Christian Mission: A Concise, Global History

by Edward L. Smither

A deeper understanding of the grand history of mission leads to a faithful expression of God's mission today.From the beginning, God's mission has been carried out by people sent around the world. From Abraham to Jesus, the thread that weaves its way throughout Scripture is a God who sends his people across the world, proclaiming his kingdom. As the world has evolved, Christian mission continues to be a foundational tradition in the church.In this one-volume textbook, Edward Smither weaves together a comprehensive history of Christian mission, from the apostles to the modern church. In each era, he focuses on the people sent by God to the ends of the earth, while also describing the cultural context they encountered. Smither highlights the continuity and development across thousands of years of global mission.

Genres: Church History, History, Theology, Christianity, Christian

202 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 6, 2019

About the author

Ed Smither (PhD, University of Wales; PhD, University of Pretoria) is Dean of the College of Intercultural Studies at Columbia International University.

Ed joined the CIU faculty in 2012. Prior to that, he taught intercultural studies and church history at Liberty University for six years. Ed previously served for fourteen years in intercultural ministry working primarily among Muslims in France, North Africa, and the USA.

Ed earned a PhD in Historical Theology from the University of Wales (UK) and a PhD in Intercultural Studies from the University of Pretoria (South Africa).

As a teacher, Ed loves coming alongside students and helping them discover their place in the mission of God. While he believes that the classroom is a passionate environment for mentoring for mission, he also enjoys meeting students for coffee and meals and serving together in ministry projects and short-term mission trips.

Since 1999, Ed has been married to Shawn and together they parent Brennan, Emma, and Eve whom they refer to as “three amazing, hilarious, wild kids.” As a family, they enjoy hiking, watching movies, and discovering new lighthouses at the North Carolina Outer Banks. Ed is an ordained Southern Baptist minister and the Smithers currently worship at Gateway Baptist Church in Irmo. In terms of hobbies, Ed enjoys road biking, coaching youth soccer, drinking bold coffee, and listening to bands in the genre of Switchfoot and U2.

Reviews

[Chad Gahafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I turned in the book review at 11:50 pm. Great success.

[Shane Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2020 reads: 33/52

3.5 stars

Read for my Introduction to Missiology class with Dr. Paul Akin at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Introduction

Globalization, they say, has brought the world together, made it smaller and eradicated geographical boundaries. Certainly, the world we inhabit today is quite unlike what has come before us. Yet, there is another phenomenon that has exceeded boundaries and traversed many cultures, and yet it is much older than ‘globalization’: the spread of the good news of Jesus the Christ. Notwithstanding the many ‘unreached peoples’, the expansion of the Christian message has historically penetrated into every continent, making the world, in a sense, a much smaller place—tied together by the news of a bloodied and life-giving savior.

This history is vast, intricate and complex; just how do we make sense of it and follow the many threads spanning this globe? In his book, Christian Mission: A Concise Global History, Edward L. Smither seeks to provide readers with a digestible introduction to the spread of the gospel across the globe and across time. Serving as Professor of Intercultural Studies and History of Global Christianity at Columbia International University, Smither is no stranger to these historical events, having written copiously on related subjects: Missionary Monks: An Introduction to the History and Theology of Missionary Monasticism (2016), and Mission in the Early Church: Themes and Reflections (2014). At the heart of this book is a desire to catalogue “innovators in mission who sacrificially went to the nations to make known the gospel of Christ” (p. xiii).

Summary

Whilst approaches to a history of Christian mission are diverse, Smither sets out to examine the geographic, political, and social contexts of mission, at the same time highlighting the key people, strategies, and outcomes of global mission (p. xiii). The book’s title further elucidates this proposal in two ways. First, central to the Christian Scriptures is a narrative in which God himself initiates and sends others as a means to announce his message of redemption and reconciliation—‘mission’ is first and foremost of God (p. xiv). Second, it is ‘Christian’ in that the “central task…is proclaiming Christ—his death, burial, and resurrection” (p. xiv). This does not exclude acts of mercy and providing humanitarian aid, since Jesus’ own ministry exemplified this two-fold approach of mission in word and deed (p. xiv).

Furthermore, Smither’s work operates on four features: the value and necessity of history for shaping our consciousness; a broader, chronological, and contextual approach; a focus on Protestant evangelical mission from the nineteenth century onward; and a method that asks when, where, who, and what, concerning mission, whilst also highlighting key trends, themes, and shifts of mission practice (p. xvi-xviii).

With this framework in mind, Smither’s concise global history is divided into six time periods: the early church (AD 100-750), the medieval church (AD750-1500), the early modern church (AD 1500-1800), the great century (AD 1800-1900), the global century (AD 1900-2000), and mission from the majority world (twenty-first century).

Evaluation

One of the most obvious strengths of Smither’s Christian Mission is its readability. For many, ‘history’ is synonymous with dreary facts and events—not so with this book. Christian Mission is simple yet robust, delving into many characters and key events without getting stuck in the details. Smither has provided an edifying introduction to what is a vast body of information.

On a similar note, it must be stated that Smither achieves his goal: Christian Mission is indeed a concise, global history. Of particular benefit is the lesser known details—at least in Protestant circles—about the mission in the medieval church (750-1500). Smither challenges the assumption that the so-called ‘dark ages’ were all that dark. The author presses the reader with the reality that despite the challenges of the medieval era, “the church engaged in mission…reaching new regions such as Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Russia, the Middle East, North Africa, and central Asia…missionaries continued to engage heretics and Muslims and serve in contexts of violence among the Vikings, Muslims and Mongols.” (p. 49-50) Christian Mission, then, presents a diverse account of the gospel’s advance, incorporating Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant endeavours, whilst alerting the reader to contextual issues—geographic, political, and cultural—within each of these movements.

A further strength of Christian Mission is its ability to whet the appetite in several ways: first, toward further study and analysis. Whether it is Basil of Caesarea (p. 14), Dominic de Guzman (p. 50), or Samuel Zwemer (p. 127), readers are provided with an amount of detail to spur one on to further reflection. Secondly, readers’ personal walk with Christ and own efforts in mission will be stirred toward action. Smither is not ignorant of the power of imitation and story: “God’s people imitate God, declaring his glory among the nations and crossing boundaries from faith to nonfaith.” (p. 199) Readers of Christian Mission will be invigorated by reading of God’s sustaining hand in his mission, through his people, and across the ages.

Though brief, a final strength of Christian Mission is Smither’s description of the approaches and methods used within each epoch. These contextual side-notes provide helpful analyses of precisely how mission has taken place through the centuries. At once, we are alerted to the flexibility, creativity and ingenuity of those that have gone before us. Certainly the modern world’s complexity, pluralism and global injustices beckon the church to continue in this stream whilst presenting the time-, culture-, and class-transcendent message of the gospel.

Whilst Christian Mission’s simplicity and generous overview was delightful, two weaknesses were apparent in my reading. First, is the remarkable absence of the prosperity gospel in his accounts of modern Christian mission. Of course, there might be several reasons why one might think that this sect within Christianity falls outside of the discussion of the gospel’s movement, however, as one who lives in the global south, the growth, spread, and sheer numbers attached to some form of the prosperity gospel is alarming. Notwithstanding a spectrum ranging from unhelpful emphases to blatant heresy, the prosperity gospel is rife in several locations globally and, without a doubt, presents one of the greatest challenges to Christian discipleship in the global south. I am not sure if its presence is hidden behind Pentecostal and more charismatic leaning congregations, but its absence from Smither’s record is odd. It could have been recorded as a challenge the modern church faces today, especially in the global south, or as one of the ways ‘Christianity’ has spread globally in the twenty-first century, though presenting an aberration and divergence from historic Christianity.

The second weakness of Smither’s work is the apparent comfort that seems to be found in the numbers for the modern church in the global south and elsewhere. Perhaps I am more pessimistic, but personally knowing national leaders in India, Kenya, Nigeria, Brazil, and South Africa, reading the numbers presented in Smither’s account of the mission from the majority world, I could not help but feel as though such numbers and statistics are misleading and unhelpful—especially for those in the global west. Numbers, ‘adherents’ to Christianity are not what we measure the health of the church by. As a case in point, South Africa’s Christian presence, though diverse, presents a conglomeration of widespread nominalism, prosperity teaching, and syncretism. Conversely, I think Smither’s assessments of the challenges facing the global south are spot on: there is a serious dearth of training, resources, and care (p. 194). This far more accurately describes, at least in the South African context, the fledging and growing Christian mission here.

Personal Reflection

Edward Smither’s Christian Mission presents a clear and sweeping account of Christian mission from the early church to today. Moving forward, the book will certainly prove to be a useful tool for the church, especially those who are ignorant of mission on the global scale, as well as those who want to touch up on or get a quick overview of the big picture. I know I will return to this work for my own edification as well as use it to educate and encourage others around me. This is a book the modern church needs since Smither recognizes the movement of the gospel as coterminous with the church’s history; church history is in fact mission history (p. xvi). For the church to thrive in its future, it must be well acquainted with its past–warts and all.

Additionally, in my own circles, Protestant evangelicals often prize history from the Reformation onwards. Christian Mission will help alleviate the church of such chronological snobbery and introduce readers to a wealth of missional engagement in all parts of the globe, and in contexts quite unlike our own.

Finally, I was personally challenged to see the diversity of missional strategies employed by those who have gone before us. I think I have suffered from the modern dualism of word versus deed paradigm, the result of a kind of soft-Gnosticism that pervades modern evangelicalism. Christian Mission subtly invites us to consider otherwise; mission, historically, has generally incorporated alleviating suffering and other forms of humanitarian aid with gospel proclamation. Would the same be said of us in centuries to come.

[Elizabeth Aucoin · Rating 4 out of 5]

For 200 pages, Smither did a great job packing in a global history of mission. He provides historical context at the beginning of each chapter, and then summarizes the big take-aways at the end of each era which is really helpful in bringing in major themes of something taking place globally. He doesn't focus as much on missionaries, but he uniquely writes about missional strategies that were developed in different parts of the world to engage with various people groups.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is brief, but thorough in its overview of missions around the world and throughout the centuries.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edward L. Smither is the professor and dean of intercultural studies at the Columbia International University where he teaches courses on the topic of missions and its historical aspects. Smither spent 14 years in ministry across the globe including North Africa, France, and the United States of America. In Christian Mission: A Concise Global History, Smither looks at those who have forged the trail for cross-cultural mission work in the Christian faith, the various contexts involved in global missions, and panoply of other outcomes in the missionary field.


Missions as a moniker have had several definitions throughout the ages, but the simplest meaning is simply to send, whereas the most Biblical may be to understand mission as the mission of God (XIV). In order to explore this theme further, Smither begins by looking at the mission of the Early Church and how they started the movement of missions despite constant and heavy pushback from the state, from time and finances, and from spiritual battles. Secondly, Smither uncovers some missional practices in the medieval period up until the Protestant Reformation, relying heavily on the work and effort of monks and the monastic orders of the time. Additionally, some of the more controversial topics of missions in the early modern period are discussed, such as colonialism and the odd combination of mission and empire. This would eventually bring about the surge in missions throughout the great century as Christians rediscovered the great commision and began the process of sending missionaries out in droves. The twentieth century was impactful on Christian mission, but not in a positive way as many sought to have a post-Christian life and culture. Lastly, Smithers looks at the modern and current areas in which we find ourselves, where countries in the West that would typically send missionaries to the East are finding missionaries come to them in a clear indication of the decline of Christianity in the West.


In Christian Mission: A Concise Global History, Smither argues that the origin of Christian missions was a tumultuous one, where the Roman Empire persecuted Christians at unprecedented levels, discriminated against followers of The Way, and even made it law forbidding the conversion to Christianity (6-7). And yet it was the prevailing and faithful nature of the Christians through the first few centuries that led to unprecedented growth and even support and conversion from the Emperor Constantine which sparked a fire in the world of missions (9). The majority of these missionaries were anonymous men and women who simply acted out of incremental faithfulness to Christ, but they were also bivocational, finding ways to engage culture through their work and their religion (40-41).


The mainstay through this process was the local church, which seemed to be the training grounds for many missionaries as they studied God’s word and His calling to spread the Gospel (42). One of the expected and unfortunate consequences of calling men and women to abandon their known lives and beliefs for the cause of a God they have never heard of before, is intense persecution which God used to pave the way for Gospel growth (43-44). With the dawn of Christendom still far into the future, the Middle Ages saw many Christians usher it in as monastic orders such as the Francisancs and Dominicans began training preachers and theologians in a move that would prove invaluable in the coming years (50-51).


While Missions expanded through this time, Smither points out that the Middle Ages can look a lot like the Dark Ages in the way that Christianity was at times physically forced onto others at the consequence of death (67). While this may be the case, these events should not represent the whole age as if this was a common or accepted thing in those days. But Christendom as a whole grew at an exponential rate, most notable in the papacy where the influence and power exceeded what many ever thought possible (70). This popularity served the mission of the church in several ways, namely in that it drew many to be ambassadors of the faith and have the opportunity to bring many into the fold. The eventual Protestant Reformation with its emphasis on the priesthood of all believers would soon shift the responsibility of preaching the Gospel from the Bishops and Monks to the common man who could take the Gospel to regions where it would be most profitable in terms of conversion (88-89).


Due to colonization efforts from the Western front, Christianity began to be labeled as a Western religion despite its roots and origins (96). In any event, the sixteenth century missionaries were characterized by their emphasis on discipleship and evangelism, working on the translation of the Bible into many languages, and the focus of catechizing children in the faith (98-99). Smithers points out that in contrast to the concept of Christian missions in the past, our current world is more attune to the political, economical, and religious issues across the globe (164). With modern innovations we are aware of what is happening right now in Bangladesh that would have been next to impossible 100 years ago, and this has been both beneficial and a distraction. It is beneficial because we are now able to address the many issues of certain cultures and contexts and understand what must be accomplished and prepared before missionaries are sent to the respective countries.
But as Smither notes, twentieth century missions are still concerned with much of what a missionary 100 years ago would have concerned themselves with, namely the translation of Scripture into other languages, planting churches, taking notice of different people groups, humanitarian efforts, and the surpmencey of preaching the Gospel (166-171). The advantages are now much more plentiful, as both language and political barriers are reduced, medical care is constantly reducing health risks, training and resources are at an all time high, and in particular for the Western missionaries there is no real fear of being vulnerable against preaching the Gospel in terms of free-speech laws (192-195).


Smither did an exemplary job of providing a historical context to the topic of Christian missions and in Christian Mission: A Concise Global History, the structure was easy to follow and simple to comprehend. This is one particular area in which the Christian church needs a constant reminder of how missions have historically been approached and how we can learn and sharpen our own approaches in the present and the future. I would recommend this work to anyone who wants to have a deeper study of Christian missions and is particularly interested in the methods and presuppositions that Christians brought to the issue throughout the ages.

[Jeremy Mueller · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a "concise, global" history, this book is a robust account of the history of missions in the church covering most key figures, dates, events, movements, and cultural themes. It demonstrates that the Church has always been missional since the outset of the early church in the first century. What this book lacks, however, is a clear stance on the definition of true gospel proclamation in mission. It is the broad ecumenism in the church that has often led to theological drift and lack of clarity on the gospel, and I wish Smither would have given a more careful reflection on the delineation between true gospel ministry in mission and those who lacked clarity in their gospel proclamation.

Moreover, Smither implies a confusing missiological approach. He praises the Jesuits for their extensive missionary work and global network (p. 78), but then he claims Protestant mission efforts “flickered” and failed to translate “into a viable global mission movement” (p. 75). It is both a faulty and dangerous assertion to claim that “viable global mission” is only demonstrated by numerical or structural success. The kingdom of God is often like a mustard seed, and the mission of Christians is to be faithful, not fruitful. God will take care of the fruit. Though the preaching, writing, and theological clarification of the Reformers may not have initially translated into numerical success, we can trust that it laid the groundwork for future ministry because they restored biblical integrity to faulty preaching, ecclesiology, spiritual formation, and missiological practices. Trust in numbers leads to pragmatism, which can be a cancer for faithful global mission.

[David Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smither's book is what his title states: concise. He strives to cover over 2000 years of Christian mission history. Therefore, we take a 30,000-foot view approach to accomplish that. Smither's spends time in each chapter focusing on various regions of the world and what missions looked like in that region during that era. There are sections of the book which overwhelmed me as one name after another was provided as he tried to lay out a picture of the missionary movement.

What I appreciated was that at the end of each chapter he has a summary section. These sections compartmentalized the copious amount of information provided into helpful and informative categories like who were the missionaries in this era? What did the missionaries do (practices)? And what was their methodology? The summary sections allowed me to digest the information well.

Lastly, living in the west, it becomes easy to simply think about missions from a western perspective. Smither's book pushes the reader past this mindset and urges the reader to recognize the missionary work that is going on throughout the world by other nations.

If you want an introduction, rather brief, to the global history of Christian missions, this is a solid place to start. But it is definitely not the place to end. Smither's provides you with countless resources essential to continue your quest for better understanding the global landscape of missions.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christian Mission: A Concise Global History by Edward Smither is a book gives the history of the spread of the Gospel by professing Christians. It follows it spreading down through the years through various continents. Each chapter deals with different time periods of its spreading: "Mission in the Early Church", "Mission in the Medieval church", "Mission in the Early Modern Church"…etc. It was quite interesting to learn about various people God used in its spread it. I also loved the maps, they were very interesting in and of themselves, Maps showing the Roman Empire, Territories and Voyages of the Vikings, and one showing the colonization of Africa after the "Berlin Conference of 1884"" I didn't realize that European countries had control of pretty much the whole of Africa as one map showed the colonization of Africa by Europe, France, Belgium..etc.

I found it very interesting that some of the early missionaries were simply Christian merchants giving out the Gospel as they went about their business.

But there were several things that made me not very fond of the book overall. First, from various things the author says, he seems to believe that Roman Catholicism promotes the true Gospel. I didn't understand that. Just because someone believes that the Bible teaches the Word of God, believes in the Trinity and that Christ provides salvation does not mean that they are saved or that they are preaching or believing the saving Gospel. You can preach a false Gospel that promotes the Bible, to some degree, includes the Trinity and Jesus dying for the sins of mankind. I don't doubt that there could be and were some true Christians within the Roman Catholic church structure, but it's in spite of it, not because they promote the true Gospel.

This is what I understand of Roman Catholicism: they promote other mediators between God and man: besides Christ Jesus, they have Mary and the Saints as mediators, which directly contradicts 1 Timothy 2:5: which says that there is one mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ. I've also gathered that, you can either do your own good works to earn grace/forgiveness (like penance), and you can rely upon the good works/merit of past saints to earn you grace as well. Otherwise you'll clean your slate in purgatory, which is still heresy as it takes away from Christ's marvelous saving grace (without our works being a part of it) and demonstrates a heretical perspective of sin, how bad it actually is (as if we could actually have the capacity to completely pay for it ourselves over any period of time). These things are in one way or another a works based salvation which is not true salvation (Eph 2:8-9; 2 Tim 1:9; Rom 3:28…and more)

We must remember that the Apostle Paul spoke vehemently against works based salvation and in writing to the Galatians he writes against them accepting any Gospel that does not match up with what he and the other Apostles taught and that anyone, even if it is an angel, who is teaching another Gospel was to be "Anathema"(Gal 1:6-9).

And another things I didn't like was that the Smither seems to think that organized mission movements are necessary. He says things like, ""The sixteenth century protestant reformation did not produce a viable global missionary movement that paralleled the work of the Jesuits, who had emerged from the Catholic Reformation. - How do we explain this lack of global engagement in mission on the part of sixteenth century protestants?" and also "A pastor has a duty to send members out as missionaries or to minister to immigrants in his community". Where does the Bible say this? Pastors, yes, should give out the Gospel when God gives them opportunity, but their task is not to focus on unbelievers, but on believers, they are primarily to watch over the flock of God (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:1-2) . Smithers mentions Roland Allen in this book, an Anglican missionary who ended up critiquing the way mission work was done (like having organized missions), I've read Allen's book, "The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes that Hinder It" and highly recommend it. He challenges the assumption that we need to force and organize mission work and explains that the church will grow 'spontaneously', as it were because true Christians WILL evangelize on their own without needing a parachurch organization to do it and without a pastor needing to organize it.

As I mentioned, it is quite an interesting book, it's that the above perspectives of the author made me not like the book overall.


Many thanks to the folks at Lexham Press for sending me a free review coy of this book (My review did not have to be favorable)

[Scott Lucky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smither does a very good job of giving a global survey of the history of Christian Mission. It was encouraging to read through this account about how many different people, organizations, denominations, and movements the Lord has used to get His gospel to the ends of the earth. As we march toward the fulfillment of Revelation 7:9, it is important to celebrate God’s work in spreading the gospel in the past as well as learn from this history to formulate appropriate mission strategies for our current time.

I thought this book was strong in three particular ways. First, at the end of each chapter, Smither offers an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each era of missions history. Second, Smither gives the reader a number of helpful resources to go deeper, which will be useful for the interested reader. Third, the book’s style is organized and accessible to someone with little to no background in the subject matter.

As such, I would recommend this book to be used in an Introduction to Missions class at the undergraduate or graduate level, but it would also be of use to church members who want to be encouraged to see the knowledge of the Lord cover the earth like the waters cover the seas.

[Pig Rieke · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Smither takes a broad look at the history of Christian missions. Having broken up the history of missions into Early Church (100-750), Medieval Church (750-1500), Early Modern Church (1500-1800), Great Century (1800-1900), Global Century (1900-2000), and Mission from the Majority World (2000-present), the author discusses major events, theological / political movements, various missions efforts, and some aspects of those movements. The books strength is its ability to review vast moments and history is such a small work. In this sense, the work serves as an excellent reference book for further exploration.

That said, the book also has some glaring shortcomings. The author seems to propose the notion that anyone and anything identified with Christianity towards those not identified with Christ, is missions. For example, what was a Franciscan monk in the 13th century preaching preaching to the Mongals? The author doesn’t indicate. How should Protestant missions to Catholic dominated areas be considered? How should missions be considered in areas dominated by the Prosperity Gospel or by “missionaries” preaching said false gospel? What about missions to post-Christian Europe? The author fails to address said important issues.

[Brian Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book delivers on what the subtitle promises. It's a concise, global history of missions. Since it's concise, it doesn't go into depth. However, the book is quite broad in its coverage, dealing with Catholic and Protestant missions (though Smither acknowledges that he doesn't follow up on Catholic missions over the last two centuries), missions in the West and East, over nearly two thousand years. The book is attractive--it's casebound with a number of maps.

The book would be better if it went into just a bit more depth. It could have easily been 250 pages instead of 200. But it's a good introduction to this history for someone who doesn't know much at all. Smither does a good job of describing who the missionaries were and what they did. Missionaries who were culturally sensitive, willing to suffer, and didn't compromise the faith were generally successful and certainly worth admiring and emulating.

[Ben Emberley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books is good as far as it goes - stating the facts of the progress of mission over the centuries. There is very little interpretation of the facts and Smither does not seek to answer questions. Rather, he introduces briefly what has happened across the world as various denominations have sought to evangelize and fulfill the Great Commission. It's a book that requires followup and one that can be dry in its repetitive structure. However, the fulfillment of the Great Commission is NOT dry, so the subject matter itself will drive the reader to think deeper, rejoice in conversion, and hope for further success as Christ gets glory in building His church.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very introductory level discussion of missions throughout the world. While I knew conceptually that the whole church everywhere is engaged in international missions, reading of the stories, movements, and individuals from all regions who are engaged in cross-cultural missions and church-planting was so encouraging. I feel better equipped to pray for the global church in its endeavor to reach the whole world for the glory of God.

[Tanner B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, the book was good because of its conciseness. Smither does a fine job of framing each chapter to give a clear picture of each era of missions since the Church’s conception. The structure of each chapter also lends its hand into the task that the author sets forth. It’s not an overly compelling read, but informative nonetheless.

[Michael Tuszynski · Rating 2 out of 5]

While their are small pockets of good content and information, this book’s structure made it hard to follow the train of thought from one page to the next. For a 200 page book, there was simply too much information dealt with too quickly to glean anything meaningful from the writing. This was a book required for a class assignment, otherwise I would not have finished it.

[Dann Zinke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful primer on the history of missions, including a chapter (6) on the shift in missionary sending activity from Western countries to what the author calls "majority world" countries in other continents (Latin America, Africa, Asia). Really encouraging to see God's mission and Word going forth in new contexts.

[Don Barger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to the history of Christian Missions. It certainly is much shorter than some of the standard history of missions texts but I found the price point accessible and the quality excellent. It was a very easy to read book but packed with good details.

[Caroline McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful overview of world missions from Pentecost to modern day. Because this book is under 200 pages, Smither really offers more of a flyover view focused more on the historical facts of what happened as the gospel spread throughout the globe.

[Ruth]

As the subtitle indicates, this is a clear and concise summary of global Christian mission. In it, Smither lays out a no-frills overview, perfect for gaining big-picture perspective.

[Logan Prettyman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of missions throughout church history. His chapter on the medieval church was a little wanting in giving the church its due, but his chapter on the Great Century was excellent.

[Flynn Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offers a stratospheric but cogent survey of the subject matter while also providing very helpful summaries of the information.

[JT Goodart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a straightforward and mostly helpful account of the history of missions in the church. A bit repetitive at times, though.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good concise overview of missions. You'll understand the key figures and movements over the past 2000 years.

[Tristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful and beneficial for a missions focused church history book that is relatively short.

[Abigail Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super interesting!! A little boring, but good content