CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
& LIVING

Was blind, but now I see.

2 : 1 December 2002

Professor Tom Shetler

Tom Shetler is Professor of Biblical Studies and Apologetics in Bethany College of Missions, Minneapolis. He also serves as the Community Life Director of Bethany Fellowship International, a missions-oriented community that established and runs the renowned Bethany House Publishers, Bethany Fellowship Missions, Bethany Press International, Bethany Urban Development, and Bethany College of Missions.


BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ
AND DOWNLOAD


BACK ISSUES


SEND YOUR ARTICLES FOR PUBLICATION IN Christian Literature Today.
  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports to thirumalai@bethfel.org or send it by regular mail to:
    M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
    6820 Auto Club Road #320
    Bloomington, MN 55438 USA
  • Your articles and booklength reports should be written, preferably, following the MLA Stylesheet.
  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics, and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2001
M. S. Thirumalai

WORLD MISSIONS - A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Tom Shetler


1. INTRODUCTION

In this short book, presented in two parts, I like to present a simple introduction to the development of World Christian Missions. I present the major milestones, events, and important leaders of World Christian Missions in simple point by point descriptive statements. I propose to elaborate on the points presented here later on in a book format.

By God's abundant grace, there is a great interest among the young people and lay public in short term missions. Many are enthusiastic and are zealous for the Lord Jesus Christ. But they are not equipped with the important information they should know about the development of World Missions. This brief introduction, I believe, will be very helpful to them to see for themselves that they are inheritors of a rich heritage and that the people who went before them have been anointed by the Lord despite their human weaknesses.

  1. "World Christianity is the result of the great missionary expansion of the last two centuries. That expansion, whatever one's attitude may be, is one of the most remarkable facts of human history." - Leslie Newbigin.
  2. Christianity is the only truly universal religion in the world.
  3. Christianity is the largest religion in the world (over one billion followers).

2. EARLY EXPANSION

  1. World missions begins with God. "He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake." (1 Peter 1:20)
  2. Missions will end in God:
    And they sang a new song:
    "You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
    because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased men for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)
  3. God prepared the world for the coming of His missionaries.
    1. During the exile, synagogues became centers of preaching and teaching.
    2. The Jews were "evangelistic" and won many converts.
    3. Synagogues became initial contact points for missionaries entering ancient cities.
    4. The entire known was united politically and legally under Rome.
    5. Rome built roads, protected sea-lanes, and made travel possible across the empire.
    6. The entire world spoke and wrote in one common language.
    7. Greek philosophy and culture replaced the old tribal and pagan beliefs.
    8. The world was united under Greco-Roman culture preparing the way for Western civilization.
    9. Romans developed free cities - the first century was a time of urban evangelism.

3. FIRST CENTURY MISSIONS

  1. "By the end of Acts (60 A.D.) there was a thriving Christian church in almost every city of significance in the Eastern part of the empire." - Herbert Kane.
  2. The early church did not take a formalized, institutional approach to the Great commission.
    1. During all this time there was no organized missionary endeavor such as characterized the later periods.
    2. The gospel spread to nearly all the known world in a very short time, yet one is struck by the anonymity of these early missionaries.
    3. The gospel was preached by laymen, spread abroad by business, circumstances, or persecution (Acts 8:4).
    4. It appears that the early believers took the commission seriously: nearly every convert with the ardor of a revolutionary, made himself an office of propaganda (William Durant).

4. THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL: 100-300 A.D.

  1. Christianity spread along the main roads and rivers:
    1. Eastward from Damascus to Edessa and Mesopotamia.
    2. Southward into Arabia.
    3. Westward to Alexandria, Carthage, and North Africa.
    4. Northward through Antioch and into Armenia.
    5. By 200, there were churches in Spain and Gaul.
    6. In 314, the church in Britain sent 3 bishops to the first church council under Constantine.
  2. According to tradition, the Apostles drew lots to see which part of the world they would go to.
    1. Matthew to Ethiopia.
    2. Andrew to Scythia.
    3. Bartholomew to Arabia.
    4. Thomas to India.
    5. Mark to Alexandria.
  3. The Spread of the Gospel by region:
    1. Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome: the Apostle Paul and a thousand others (by 110 the gospel had spread to Bythinia, the region had been forbidden to visit).
    2. Spain and Gaul: Tradition says Paul but others were involved as well.
    3. Pontus (Northwestern Turkey): Gregory Thaumaturgus became bishop in 240 A.D. (the church had 17 believers) when he died 30 years later, there were only 17 non-Christians in his city.
      1. Evangelism was accompanied by miracles.
      2. He substituted Christian festival for pagan festivals. (Contextualization)
    4. Edessa (Tigris-Euphrates Valley): Churches had been planted across the region by 225 A.D. By 300, Christianity was the state religion of Edessa. The first translation of the Bible (into Syriac) was done here.
    5. Armenia: The first missionary was Gregory the Illuminator. He faced persecution until the king became a Christian. He and the king worked together to make Armenia a Christian nation. Gregory preached in Armenian. In 410, the Bible was translated into Armenian. The Armenian Church still exists today and is one of the oldest in the world.
    6. Arabia: Tradition says the Apostle Bartholomew first took the Gospel to Arabia. We know there was a church in Hijrah by 500 A.D.
    7. India: Tradition says the Apostle Thomas went to India. The Mar Thoma church of India supports this tradition. In 180 A.D. a missionary named Pantaenus was sent to India from the church in Alexandria. When missionaries arrived in India in later centuries, they found ancient churches.
    8. Ethiopia: Two young Christians, shipwrecked in the Red Sea were taken as slaves to Ethiopia to serve in the royal court. The preached the gospel and won many converts. They were able to return to Egypt for additional workers. Thus the Coptic Church was born in 350 A.D.
  4. Numerical Growth of the Church:
    1. Gibbon says that by 230 A.D. there were 50,000 Christians in Rome and by 300 A.D. there were 100,000.
    2. John Crysostom states that one half of the population of Antioch were Christians by 400 A.D.
    3. Will Durant estimates that by 300 A.D., 25% of the population of the Eastern Empire and 5% of the Western Empire were Christians.
    4. Once the persecutions ended it is estimated that the church quadrupled. The problem is that the quality and commitment of the believers was greatly reduced.
  5. Missions to the Jews
    1. Very few Jewish converts were made after the first century.
    2. Christians were angered by their resistance and eventually came to hate and persecute them.
    3. Christians and Jews were formally separated after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
    4. In their final revolt against Rome 1 million Jews died and they became an exiled race in Europe.
    5. "No other people has ever known so long an exile, or so hard a fate. Scattered into every province and beyond, condemned to poverty and humiliation, unbefriended even by philosophers and saints, they retired from public affairs into private study and worship. Judaism hid in fear and obscurity while its offspring, Christianity, went our to conquer the world." -Will Durant, 549

5. MISSIONS AFTER CONSTANTINE 300-1200 AD

EUROPE
  1. Uliflas (311-380 AD)
    1. He was born and raised as a Goth.
    2. In his twenties he became a diplomat and was assigned to Constantinople, where he became an Arian.
    3. At the age of 30, he was sent as bishop to the Goths. He worked among them for the next 40 years.
    4. He translated the Bible into the Gothic language and coordinated the sending of missionaries into Gothic lands.
  2. France
    1. Martin of Tours (316-397) is considered the patron saint of France. A former soldier, he was an aggressive but effective evangelist.
    2. The turning point for France and likely for Europe was the baptism of Clovis, King of the Franks. He had made a vow on the eve of an important battle.
    1. 3,000 of his warriors and thus the entire nation were converted with him.
    2. He was baptized into orthodox Roman Catholicism and found large-scale support from the church.
  3. Ireland
    1. Patrick (389-461) was born in Britain and raised as a Christian. He was taken captive by Irish raiders at 16 and there experienced a radical conversion.
    2. He escaped to France and became a monk. Sensing God's call, he returned to Ireland in 43 and labored there until his death.
    3. He was deeply spiritual and gave birth to a church centered in the monastery. The fruit of Irish monasticism was a Christian culture and missionary zeal. He planted 200 churches and is said to have made 100,000 converts. He emphasized discipleship, moral purity, and "power" evangelism.
    4. The monasteries that Patrick established became centers of evangelism and missions. One of the most important missionaries to be sent out from the monasteries was Columba (521-597). Under his leadership Celtic Christianity spread to Scotland, England, and Europe.
  4. Britain
    1. By 500 AD, only a remnant of the British church existed in Wales.
    2. Pope Gregory commissioned a team of missionaries to re-introduce the gospel to Britain in 596 AD.
    3. The missionaries settled in Cant4erbury and within a year baptized 10,000.
    4. The gospel spread more rapidly with the conversion of King Oswald. By 680 AD, the nation was evangelized in principle. Theodore of Tarsus organized the British church according to the Roman Catholic pattern.
  5. Central Europe
    1. Boniface (680-754) is considered "the greatest of all missionaries of the dark ages…" (Tucker, 46)
    2. He was sent to the German frontier by Pope Gregory in 722. He went as a church planter.
    3. He confronted the paganism of the Germans and convinced the people that Christ is indeed Lord.
    4. He built the Frankish church and connected it even more strongly to Rome. As well he established the system of penitential discipline to increases the personal commitment of the masses.
    5. He was martyred on the mission field in 755.
    6. With Charlemagne (771-814), Christianity spread through conquest. The vanquished tribes were forced to accept baptism. A faithful core of missionaries was at work and eventually the people voluntarily accepted Christianity.
  6. Scandinavia
    1. Christianity first came to Scandinavia through European traders.
    2. King Harold of Denmark was baptized in 826 in hope of a political alliance with the Franks.
    3. Anskar (801-865) was sent as a missionary and spent his life with little visible fruit.
    4. Denmark became Christian under King Canute who worked to make his nation Christian.
    5. Norway also became Christian under the leadership of Christian kings
    6. The church in Sweden was founded by English missionaries. When the King eventually came toChrist, the faith spread across the nation.
  7. Eastern Europe
    1. The church in Eastern Europe was influenced by both the Eastern and Western church.
    2. Moravia (Czechoslovakia)
      1. Constantine (826-869) and Methodius (815-885) were sent from the Eastern Church in 867 to reach the Slavic people.
      2. Constantine put the language into writing and translated the Gospels and the liturgy into the vernacular.
      3. The two missionaries sought support from the Pope. They were allowed to use the vernacular but also used the Roman liturgy. The German bishops opposed their work.
    3. Bulgaria
      1. After the death of Methodius, his disciples were driven out of Moravia to Bulgaria where they developed a Christian culture.
      2. King Boris was converted in 865. He had his son trained as a monk and helped set up a school for missionaries. His son, Simeon, became a great leader of the Slavic church.
  8. Russia
    1. Princess Olga became a Christian in 957, but her nation did not follow her lead.
    2. Vladimir (980-1015) chose Greek
    3. Greek missionaries spread across Russia and established Russia as the great center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
  9. Summary of the spread of the church into Europe:
    1. "The record in place after place seems to be the same…"
      1. The first missionary is martyred by the tribes.
      2. Initial success is followed by setback.
      3. The monarch becomes converted and introduces faith to the people.
      4. Initial faith is superficial, but after a long period of influence becomes a central element of the culture. (Stephen Neill, 90)
    2. "By 1200 almost the whole of Europe was nominally Christian." (Kane, 47)
  10. ASIA
    1. Asian Christianity was confronted with two serious problems:
      1. Nestorianism/Monophysitism: Asia became the center of two doctrines that were considered heretical by the larger Greek and Roman church.
      2. Islam: After the spread of Islam, the Asian church was left in complete isolation from its Western brethren.
    2. China
      1. Nestorians took the fundamental Christian message to China in 635 AD. (Confirmed by a monument found in 1623)
        1. The emperor received the missionaries and approved their ministry.
        2. Monasteries were established and the church grew.
        3. A visible hierarchy was set up and connected to the larger Asian church
    3. In 845 AD, a new emperor arose who was a committed Taoist. He closed all monasteries, Buddhist and Christian. By 1000 AD it was reported that no Christian remained in the land.
    4. By 1200 AD the great Khans, who then ruled China, were exposed to the Gospel.
      1. Fr. John Plano of Plano was the first official contact in 1246
      2. William of Rubruck visited China in 1253
      3. With the Mongol conquest of Baghdad, Nestorianism enjoyed a renaissance in Asia.
      4. In 1266 Marco Polo returned with a request from Kublai Khan for 100 men of learning. 20 years later, the Pope sent one.
      5. John of Monte Carlo planted a church (with 6,000 baptized), but the work died out after his death.
      6. By 1350, Christianity had disappeared.
  11. The Conflict with Islam
    1. For the 400 years prior to the Crusades, Christianity and Islam were in a life and death struggle.
      1. Both sides considered the other "infidels" and worthy of nothing more than death.
      2. Both felt they were servants of God in ridding the other from the face of the earth.
      3. The conflict spread to the two branches of Christianity and left bitter hatreds between all three parties.
      4. It gave the church "permission" to use violence against heretics and others it considered opponents.
    2. There were some dissenting voices:
      - Roger Bacon (the crusades were foolish and expensive)
      - Thomas Aquinas (Muslims are human beings made in God's image
    3. In the end, the crusades served as a major turning point for world missions.
      1. Francis of Assisi: In 1219 he went to Egypt to preach the Gospel to the caliph. His example inspired many others of his generation.
      2. Raymond Lull: Responding to a vision he dedicated himself to serve the Lord. His plan was to reach the Muslims.
        - He dedicated himself to preparing to share the Gospel with Muslims.
        - He learned the languages of the Muslim people and opened a school to teach others.
        - He prepared himself to defend the Gospel (apologetics) against the attacks the Muslims used against it.
        - He paid 4 visits to North Africa to preach the Gospel to the Muslims. He was martyred in 1315.

6. THE AGE OF EXPLORATION - 1400-1600

A. Introduction

  1. The West with its increase in technology and wealth began exploring the unknown parts of the world.
  2. Their goal was not science or discovery but commerce: to find new trade routes to the East.
  3. Missionaries accompanied the explorers as part of an official policy to spread Christianity and civilization to the pagan lands.
  4. The actual goal was to exploit the wealth and resources of the New World, Asia, and Africa.

B. Asia

  1. The Portuguese explorer, Vasco DeGama, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India. This event led to the re-opening of Asia to European influence.
    1. Priests accompanied DeGama; they found a Christian church which they spent the next 100 years bringing into the Roman fold.
  2. Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
    1. He was one of the original companions of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.
    2. In 1542 he went to India as a representative of the King of Portugal and the Pope:
      1. He first went to South India to work with a clan of fishermen.
        - He taught them the prayers, liturgies, and doctrines by rote
        - Other Jesuits followed up his work and a church was established.
      2. He next went to the Mongol region in an effort to convert Akbar and the Mongols.
      3. He arrived in Japan in 1549. He was greatly impressed by the Japanese people and found them open.
    3. Jesuits followed up and eventually established an indigenous church of 300,000. The church suffered intense persecution and was eventually destroyed by the shogun.
  • Matthew Ricci (1552-1610)
    1. He settled in the Portuguese colony of Macao in hopes of entering China.
    2. He received permission to enter China in 1600. He presented himself to the Emperor as a servant: a repairer of clocks. He gave the emperor two clocks, which no one in China could keep running; thus he became indispensable.
    3. From this base, he planted a church. Following Xavier he sought to respect Chinese culture and make Christianity seem like a Chinese religion:
      1. He first adopted Buddhist attire, then Confucian after further study of the culture.
      2. He allowed a form of ancestor worship and Confucianism for the Chinese Christians, which opened the door to syncretism.
      3. A controversy arose among other missionaries (Franciscans and Dominicans), which went all the way to Rome.
    4. In spite of the controversy, the Jesuits will continue to use "accommodation" as a missionary strategy. This policy will have a major impact on third world Catholicism.
    5. Ricci planted a church of 2,000 and left a lasting legacy in China and the Chinese church.
  • Philippines
    1. The first missionaries arrived in 1565.
    2. By 1600 the island was a Spanish colony and within 100 years the entire island had been made at least nominally Christian:
      1. There was no strong indigenous religion or culture to oppose the introduction of Christianity.
      2. The Jesuits were instrumental in planting the Catholic church in the Philippines, thus:
        1. Filipinos retained much of their own culture, language, and practice.
        2. Filipinos were educated and the church moved toward indigenous leadership.
        3. The Philippines are to this day the only "Christian" nation in Asia
  • C. The New World

    1. South and Central America
      1. From 1500-1550 the Roman Catholic powers explored and colonized a large portion of the Americas
        1. The European nations laid claim to the land and the people of the New World.
        2. The Spanish developed the policy of encomienda, in which a Spanish colonist was given control over a population of natives much like a feudal landlord.
          1. The exploitation was severe.
          2. It created lasting resentment against Europe and the Church.
    2. Not everyone agreed with his exploitation:
      1. Las Casas (1484-1566)
        1. He began as an exploiter but saw the error of his ways.
        2. He became the great advocate of the Indians in the New World and in Europe
        3. As a result of this opposition, Charles V outlawed the encomienda system in 1542.
  • North America
    1. Canada and the Northeastern U.S. were explored by the French
      1. Catholic missionaries accompanied the explorers and established essentially European churches:
        - for the Europeans and
        - for those natives who would conform to European culture.
    2. The British and Dutch also entered the competition for land and used the natives as allies and agents in their aggression.
    3. In 1534, Jacques Cartier claimed Canada for France, calling it "New France".
    4. British expeditions explored the Northwest passage and California around 1580.

    D. The decline of Roman Catholic missions (1600-1800)

    1. As the Roman Catholic "powers" (Spain & Portugal) declined, so did Roman Catholic missions.
    2. The practice of interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign nations (Jesuits) and the fighting between Catholic orders led to a backlash against missionaries and their converts.
    3. The worst blow came with the dissolution of the Jesuits in 1773. Thousands of missionaries left the field and the works that they had started stagnated and died.

    The second and concluding part of this booklet discusses the following:

    1. BIRTH OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS (1700-1850)
    2. THE FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN MISSIONS (1850-1914)
    3. THE WORLD WARS AND MISSIONS (1914-1945)
    4. THE STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT
    5. FAITH MISSIONS
    6. MEDICAL MISSIONS
    7. BIBLE TRANSLATION
    8. MISSIONS AND MULTIMDIA
    9. MISSIONARY AVIATION
    10. MISSIONARY MARTYRS
    11. THIRD WORLD MISSIONS, AND
    12. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND MISSIONS.

    CALVINISM | WORLD MISSIONS - A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE | THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT | IF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS IN ME, ISN'T THAT ENOUGH? | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR


    Tom Shetler
    Professor of Biblical Studies and Apologetics
    Bethany College of Missions
    6820 Auto Club Road, Suite C
    Bloomington, MN 55438, USA
    E-mail: tom.shetler@bethfel.org.