John Mark Terry wrote a concise history of the church’s work of evangelism from the time of Jesus until the modern day. Inspired by a chapter on the history of evangelism in Delos Miles’s book, Introduction to Evangelism, he set out to write a longer, fuller treatment of the subject. The book was written primarily for ministry students in colleges and seminaries in North America. He said the book was designed as a supplemental text for introductory courses in evangelism or as a primary text for courses on in the history of evangelism.
The book was written in chronological order from the time of Jesus until the modern day. The first two chapters dealt with Jesus’ own practice of evangelism and the evangelistic work of the New Testament church. In the chapters, he discussed the characteristics of their evangelism and the strategies they used. The third and fourth chapters of the book covered the history of evangelism from the Second Century through the Middle Ages. He noted the change in methods as people were forced by governments to convert to Christianity.
Chapters 5 and 6 described the work of evangelism before and during the Reformation. Chapter 5 unpacked information leading up to the Reformation, emphasizing the preaching of the Bible, ministry to common people, the importance of preaching over the sacraments, and the relatively new communication of Bible truth in the common language of the people. Chapter 6 covered the evangelism of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and the Anabaptists. He said that each of these emphasized biblical preaching in the language of the people, exalted the authority of the Bible, used the printing press, and seized the opportunities of their day.
Chapters 7 and 8 discussed the work of evangelism as it unfolded in Europe through the 18th Century. He described the pietism movement which reacted against the dead orthodoxy of the Lutheran Church in Germany in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 discussed the revivals that occurred in England during the 18th Century. The work of George Whitfield and John Wesley were covered.
Chapters 9 through 12 discussed the work of evangelism on the North American continent from the 18th Century forward. He began in Chapter 9 with a discussion of the Great Awakening which occurred in New England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Chapter 10 covered evangelism as it occurred on the American Frontier, including the Second Great Awakening. Chapter 11 covered the work of Finney and Moody as revivals became a primary means of evangelism in the 19th Century. Chapter 12 continued in that vein, discussing the mass evangelism work of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham in the 20th Century.
Chapters 13 through 15 discussed different methods which were being used in the latter part of the 20th Century. Chapter 13 dealt with the different para-church organizations committed to evangelism which were oriented to youth and college students. Chapter 14 discussed the need to promote and train people for personal evangelism, which Terry said was the model in the New Testament church. Chapter 15 was a discussion of Media Evangelism which was more critical that complementary.
In Evangelism: A Concise History, Terry accomplished his stated purpose of writing a longer, fuller treatment of the history of evangelism than that which is contained in many introductory works on evangelism. Readers of the book will come to a greater knowledge about the work of evangelism throughout the history of the church. This knowledge will help students appreciate the different ways in which evangelism was practiced in order to evaluate their own evangelistic efforts and those of the church today. It will also help students see the connection between events in church history and how each generation’s evangelism played a role in these events.
The book was well written and organized into a logical flow. This is to be expected in a book on history. The concise nature of the book prevented the author from going into great detail, but he did maintain a good balance by discussing the work of individuals who were active in each period. The book gave the reader enough information to understand the general character of evangelism in each period without weighing him down with details. In a sense, the material whetted the appetite of the reader and inspired him to do more research on the subject.
This book will serve students of ministry in North America well. It is written much like a family tree, helping the student trace the lineage of their particular identity when it comes to evangelism. The focus is on the events that led up to the current situation in America today.
The North American focus of the book, however, limits its usefulness for a number of students both in America and abroad. The book does not discuss the efforts of evangelism in other parts of the world. The continents of Asia, Africa, and South America are not discussed at all. Europe is not discussed beyond the 17th Century. Students who are interested in other parts of the world for the sake of missions or church history will need to seek other sources for this information. This is not uncommon in works of church history as a whole.
Overall, the book is to be recommended for beginning students of church history and evangelism. It covers the basic work of evangelism in the history of Christianity as it leads up to modern day America. However, other works will need to be consulted in order to complete the student’s education on the history of evangelism in the world as a whole.