MissionShift: God's Initiative in the World

by David J. Hesselgrave, Ed Stetzer

Veteran missionary David Hesselgrave and rising missional expert Ed Stetzer edit this engaging set of conversational essays addressing global mission issues in the third millennium. Key contributors are Charles E. Van Engen ("Mission Described and Defined"), the late Paul Hiebert ("The Gospel in Human Contexts: Changing Perspectives on Contextualization"), and the late Ralph Winter ("The Future of Evangelicals in Mission"). Those offering written responses to these essays include: (Van Engen) Keith Eitel, Enoch Wan, Darrell Guder, Andreas J. Kostenberger; (Hiebert) Michael Pocock, Darrell Whiteman, Norman L. Geisler, Avery Willis; (Winter) Scott Moreau, Christopher Little, Michael Barnett, and Mark Terry.

Genres: Theology

432 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2009

Reviews

[Greg McKinzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provocative anchor essays by Charles Van Engen, Paul Hiebert, and Ralph Winter (among the final publications of the latter two authors) on the definition of Christian mission, the nature of contextualization, and the future of Evangelical missions. Diverse response essays, ranging from deferential to reactionary and from deeply insightful to apparently missing the point. An engaging read that, as whole, reveals the underlying tension (or the major shift in question) in Evangelical missions: visionary missiologists present possibilities for greater faithfulness to God's mission, causing many to latch on to hobby horse definitions of biblical inerrancy that obscure the hermeneutical issues really at stake. Stetzer is evenhanded in his responses, and Hesselgrave's conclusion is consistent with his previous reactions to the issues raised.

[Daniel Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book of essays and responses that hit on some of the more important issues of evangelical missiology. There is enough diversity in the contributors to make the book interesting.

[Roman Purshaga]

MissionShift explores a complex topic of contextualization in the church. I appreciate that the book presents a dialogue, not a monologue, giving an equal attention to counterpoints. Highly recommend