Make Disciples of All Nations: A History of Southern Baptist International Missions

by John D. Massey (Editor), Mike Morris (Editor), W Madison Grace III (Editor)

A contemporary evaluation of the history and present status of Southern Baptist Missions

For more than 175 years the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has been sending missionaries around the world to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has also developed strategies and methods that have been adopted by numerous other missions groups. Make Disciples of All Nations tells the story of this groundbreaking organization, including its most recent developments.

Besides recounting its historical development, the contributors to this volume critically evaluate the IMB’s strategies and methods, as well as examine its controversies, regional developments, and organizational changes. The concluding chapter explores how Southern Baptist missions can best adapt to an era of global Christianity.

Students, missionaries, and those involved in supporting them will be informed and encouraged by this account of one of the oldest and largest missions organizations in the world.

400 pages, Paperback

Published July 20, 2021

Reviews

[Robert Munson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, edited by John D. Massey, Mike Morris, and W. Madison Grace II (Kregel Academic, 2021) is an important record of missions history for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and to a lesser extent the Baptist movement. Baptists, especially as it relates to the American form, developed a group identity out of mission far more than doctrine, governance, or form. As such, when studying SBC missions, one does get a goodly dose of denominational history.

The book is made up of chapters written by different authors, but the theming and style do a good job in not making the changing authors too noticeable. Generally, the structure is built around the Secretaries (or later Presidents) of the Foreign Mission Board (or later International Mission Board). However, there are times when it drifts off the structure— especially in the pre-SBC material (where there were no Foreign Mission Board (FMB) and FMB secretaries). The book spoke of missions prior to the SBC— particularly with George Liele, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Luther Rice, and the Triennial Convention. It was especially heartening to see George Liele given proper credit for his role as a Baptist missionary pioneer. It was also good to hear a Southern Baptist historian state that the SBC formed due to its support for slavery. Often, SBC historians try to say that it was one of several factors— but this book notes that there are no real differences in doctrine or practice between the Northern and Southern Baptists except with regard to slavery.

I found the book had a lot of good information with the goal, usually, of not drawing TOO deeply into denominational politics. I could be reading into things, but it does seem like the writers tended to take a clear side when it was a topic in which all participants are dead. However, when people involved are still alive (such as the Conservative Resurgence and the controversies regarding the 2001 Baptist Faith and Mission with regards to missionaries) the writing seemed more cautious. Again, maybe that was just me.

Two things I miss are a Bibliography, and a Subject Index. Footnoting is done well throughout. However, for a history book, I feel that more should be added to aid research.

For Southern Baptist Missionaries, and more generally for Southern Baptists, I believe the book is excellent. I have often complained that Baptists (of which I am one) often don’t take their history (or anyone else’s) seriously. I do hope they will take this book seriously.

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[Justin Sassard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really helpful book to understand the IMB. It was easy to read and pretty enjoyable. I didn’t give it 5 stars because of the structure of the book. Each chapter is by a different author and each chapter focuses on a leader of the FMB/IMB. The weakness with this structure is there was some overlap. Also because it focused on the leaders I wish there was more discussion on missiology and more stories from missionaries on the field. For example what would life have been like for a Baptist missionary in the 1800s? Or what was the sending process like? But overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone in the IMB to read and better understand the agency they work for.

[Leah Ginion · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Learned a lot. Each chapter was written by someone else, some chapters were better than others. 3.5 stars

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my review in the Journal of Baptist Theology and Ministry:
https://www.nobts.edu/baptist-center-...