EMQ » April–June 2018 » Volume 54 Issue 2
[memberonly folder=”Members, EMQ2YearFolder, EMQ1YearFolder”]Book Review
Encountering the History of Missions: From the Early Church to Today
By John Mark Terry and Robert L. Gallagher
Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2017
ISBN: 978-0801026966
416 pages
USD $29.99
Reviewed by Amit A. Bhatia, PhD/Intercultural Studies; Adjunct Professor, Trinity International University, Deerfield, Illinois.
John Mark Terry and Robert L. Gallagher, articulating their thesis in the concluding chapter of the book, assert that we can learn from both the successes as well as failures of the efforts of missionaries who have gone before us. As a study of mission history, not only will their book be “instructional” in this sense, but it will also inspire the reader to “imitate their zeal and dedication” to continue the propagation of Christ’s kingdom in the present context.
Terry and Gallagher’s narration of the history of missions draws from an impressive list of over 480 scholarly works that discuss mission endeavors of innumerable laborers in the gospel from the early church on to the present day. They describe and assess the evangelistic methods of Christians from a plethora of groups such as Celts, Orthodox Christians, Dominicans and Franciscans, Jesuits, Pietists, Moravians and Methodists, to name just a few. They also recount the stories of missionaries who served during the Great Century of Protestant missions, as well as the missiological and theological changes in Protestant and Catholic Christianity reflected through the missionary councils and congresses of the 20th century and the impact of the church growth movement on evangelical missions in the second half of the 20th century.
Through their narration of the unique historical background—social, cultural, religious and political context—of each of these groups, as well as biographies of countless Christians whose theology of missions was shaped by their context, Terry and Gallagher offer missiologists, students preparing for ministry, lay and professional church leaders, and missionaries intellectually stimulating insights to ignite their hearts to engage in mission work in their own unique context. While each chapter presents lessons for the reader which emerge from the theology of missions and missionary methods of each particular group, their concluding chapter offers a “retrospective evaluation” of “missionaries’ performance over the centuries.” Some things that missionaries did wrong include: displayed a superiority complex; espoused negative views of other religions; did not adequately separate Christianity and Western culture; propagated denominationalism; failed to indigenize the Christian faith; were paternalistic; made unwise use of funds from the West; and were often too closely connected with the colonial system. Some things that missionaries did right include: loved the people they served; genuinely appreciated local cultures and languages; translated the Bible into indigenous languages; provided education for the people they served; established clinics, hospitals and medical schools; bridged the East and West; brought out much needed political and social reform; and planted churches in just about every country in the world.
Finally, the brief statistics presented in a short section—“What Remains to Be Done”— in the last chapter highlights the need and lays the burden on the present and subsequent generations to continue the task of world evangelization. Their engaging and easy-to-read history of missions will arouse a passion to do just this.
For Further Reading
Ott, Craig, Stephen J. Strauss, and Timothy C. Tennant. Encountering Theology of Mission: Biblical Foundations, Historical Developments, and Contemporary Issues. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010.
Terry, John Mark, and J. D. Payne. Developing a Strategy for Missions: A Biblical, Historical, and Cultural Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.
