PAUL’S MISSIONARY METHODS
In his time and ours
Edited by Robert L. Plummer & John Mark
Terry
IVP. 250 pages. £14.99
ISBN 978 1 844 746 156
In 1912, Roland Allen, a missions researcher and former missionary to China, published his book Missionary methods: St. Paul’s or ours? In the next 100 years, Allen’s book came to be regarded as a missiological classic.
This year marks the centennial of Allen’s book appearing in print and this new volume revisits what was written then to discover its relevance for the 21st century. What contribution has it made to missiology? How has Allen affected New Testament studies? Are the teachings found in this book still valid today? In what ways do our current missiological questions and concerns differ from 100 years ago. These are some of the question and issues that this book seeks to explore in two sections written by different missions theologians.
In the first section, entitled ‘Paul in the NT’, seven contributors take a different aspect of Paul’s ministry and seek to see what the NT teaches. Covering such subjects as Paul’s gospel, ecclesiology, spiritual warfare, etc. the reader is shown what the NT says on this. In the second section, ‘Paul’s influence on missions’, six different contributors show the reader Paul’s strategy in mission and explores its relevance for mission today.
Two weaknesses
Even though the theme is helpfully developed throughout, I think there are two weaknesses in this. The first is that when 14 different authors make a contribution on a closely related subject there is a great danger of repetition.
Sadly, this is evident and, by the second section, really starts to grate. There is a great need for good editing to increase the impact of what is being said.
The second weakness is that the reader might be left with a desire to read Allen rather than the NT. A book of this nature can have a muddled effect.
Many positives
However, there is much to commend the book withstanding a mainly USA context and authorship which means illustration is in that framework. Allen certainly has much to say to us on biblical mission, being careful, as the contributors are, in taking into account his theological background.
This would be a helpful book for church leaders to read, as well as those who are seeking to engage in mission not just in an overseas context but also at home.
As I finished the book I had little desire to read it again but had my appetite whetted to read Allen’s original book and above all to read the NT carefully to discover more about Paul’s strategy on mission. And that is no bad thing.
