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★★★★★ 5
Somewhat niche but a treasure-trove nonetheless!
Format: Paperback
A somewhat niche topic but a small treasure-trove of a book nonetheless! Definitely something I would recommend to anyone thinking seriously about and planning on studying mission.
More than just a descriptive history book, the various essays focus on what can be drawn and learned from particular figures and movements. I picked the book because I knew next to nothing about 16th century missions (and not very much about Protestant or Roman Catholic missions in general) and thought it would be good to fill in some of my knowledge gaps. I was not disappointed! There are essays on people I never even heard of before, and now wish I could know so much more! Who knew there was a Czech theologian (Jan Hus) who wrote a devotional for women in the early 1400s? I certainly didn’t.
Also, the very first essay I found to be a healthy challenge to Gustav Warnack’s conceptualization of mission (that ...“it must be a systematic work, preferable by an institution outside the church that consistently sends missionaries to previously unevangelized areas.” (p.12)) and his critique of early Reformation missional work (namely that there was none).
Plus, while I had heard that Calvin had sent some missionaries to Brazil, I never knew there was so much drama with Villegagnon behind it all! The whole ordeal and everything leading up to it sounds like it would make for pretty crazy reality show or a great movie.
The book touches on missions to a variety of locations, Kongo, China, Brazil, Latin America, and Europe itself, and is especially helpful in understanding the origins and philosophies of Reformed, Anabaptist, Jesuit, and Franciscan missiologies. It also gives light to the many complexities of mission work, dealing with politics, economy, culture, competing religion, and language barriers.
Not all of the essays are created equal but I definitely got something from each one. Also, as a small disclaimer, the book may be a bit more of a laborious read for some. It deals with a great many events, places, and names that may be unfamiliar to someone not studied in Christian missional work (like myself). But working through such things can yield some ripe fruit.
Being a collection of essays around a particular topic, it is a great book to pick up and set down again, not requiring large chunks of time to work through. In fact, it may be better read in several small intervals, one chapter per sitting, to properly digest each essays significance.
I received this book for free from Lexham Press in exchange for an honest review, whether negative or positive. The views of this expressed in this review are entirely my own.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2021
