Review: A History of Evangelism in North America

            A History of Evangelism in North America, edited by Thomas P. Johnson, is my latest read.

            The chapter/essayists look at the evangelism style and practices of Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Shubal Stearns, Francis Asbury, Cane Ridge, Bible Societies, the revival of 1800, Wilbur Chapman, John Mason Pack, Henrietta Mears, Dawson Trotman, Shadrach Meshach Lockridge, Billy Graham, Bill Bright, D. James Kennedy, Chuck Smith, Donald McGavran and C. Peter Wagner, John Piper, the Southern Baptists, and twenty-first century developments.  Evangelism in North America from 1700 to the present.

            The authors do a good job of presenting the varieties of evangelism, including primary sources, but with little critique.  The point of this volume is to present the ways in which evangelism is done, not to argue for or against certain forms of evangelism.  That is not to say that the authors neglect to bring up controversies regarding the figures – they do – but the is little saying that this or that form is right or wrong, biblical, or unbiblical. 

            The authors accomplish what they have set out to do.  It is a very readable and enlightening presentation of these people and events – with the underlying assumption that evangelism is a work of all Christians.

            In the final chapter, the editor gives a challenge: “…Christians and churches [should] choose to engage in a missionary encounter with culture, refusing to isolate or accommodate and zealously striving to bring the biblical story to bear on the governing ideologies of the day” (342).

            This is a well-written call for all Christians to evangelize.

            [This review appears on my blog, Kregel.com, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]