Continuing thoughts on the 1970s era book by J. Herbert Kane (1910-1988), “Understanding Christian Missions.” Written in the time of the many independence movements around the world as well as the height of the Cold War, it has much more to say on the relationship between missionaries and nationalism than more recent works. For Part …
Category: History in Missions
Look at Christian mission work through the centuries
Missionaries and Nationalism. Part One
I have been reading a bit of a book by J. Herbert Kane (1910-1988), “Understanding Christian Missions.” Originally published in the 1970s, the book is woefully out-of-date. And yet, it is that quality that makes it valuable in some ways. For example, it has a very interesting chapter on political involvement. A major part of …
The Challenge of Missionary Biographies
I am presently putting together a "max-flex" course on Missions History for a Bible College in the United States. I am using "From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya" by Ruth Tucker (2nd edition). It utilizes a biographical approach primarily, with themes and chronology taking on a secondary role. I have mentioned my concerns about biographical histories--- …
Two Good Books on Early Christian Missions History
I am being asked to teach a course in Missions History. I haven't done that in a few years. I will be using the 2004 Edition of "From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya" by Ruth Tucker. I like the book because it is a light but informative read. Because it is primarily biographical, people can often …
Continue reading Two Good Books on Early Christian Missions History
Humility and Justinian Von Welz
I preached a sermon a few years ago at a church anniversary of a church founded and led by a friend of my wife and I. It was on a missionary (whose name is in the title above). I decided to add it to our own mission family blog. But upon thinking about it, it …
Living in a Post-Constantinian Church
It has become popular to say that certain countries, regions, or cultures are today to be labeled "Post-Christian." The idea behind this is that in the past, the cultural norms, presumptive beliefs, and government allegiances were tied to Cultural Christianity. I believe I must add the key term "cultural to Christianity since a lot of …
New Article on History of Missions
I recently finished an article titled, "Apostles/Evangelists of the First Three Centuries as Exemplars for Modern Missionaries." The abstract is as follows: This paper considers the challenge of defining the term missionary in a way that is useful--- neither excessively broad nor narrow in scope. It is suggested that rather than focusing on a definition …
Missionary Quote from St. Origen
The following quote is in response to charges made by Celsus, a pagan philosopher, against Christianity. (By the way, Celsus's work is actually a very interesting read... strong recommendation.) This is part of the response from Origen of Alexandrai (185-253AD, more or less): But since he is manifestly guilty of falsehood in the statements which …
Sermon– The Faithful Servant
<A sermon I did for seminary chapel> I would like to go over a very familiar parable of Jesus. It is the parable of the Faithful Servant. It is found in Matthew 24:45-51 However, I would like to go through it with a bit of a missiological spin to it. An expression that has been …
Seneca Tribe Missions— Good Questions from the 19th Century
I was raised up near the Cattaraugus Reservation of the Seneca Nation of Indians--- a prominent Iroquois tribe. Recently, I was reading "Kinzua: From Cornplanter to the Corps" by William N. Hoover. In it, he shares a quote from another book that speaks questions that Seneca students had for white missionary teachers serving among them. …
Continue reading Seneca Tribe Missions— Good Questions from the 19th Century