Christian Missions: The Challenge of the Twenty-First Century

Christian Missions: The Challenge
of the Twenty-First Century

James D. Chancellor

James D. Chancellor is the W. O. Introduction The Changing Landscape
Carver Associate Professor of Christian A little over ninety years ago a significant of the Church
Missions and World Religions at The new journal was established in the United
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary States entitled The Christian Century. West- To be sure, the worldwide Christian
in Louisville, Kentucky. He has published ern Protestant Christianity had just community is in the midst of radical
a number of articles, including frequent emerged from the heady days of the nine- reorientation and realignment, and will
entries in The Evangelical Dictionary of teenth century, when almost anything change even more in the near future. The
World Missions (Baker, forthcoming). seemed possible and the very best seemed Church in Europe, the geographic and
Chancellor is currently at work on Life in probable. This new journal was inaugu- cultural heartland of Protestant Christian-
the Family: An Oral History of the rated with the explicit conviction that the ity, is dying and in many places virtually
Children of God, to be published by twentieth century would be “The Chris- dead. In city after city, across the Conti-
Syracuse University Press. This article tian Century,” and that by the year 2000 nent and in the British Isles, great church
was first presented as a faculty address the entire world would be completely edifices have become little more than
at The Southern Baptist Theological Christianized. This extraordinarily opti- museums. On the western frontier of the
Seminary. mistic view was widely held in the United Euro-American Christian landscape, all is
States and the Christian West. Such opti- not well, but not nearly as dark as some
mism was perhaps informed by a broader suppose. In the nineteenth century, the
Western cultural ego, prior to the Titanic center point of Protestant Evangelical
and the Great War. As we now near the Christianity clearly shifted across the At-
end of this “Christian Century,” it would lantic. In general, Canadians and Ameri-
appear the Church in the West, though cans continue to carry the missionary
confident in the power of the gospel, is burden well; on the other hand, the Faith
far more realistic about the prospect of is losing ground in many areas as well.
worldwide conversion.
The Church is advancing in other
The challenges facing the Church in places around the world. The genuine
the West in carrying the Good News of success of the “Great Century” of Chris-
Jesus Christ to the world appear much tian missions has radically altered the
different, and in many ways more daunt- shape and character of the worldwide
ing, at the close of twentieth century. Christian community. In the last 200 years,
Before we address some of those particu- the Church outside the West has grown
lar challenges, we must first affirm that, from approximately one percent to per-
though we may be considerably more haps sixty percent of total confessing
realistic in our assessment of the task, the Christians. In Africa, Christian denomina-
mission enterprise of the Church is as tions imported from the West are strong
healthy today as it ever was. and vital. For instance, there are as many
practicing Anglican believers in Uganda
as in England. More significantly, hun-
dreds of indigenous movements of a
peculiarly African form of Christianity

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have emerged, with millions of believers.1 lenge, a challenge that comes from a shift
Asia is beginning to experience a simi- in the way the rest of the world views the
West, America in particular, and some sig-
lar explosion of indigenous Christian nificant theological challenges that are
communities. The Church in China now both internal and external to Western
appears much stronger than ever imag- sending peoples.
ined, with thousands coming to faith in
Christ daily. In South Korea, it is estimated The External Challenge: Islam
that between twenty and twenty-five per- Certainly the most formidable external
cent of the population are committed
Christians—some nine million people. challenge to Christian missions in the
Only a generation ago, Koreans under- twenty-first century is resurgent Islam.
stood themselves almost exclusively as Aggressive Islam is not a new challenge
“receiving people,” ones needing mission- to the Church. The Islamic expansion in
aries. Today, the Korean Church has the seventh through the fifteenth centu-
grasped the vision of world missions and, ries was primarily into Christian lands. In
though recent financial reverses have the thousand years after Muhammad first
forced hundreds to return home, there are issued the call to go and conquer, much
still over 4,000 Korean missionaries who of the core territory of “Christendom” fell
now serve on fields from Pakistan to to the Army of Allah. Virtually all the great
Nigeria to China. Already, a higher per- centers of the Christian Faith, with the
centage of Korean church members serve exception of Rome, were captured and
as foreign missionaries than do members remain in the house of Islam.
in the Southern Baptist Convention.
But, beginning in the sixteenth century,
We can be grateful to God for the and reaching a crescendo in the nineteenth
growth of the Church around the world, and early twentieth centuries, the impe-
and we have many reasons to look with rial conquests of Europe and North
hope and anticipation to the future. But America dramatically reversed the for-
there are also great challenges that face tunes of these two great civilizations. By
American Evangelical Christians and the the mid-twentieth century, Islamic culture,
Southern Baptist Convention in our mis- social power, and political strength were
sion effort of the future. In one sense, the at perhaps their lowest ebb in the whole
challenges of the twenty-first century are of Muslim history. Virtually everyone in
no different than any other. We must con- the West believed this drastic decay and
tinue to maintain a commitment to Christ decline of Islamic states and Islamic soci-
and the truth of the Gospel. We must main- eties was normative for the future. Prior
tain a sense of sacrifice both on the part of to 1970, nearly all political and religious
those specifically called of God to carry the analysts in the West understood Islam to
Gospel outward and those who stay and be virtually dead on the world scene.
support by prayer and material wealth. There was near universal confidence that
Islam was simply unable to cope with
But, as the new century dawns, specific modernity and would be no factor in the
dimensions of the wider human experi- great drama of human events yet to un-
ence pose challenges to the Mission of the fold. Why such a profound misjudgment?
Church. In this essay I would like to con-
sider three: a formidable external chal- First, in most Muslim states, indig-

67

enous, but forward-thinking and highly thinkers and activists have moved in the
Westernized political elites were generally last twenty-five years from positions of
successful in taking control of their coun- defending against the onslaught of west-
tries from the Western colonial powers. In ernization, to being engaged in active mis-
the immediate post-colonial period, even sion efforts of their own. The Islamic
in strongly Muslim areas, these new mod- vision has shifted from preservation or
ern leaders were imbued with Western survival to active expansion.
cultural assumptions about progress,
modernity, the future, and religion. Most A number of identifiable forces are at
shared the dominant Western view that work in this shift. Many analysts point
Islam was tied to the past, with no sig- immediately to oil.4 Indeed, vastly
nificant role to play in the modern world.2 increased oil revenues to strongly-com-
Second, the Western political and aca- mitted Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia
demic establishment underestimated the and the United Arab Emirates have
potential and strength of Islam. By and played a major role in providing the
large, Western observers and policy mak- resources necessary for a renewed
ers imposed their own modern paradigm strength and expansion of Islam. Saudi
of religion, in which it is suitable only for officials are less than forthcoming with
private life, onto the rest of world. Secu- detailed information, but it is estimated
larization theory had taken deep root, and that Saudi Arabia alone has committed
led to a serious underestimation of the a billion dollars to the worldwide spread
power and resiliency of religion in gen- of Islam. Virtually all of those funds have
eral, and Islam in particular. been directed toward literature cam-
paigns, mosque construction, the training
In reality, Islamic revival and renewal and sending of missionary personnel,
movements were alive and vibrant prior and construction of schools and hospitals
to the 1970s.3 Both the Muslim Brother- in Africa, Asia, the former Soviet states,
hood of the Middle East and Islamic and the Americas. The successes of highly
revivalist movements on the Indian sub- effective Christian missionary strategies
continent were underway prior to World have not been lost on the Muslim mission-
War II. However, these movements were ary establishment of the late twentieth
below the radar screen of many Western century.
scholars and virtually all policy makers.
It is obvious by now that the dismissal of The increase in money and resources
a vibrant and significant role for Islam in is not the sole or even the primary reason
the modern world was wrong. Various for the renewed vitality of Islam. The
Islamic movements have shown remark- Islamic resurgence can also be explained
able renewal, vitality, and growth in the from her high ethical standards. Muslim
last quarter of this century. This is evident apologists have begun to portray Islam as
not only in the Middle East, but also in the religious cure—and the only cure—for
Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. the cultural and moral breakdown that an
Though Islamic civilization as a whole increasing number of people throughout
remains stifled and defensive, Islam as a the world understand to be a result of the
religion is clearly on the march around the worldwide expansion of Western culture.
world. A substantial number of Muslim
Islam as a more reliable moral norm for
society makes little sense to most people

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in the West. Our primary images of Mus- alcohol abuse, uncontrolled violence, and
lims are heavily veiled women or bearded rampant sexual immorality associated
radical extremists bombing the World with modern Western “Christian” culture
Trade Center and the American embassies in general, and America in particular. The
in East Africa. But this is a filtered and recent news footage of America’s morally-
limited view of the Islamic world and of challenged President emerging from
Muslim peoples. Viewing the religion of church, smiling and with Bible in hand, is
Islam through the single lens of terrorist indeed a picture worth a thousand Ara-
extremism is much like a person who bic words. As many Muslim peoples stand
might know nothing of Christianity back and look at Europe and North
except from news reports issued out of America, they see nations where, from
Northern Ireland. Just as we would be their perspective, the Christian faith has
quick to distance “true Christianity” from failed to produce a decent, moral, or safe
such sectarian violence, Muslim apolo- society. Hence, they have become increas-
gists insist that “true Islam” stands firmly ingly committed to preventing the spread
for peace, righteousness, and justice. This of Western values among their own
limited view of Islam also reflects the people. They most assuredly have and
general human tendency to judge other will continue to interpret the work of
people’s religion by the deeds they do, Western Christian missionaries as an
while evaluating our own faith commu- attempt to spread those values.5
nity based on our ideals.
The third force behind the Islamic
We need to look at the situation from a resurgence is more subtle, but equally
Muslim point of view. The West says little powerful. The nineteenth century wit-
about religion’s role in war-ravaged nessed a drastic collapse of economic,
Rwanda. And one rarely hears of any con- political, and cultural power in virtually
nection between the religion of the people all societies of the Islamic world. This ca-
and this most terrible human tragedy. The tastrophe came as a profound shock, and
recent arrest in Texas of a Rwandan pas- created a crisis of identity among Muslim
tor on charges of war crimes seems utterly populations from Casablanca to Jakarta.
incongruous to us. Yet, this minister of the For the first time since the dawn of
gospel is charged with leading the mem- Muhammad’s grand vision, Muslim
bers of his church in the murder of people as a whole had legitimate reason
unprotected women and children in a to doubt that Allah was on their side. As
neighboring village. In fact, a very high the twentieth century draws to a close,
percentage of Rwanda’s population are Muslims all over the world are longing
confessing Christians. Islamic apologists for and searching to recover an identity
trumpet the “Christian” violence often. as peoples of hope and destiny. In an
increasing number of locations, a strong
Islam is increasingly being portrayed and vital commitment to an activist and
and understood by a significant number rigorous Islam has become integral to that
of people as a positive moral response to emerging identity. This commitment is
what many in the non-western world most clearly evident in Iran, Afghanistan,
view as the ills of today’s world: the eco- Algeria, and Pakistan, only one of which
nomic exploitation of the poor, the break- is an Arabic-speaking country. This vision
down of the family, epidemic drug and

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is growing in intensity and surfacing in will increasingly serve to justify hostility
powerful minority movements through- and direct action against the mission of
out the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. the Church.

The Western colonial powers reshaped A New Wave of
the world, in a sense, into their own Western Christianity
image during the eighteenth through the
twentieth centuries.6 As peoples around The challenge of Islam lends directly
the world are no longer willing to exist in to our second challenge—a significant
that Western image, as they struggle to shift in the view of “receiving peoples” in
escape that mold, many are looking to the Two-Thirds World toward Western
Islam as an alternate, if not antithetical, culture in general, and Western Christian-
religious foundation for a new corporate ity as a particular aspect of that over-arch-
identity. ing culture. The nineteenth and twentieth
centuries were the “Great Age of Protes-
In the twenty-first century Islam will tant Missions.” The Western Evangelical
emerge as a well-funded, fully organized, Protestant tradition can look back with
highly motivated, and vigorous opponent genuine satisfaction on the men and
of the worldwide mission of the Church. women of faith who, at enormous per-
Muslims have already been carrying their sonal sacrifice, carried the gospel of Christ
mission to the doorstep of Christian mis- to the wider world. Many willingly gave
sionary-sending peoples in Western their lives for the cause of Christ. No
Europe and America.7 The growth of legitimate basis exists for judging or con-
Islam in the West has come primarily demning any of them for being people of
through migration. Islamic evangelism their times. However, we must also face
has had little success outside certain the reality that this great modern Protes-
minority communities. The number of tant missionary effort went hand in glove
Muslims in the United States is often with the age of Western European and
greatly exaggerated, but surely there are American imperial domination of the
more Muslims than Episcopalians—and world. The story is a familiar one and need
their numbers are growing. Islamic mis- not be retold here.
sionary efforts to both revitalize Muslim
societies and to extend the call of the mina- From the end of the First World War to
ret to “unreached people groups” will the present, the quest of Two-Thirds
undoubtedly increase substantially in the World peoples has been to throw off this
twenty-first century. Western domination. In the last half of the
twentieth century, their efforts have been
We can also count on a substantial primarily focused on political and eco-
increase in the overt, and increasingly vio- nomic liberation. With very few excep-
lent, opposition to the Christian mission- tions, that struggle has been successful in
ary enterprise. The majority of leaders in political terms, while only marginally so
the Islamic resurgence interpret the Chris- in the economic sphere. I am quite confi-
tian missionary effort as the religious face dent that in the twenty-first century this
of the ongoing aggression, domination, quest for liberation will lead toward an
and violence against Muslim peoples by effort to end the cultural domination of
Western states. While this interpretation the West.
is mistaken, it is nonetheless real, and it

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Many peoples in the “other world” attempting to impose Western or Ameri-
have come to see the Western missionary can culture. For some peoples, this “Ameri-
(particularly the American) as a symbol can culture” includes a particular Western
of Western cultural domination. Poten- style or form of the Christian faith.
tially most serious for the mission efforts
in the twenty-first century, a small but Foreign mission strategists and field
growing number of indigenous Christians personnel have been aware of this issue
in some areas are beginning to adopt a for some time and are constantly at work
similar view. A sincere gratitude for bring- to resolve it. Certainly one of the greatest
ing the gospel and deep appreciation for challenges of the twenty-first century mis-
the missionary effort of the past exists, but sion is for the American church to find the
a good number of thoughtful and sincere heart to continue spreading the gospel
followers of Christ are beginning to fully across the world, while having a reduced
explore the proposition that if the Chris- expectation that the result of that effort
tian faith is to be authentic in Africa, it will be churches that look like ours, or
must be genuinely African Christianity Christians who think and act as we do.
—not English, or German, or American I am not referring to the matter of drums
Christianity. And some of these thought- rather than a piano in the worship service,
ful Christians are beginning to question or the nature of church leadership struc-
both the commitment and the ability of tures. A growing number of Christian
American or other Western missionaries leaders and theologians in Africa and
to help fulfill this new Christian vision. Asia are forming a critical view of West-
ern Christianity as a whole. While affirm-
In the mid-1970s, the All Africa ing the authenticity of that great tradition
Churches Conference proposed the fol- for European peoples, they are claiming
lowing resolution: both the right and the necessity of devel-
oping an equally authentic Christianity
To enable the African Church to for non-Europeans.
achieve the power of becoming a
true instrument of liberating and A significant number of Christian
reconciling the African people, as thinkers envision the whole theological,
well as finding solutions to eco- ecclesiological, and ethical edifice of
nomic and social dependency, our “Orthodox” Christianity as essentially a
option as a matter of policy has to synthesis of the message of Jesus with
be a Moratorium on external assis- Greco-Roman and European culture. To
tance in money and personnel. misquote Tertullian, it is a Jerusalem and
Athens synthesis. Christian thinkers out-
We recommend this option as the side the West are claiming the right, and
only potent means of becoming truly even the necessity, for a similar synthesis:
and authentically ourselves while a Jerusalem-Peking or a Jerusalem-Lagos
remaining a respected and respon- synthesis. Their vision is to create a dis-
sible part of the Universal Church.8 tinctive form of Christianity as true to
their own intellectual and cultural heri-
This resolution was not passed. It may tage as Orthodox Christianity is to the
represent the wave of the future in which European heritage.9
any contribution from the West is rejected.
These emerging world theologians are
A significant challenge to Christian mis-
sions in the twenty-first century will be to
find methods and persons to bring the gos-
pel to the world, without being seen as

71

not simply calling for their own Billy Gra- ies.” His statement carries an implied
ham, or even their own Martin Luther. expectation that this generation will reach
Some are beginning to claim the right to into the last unreached people group, thus
their own Tertullian, Origen, or August- fulfilling Jesus command in Matthew 28
ine, even their own Council of Nicea. This and ushering in the return of Christ and
challenge to the Western construct of the the end of human history.
Christian Faith is still in an embryonic
stage, and it is far from the dominant While end time expectations can be
position of most Christian believers who powerful and often have been a strong
are the spiritual descendants of Western motivating force for the fulfillment of the
missionary efforts. But the movement is Mission of the Church, they can also have
gaining momentum. If it should develop significant implications for mission strat-
as the dominant theological paradigm for egy and the shape of the world mission
the Church of the Two-Thirds World, the enterprise as we enter the twenty-first cen-
long-term consequences for the relation- tury. Time, energy, resources, and person-
ship between the Church in the West and nel are apt to be poured into reaching the
the Church of this “other world” are enor- “last frontiers”—frontiers that often con-
mous. The challenge posed for the ongo- tain small, isolated communities of per-
ing mission of the Western Evangelical sons who are minimally responsive to the
Tradition is difficult to exaggerate. gospel. Since there is always a finite level
of energy, resources, and personnel, such
The Theological Challenge a mission focus implies a reduction in
The third significant challenge for resources allocated to established mis-
sion fields that are, in many cases, high
twenty-first century missions is theologi- response areas. A mission strategy
cal. I tackle this issue with considerable informed by a millennial vision may also
trepidation because of my own limitations imply reduced efforts in support services
in this field of study and the sensitivity of and institution building in existing fields
theological issues within our community where mission churches are established,
of Faith. I have a real sense of stepping off but remain in need of various kinds
into some very deep waters. But I will take of long-term assistance, such as theologi-
a breath and plunge ahead. I will consider cal education.
two issues, one internal to the Southern
Baptist Convention missionary enterprise Some twenty-five years ago a friend of
and one external to our community. mine received an alumni mail-out from a
small independent Christian college in the
In recent years, there has been a height- South. The package contained an abstract
ened eschatological emphasis in mission of a sermon recently preached in chapel
motivation and strategy. The president by the President of that college. In the ser-
of the International Mission Board of mon, the President had read the “signs of
the Southern Baptist Convention, Jerry the times” and relevant biblical passages,
Rankin, a person I deeply admire and all of which led him to the inescapable
respect as a committed servant of Christ, conclusion that Christ would return in the
has stated on any number of occasions next two to three years. Also included in
that he is confident we are sending out the mail-out was a plea to contribute
the “last generation of foreign missionar- toward the school’s ten-year development

72

plan. I laughed at that story for years. matic tradition, or heavily influenced by
Then I began to consider the possibility it, may have now surpassed fifty percent.
that perhaps they were right. To fulfill her It is quite probable that a similar figure
mission, the Church needs the energy and prevails among Baptists.
motivation that flows out from the
expected return of Jesus. And she needs a If the present trajectory of growth con-
ten-year development plan. tinues, the percentage of Charismatic Prot-
estants will pass eighty percent by the
The recent shift in emphasis, strategy, mid-twenty-first century. The Southern
and resources may be appropriate. The Baptist Convention has approximately fif-
majority of the Western mission effort teen million members in the United States
remains focused in areas already heavily and has been involved in an international
“missionized.” Intense millennial expec- mission effort for over one hundred and
tations tend to wax and wane through the fifty years. Currently over four million
life of the Church. But if the Lord should Baptists worldwide are associated with
tarry, and the twenty-first century stretches Southern Baptists and can be seen as the
on, eschatologically-driven mission strat- fruit of their mission effort. The Assem-
egies may require considerable adjustment. blies of God, the flagship Pentecostal de-
nomination, has approximately two-
However, another theological dynamic and-a-half million members in America,
in world Christianity shows far greater having been involved in foreign missions
potential for reordering the face of Evan- for approximately seventy-five years.
gelical Protestant missions. I am address- Today, over twenty-eight million Assem-
ing the most significant theological blies of God members exist outside the
development of twentieth century Prot- United States, a direct result of their inter-
estant Christianity—the Pentecostal and national mission effort.12
Charismatic movement. It is providential,
or perhaps only coincidence, that the For evangelical communities like the
modern Charismatic movement began Southern Baptist Convention that are not
with a single individual on the very first part of the Charismatic tradition, the chal-
day of the twentieth century.10 The move- lenges are numerous. We will consider
ment soon exploded throughout the only two. The first is predation, or sheep-
American underclass and onto the world stealing, to put it bluntly. According to a
scene by mid-century. This eruption number of Southern Baptist missionaries,
occurred with very little appreciation, or Charismatic churches identify recent
even notice, by the Protestant establish- evangelical converts as a harvest ground
ment. In 1975, Sydney Ahlstrom pub- for new adherents to their churches in
lished his two-volume, 1400 page A Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This prac-
Religious History of the American People in tice transcends individuals and families.
which he allocated approximately seven In Southeast Brazil, the headquarters of
pages to the Pentecostal and Charismatic the Baptist Conference and the Baptist
phenomenon.11 seminary sit on the same site with a beau-
tiful edifice, the largest Baptist church in
Exact numbers are impossible to calcu- the region. This church was founded by
late, but it seems probable that the per- Southern Baptist Convention missionar-
centage of evangelical Protestants ies and built with Lottie Moon funds.
worldwide who are part of the Charis-

73

Today it is fully in the Charismatic orb and movement is also making deep inroads in
is no longer in association or fellowship the Anglican and Roman Catholic tradi-
with traditional Baptists.13 This story tions as well. The sheer force of numbers
could be told many times over. will give this movement the power to
redefine the Faith for the future. They
The challenge cannot be limited to raw might well come to see non-Charismatics
numbers, or to the loss of church mem- as we now look on much of the German
bers, or even to losing whole churches. If Protestant establishment today: solid
the current growth trajectory continues, institutions, great libraries, and good
the Charismatic phenomenon will estab- scholars, but little spiritual insight and
lish a gulf between the predominant evan- not really connected to the true life of
gelical communities in the wider world the Church.
and the major non-Charismatic evangeli-
cal Protestant sending churches and agen- Conclusion
cies in the West. The gulf will have many The challenges that face the Southern
dimensions. The most immediately obvi-
ous area is worship, though distinctly Baptist Convention and the wider Evan-
Charismatic worship forms are spreading gelical Church on mission in the twenty-
quickly into traditional Baptist settings. first century are complex and varied,
Perhaps the most serious breach will be though often interrelated. I have
in hermeneutics. Modern western evan- attempted to address only those that seem
gelicals generally employ a historical, most significant to me, those most likely
rational, contextual approach to the inter- to have a broad and long-term impact on
pretation of scripture. This is in vivid con- the lives and fortunes of ministers and
trast to the immediate Holy Spirit-directed missionaries we now prepare for the
approach current among the majority of coming century.
Pentecostal believers. Two very different
approaches to both the nature of and the The range of responses to these chal-
path to truth are represented here. As the lenges is equally complex, and surely
Charismatic-driven approach to theologi- resides with those more steeped in the the-
cal truth spreads and intensifies, it seems ology of the Church and more immediately
inevitable that their different orientation informed in mission philosophy and strat-
will result in a serious, if not complete, egy. It is perhaps the curse of the historian,
rupture between these two sub-commu- or at least this historian, to be more adept
nities of Evangelical Protestant Christian- at identifying problems than providing
ity. Many Evangelical bodies in the West solutions. One thing remains clear, how-
may become estranged from the over- ever. In the face of all these challenges, the
whelming majority of the Church in the Church must remain strongly committed
world beyond. The validity of our faith to the truth of Gospel and must be flexible
and the legitimacy of our mission effort in the face of a radically changing environ-
may then be questioned by most Evangeli- ment. She has done so in the past, and I
cal Christians in the world. am confident she will do so in the future.

Over ninety percent of all Protestant ENDNOTES
Christians will be Pentecostal and Char- 1David Chidester, Religions of South Africa
ismatic by the end of the next century. The (New York: Routledge, 1992) 112-115.

74

2Much of the political establishment in the 12Assembly of God statistics as of Decem-
Islamic world, from Algeria to Egypt to ber 31, 1997: Members in the United
Syria to Indonesia, continues to hold to States, 2,494,574; members outside the
this general paradigm. United States, 28,155,905. Telephone in-
3See John L. Espisoto, The Islamic Threat: terview with Sherri Doty, Statistician for
Myth or Reality (New York: Oxford Univ. the General Council of The Assemblies
Press, 1992) 12-16. of God, Springfield, Missouri.
4See “Saudi Arabia—the Koran as Con-
stitution” in Edward Mortimer, Faith and 13Interview with Wendal Mark Johnson,
Power: The Politics of Islam (New York: SBC missionary to Southern Brazil.
Vintage Books, 1982).
5Sayyid Qutb, the principle ideologue of
contemporary Islamic Fundamentalism,
was primarily motivated by his negative
experience in America. See Sayyid Qutb,
Milestones (Beirut, Lebanon: The Holy
Koran Publishing House, 1978).
6For a clear and scholarly exposition of
this process, see “The Impact of the Great
Western Transmutation” in Marshal
Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: The Gun-
powder Empires and Modern Times, 3 vols.
(Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1974)
176-222.
7See Larry Poston, Islamic Da’wah in the
West: Muslim Missionary Activity and the
Dynamics of Conversion to Islam (New
York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992).
8All Africa Churches Conference, The
Struggle Continues (Nairobi, Kenya:
AACC, 1975).
9For examples of this thinking see “Afri-
can Reality and Theological Hermeneu-
tics” in Emmanuel Martey, African
Theology: Inculturation and Liberation
(New York: Orbis Books, 1993) 36-62; and
Feng Shangli, “The Contours of a Chi-
nese Theology,” Ching Feng, 13:1 (1970)
63-78.
10Agnes Ozman at Bethel Bible College in
Topeka, Kansas. January 1, 1901.
11Sydney Ahlstrom, A Religious History of
the American People (New York: Image
Books, 1975).

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