplanted from their mother country to a remote province or country to cultivate and inhabit it." The concept of "decolonizing" knowledge, theology, or curriculum is a late 20th-century academic invention with no historical precedent in English usage.
📖 Key Scripture
• Matthew 28:19-20 — "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
• Romans 1:16 — "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes."
• Acts 17:30 — "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent."
• Revelation 7:9 — "A great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Decolonize is used to strip Christianity and Western thought of their authority.
expand to see more
"Decolonize your theology." "Decolonize your bookshelf." "Decolonize your diet." The word has become a universal solvent for dissolving any standard, tradition, or truth claim associated with Western civilization — and Christianity in particular. When activists say "decolonize Christianity," they mean strip it of its doctrinal claims, its moral absolutes, and its exclusive truth claims. They mean make it compatible with indigenous spirituality, sexual revolution, and Marxist liberation theology. But the gospel was never a colonial imposition — it was a divine invasion. It came not from Europe but from the Middle East. It spread not by cultural superiority but by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Ethiopian eunuch, Cornelius the Roman, Lydia of Thyatira — none of these were colonized. They were converted. And conversion is not oppression; it is liberation.
Usage
• "They want to 'decolonize' the gospel, but the gospel was never a European product. It came from a Jewish carpenter in Roman-occupied Palestine."
• "You cannot decolonize truth. Two plus two does not change based on who discovered it, and neither does the resurrection."
• "'Decolonize your theology' is just a sophisticated way of saying 'abandon your convictions' — dressed up in the language of liberation."