EMQ » January–March 2023 » Volume 59 Issue 1
Gospel Witness Through the Ages: A History of Evangelism
By David M. Gustafson
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2022.
464 pages
US$39.99
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Review by Richard Cook, professor of Church history and missions at Logos Evangelical Seminary in El Monte, California. He served as a missionary in Taiwan for over 10 years and has a PhD in modern Chinese history from the University of Iowa.
Teachers and students searching for a comprehensive resource on the history of evangelism will be delighted to discover Gospel Witness through the Ages. Particularly in our current cultural crisis, David Gustafson points out that evangelicals will increasingly “find ourselves identifying with Christians of earlier centuries, especially those of the pre-Constantinian era (vii).” The unifying commitment of the volume is that “the history of the church cannot be understood apart from its evangelistic witness” (1).
Gustafson includes an extensive bibliography that covers all eras of church history and the lives of evangelists spread over twenty centuries. Not surprisingly, given the breadth of the research, the author does not seem to delve deeply into the primary material of any one topic. Some non-Western authors are included, but most sources appear to be in English. Some readers may find the myriad of footnotes distracting, but Gustafson mentions that he wants to ensure credit is given to the original authors and point readers to additional material.
The manuscript is divided into 12 chapters, starting with the “Beginning of Christian Evangelism,” moving through, for example, “Christendom and Monastic Evangelism,” “Medieval Evangelism,” “Reformation Evangelism,” “Revival Evangelism,” and concluding with “Global Indigenous Evangelism” and “Personal to Holistic Evangelism.” The pages are interspersed with various meaningful images and diagrams (all in black-and-white), and each chapter concludes with discussion questions.
The material moves quickly, covering people and events in rapid succession. For instance, in the modern era, Gustafson swiftly flashes through familiar evangelists and movements, such as Bill Bright, Oral Roberts, the Jesus Movement, John Wimber, Evangelism Explosion, Awana Clubs International, Church Growth Movement, Cell Churches, and Holistic Evangelism, with just one or two pages each.
As a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, David Gustafson teaches a course on the history of evangelism, and this thorough study is an ideal text for such a class. The author offers a cogent historical outline, and each era includes a brief discourse together with innumerable examples. The book, which also includes careful citations and biblical foundations, could be instrumental in preparing a successful course on the history of evangelism. The powerful discussion questions encourage readers to engage in the material. In a classroom, the open-ended discussion prompts would provide small groups of students an opportunity for movement toward life transformation. Gospel Witness through the Ages should serve as a valuable encyclopedia for the history of evangelism for many years to come.
For Further Reading
The Story of Evangelism: A History of the Witness of the Gospel, by Robert G. Tuttle (Abingdon, 2006)
The Great Commission: Evangelicals and the History of World Missions, edited by Martin J. Klauber and Scott M. Manetsch (B&H, 2008)
EMQ, Volume 59, Issue 1. Copyright © 2023 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
