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The Church Between Temple and Mosque
In this influential posthumous masterpiece, Dutch missiologist J. H. Bavinck guides readers in a candid, eloquent, and eye-opening exploration of religion, revelation, and the distinctness of the Christian faith in the context of global religions. Bavinck’s five ‘magnetic points’ (cosmic relationship, religious norm, the riddle of existence, our craving for salvation, and our awareness of a supreme power) are a transformative rubric for bringing Christ to the world, including those identifying as religious “nones.” Now for the first time in hardcover, with a luminary introduction by Daniel Strange, a new generation of Christians, pastors, and theologians can benefit from J. H. Bavinck’s must-read study of the contrast between Christianity and world religions.
209 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1981
21 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
Johan Herman Bavinck
30 books3 followersJohan Herman Bavinck (see also J.H. Bavinck) was a Dutch pastor, missionary and theologian.
Bavinck was born in Rotterdam as the second son of Reverend Coenraad Bernardus Bavinck. He attended the Marnix Gymnasium there. Both his father and his grandfather Jan Bavinck were pastors. His uncle was Herman Bavinck, pastor and Professor of Dogmatics at the theological school in Kampen and at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam
Bavinck was born in Rotterdam as the second son of Reverend Coenraad Bernardus Bavinck. He attended the Marnix Gymnasium there. Both his father and his grandfather Jan Bavinck were pastors. His uncle was Herman Bavinck, pastor and Professor of Dogmatics at the theological school in Kampen and at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 24, 2025
This is a definitive guide for the church on engaging other religions with the gospel. Bavinck’s missional wisdom is famous for a reason. What is most striking about this work, however, is his theological precision and pastoral sensitivity. He embodies Augustine’s goal for his own ministry, “to know God, and to know the human soul.”
As a result, this is not merely a book for aspiring missionaries, but for any Christian who wants to effectively make disciples and disciple Jesus followers in any context they find themselves. Read it, study it, and let it shape you.
As a result, this is not merely a book for aspiring missionaries, but for any Christian who wants to effectively make disciples and disciple Jesus followers in any context they find themselves. Read it, study it, and let it shape you.
April 28, 2025
(J. H.) Bavinck's magnetic points are really a classic in Reformed missiology and should be known and read by everyone who is interested in Reformed evangelistic witness. This is the best book for the concepts; the concepts are also found in the The J. H. Bavinck Reader, but it is definitely more fun to read in this book.
The last third of the book is especially a real gem. He makes a lot of really good insights and is ready to say "yes" to all the other religions in a very non-syncretistic way. He's very adventurous in his assertions, and gives lots of food for thought. Take for example his 2 page discussion about how Christ interacts with how numbers work. Just fascinating. I think it was around page 149.
Anyways, this book is great and you should read it.
The last third of the book is especially a real gem. He makes a lot of really good insights and is ready to say "yes" to all the other religions in a very non-syncretistic way. He's very adventurous in his assertions, and gives lots of food for thought. Take for example his 2 page discussion about how Christ interacts with how numbers work. Just fascinating. I think it was around page 149.
Anyways, this book is great and you should read it.
January 2, 2026
What a profound book! I have been looking for a book on this exact subject for a long time. There are some scruples on certain points and question marks on others, but overall this is a great challenge to some of today’s missiology.
April 14, 2023
"Man is always busy with God; he flees from God or seeks Him, he struggles with God or finds Him. If we could fathom the life of man right to the bottom, we should see that the conversation with God, either in a positive or a negative sense, is the decisive theme. Man himself is generally not conscious of this, for he lives his existence on earth merely as a visit with worldly realities, with social and cosmic relations." p. 160
March 5, 2026
Great little book! The first half is his philosophy and explanation of religion while the latter half is his theology of religion.
He makes an encouraging and academically compelling explanation of how the Christian faith relates to the other religions. While maintaining an orthodox and serious call for the spread of the gospel through humble means.
He briefly at the end mentions the effects of colonialism on missiology and I’d love to have heard more from him on this, but that was definitely outside the scope of this concise work.
He makes an encouraging and academically compelling explanation of how the Christian faith relates to the other religions. While maintaining an orthodox and serious call for the spread of the gospel through humble means.
He briefly at the end mentions the effects of colonialism on missiology and I’d love to have heard more from him on this, but that was definitely outside the scope of this concise work.
September 3, 2023
Great book written by Herman Bavinck’s nephew.
His 5 Magnetic Points could be extremely helpful for apologetic conversations with both the religious and irreligious.
His 5 Magnetic Points could be extremely helpful for apologetic conversations with both the religious and irreligious.
February 4, 2025
I.H. Bavinck presents incredibly concise ideas that inform the religions of the world, and what differs in Christianity. At times, I felt that what he described in a single sentence could have an entire book devoted to it; yet he presents it in an understandable way. All of life is a response to God, be it submission or repression.
December 28, 2023
What is fascinating about this book is that in some places it feels difficult to understand because it's written in different time. However when it comes to contrasting Christianity to other religions he hits home for how the Christian must respond to an unbelieving world. And all of a sudden it feels as though he is writing today!
February 18, 2026
J. H. Bavinck is the philosopher-king of theology and missions. The book essentially tackles the question, “what is the relationship between the Christian faith and other religions?” This question occupied much of my mind while taking a college course titled “Psychology of Religion.” What am I to make of the religious Other? I can’t simply write them off as false - that won’t do. What do I make of their religious experience? In an almost Jamesian manner, Bavinck gives an answer to these questions and they are thoroughly biblical.
The foundation for Bavinck’s analysis is Romans 1. He writes, “The history of mankind is more than just a long account of what man has done, created and invented; its deepest mystery is the story of God’s concern with man and man’s response to God’s revelation. Religion is by its very nature a communion, in which man answers and reacts to God’s revelation (13).” To put it another way, borrowing a phrase from Daniel Strange, human religion can be understood as the subjective human response to objective divine revelation.
How do humans respond? Well, as Romans 1 suggests, each and every individual represses and substitutes God’s revelation. This portion of the book is incredible. Bavinck is psychoanalytical in his discussion of mankind’s response to God “concerning himself” with him. While Freudian sublimation states that one’s inner impulses are repressed and substituted for socially acceptable behavior, Bavinck argues that man has repressed a real interaction with God and began his never ending fabrica idolorum. His application of this to the night of bodhi and “the night of power” was fascinating.
What was also helpful was the confidence that this theology provides the evangelist with.
To quote at length:
“This message concerns God’s Kingdom, God Himself, and His world, in which we have a place. It concerns Jesus Christ, the Savior, on whose suffering, death, and resurrection the future of the Kingdom is founded. The message concerning the Kingdom is to a certain extent an unmasking—it reveals the very deep processes of repression and substitution and makes us ashamed of what we have done with God. This message is revealing, as it shows what goes on in man and in the world, and what God’s intention is for all things, and for man, too, His deputy on earth. This message cannot wrap itself in philosophical arguments, it cannot “prove” anything, it cannot be “logical” in every respect. It is poor and small in the world, like that of Paul when he brought it to the world of his day “not with excellency of speech or of wisdom” (I Cor. 2:1). This message has only one powerful weapon, namely, that its messengers know that if they bring it obediently and honestly, trusting in God’s help and in His Spirit, it will somehow touch the heart of man. For no matter how much man in his wickedness has repressed God’s truth, when the word of the gospel comes to him, something deep within his heart may be touched. Then the engines of repression are stopped, as it were, and only then he sees clearly who he himself is, and who his God is, and what the Kingdom is for which God intended him. And could this not be what the Bible calls “regeneration,” the regeneration of the individual man as a sign of the regeneration of the whole cosmos (200)?”
Read J. H. Bavinck! And read Daniel Strange if you’re interested in a secular application of his five magnetic points.
The foundation for Bavinck’s analysis is Romans 1. He writes, “The history of mankind is more than just a long account of what man has done, created and invented; its deepest mystery is the story of God’s concern with man and man’s response to God’s revelation. Religion is by its very nature a communion, in which man answers and reacts to God’s revelation (13).” To put it another way, borrowing a phrase from Daniel Strange, human religion can be understood as the subjective human response to objective divine revelation.
How do humans respond? Well, as Romans 1 suggests, each and every individual represses and substitutes God’s revelation. This portion of the book is incredible. Bavinck is psychoanalytical in his discussion of mankind’s response to God “concerning himself” with him. While Freudian sublimation states that one’s inner impulses are repressed and substituted for socially acceptable behavior, Bavinck argues that man has repressed a real interaction with God and began his never ending fabrica idolorum. His application of this to the night of bodhi and “the night of power” was fascinating.
What was also helpful was the confidence that this theology provides the evangelist with.
To quote at length:
“This message concerns God’s Kingdom, God Himself, and His world, in which we have a place. It concerns Jesus Christ, the Savior, on whose suffering, death, and resurrection the future of the Kingdom is founded. The message concerning the Kingdom is to a certain extent an unmasking—it reveals the very deep processes of repression and substitution and makes us ashamed of what we have done with God. This message is revealing, as it shows what goes on in man and in the world, and what God’s intention is for all things, and for man, too, His deputy on earth. This message cannot wrap itself in philosophical arguments, it cannot “prove” anything, it cannot be “logical” in every respect. It is poor and small in the world, like that of Paul when he brought it to the world of his day “not with excellency of speech or of wisdom” (I Cor. 2:1). This message has only one powerful weapon, namely, that its messengers know that if they bring it obediently and honestly, trusting in God’s help and in His Spirit, it will somehow touch the heart of man. For no matter how much man in his wickedness has repressed God’s truth, when the word of the gospel comes to him, something deep within his heart may be touched. Then the engines of repression are stopped, as it were, and only then he sees clearly who he himself is, and who his God is, and what the Kingdom is for which God intended him. And could this not be what the Bible calls “regeneration,” the regeneration of the individual man as a sign of the regeneration of the whole cosmos (200)?”
Read J. H. Bavinck! And read Daniel Strange if you’re interested in a secular application of his five magnetic points.
June 24, 2023
The first half of the book was three stars, the second half was five stars, so four stars total. I'm not too sure what the book sought to accomplish. While it was very interesting reading with some fantastic quotes, I'm not totally sure what to take away from it, particularly from the first half. It felt a little disconnected at times and without a clear, overarching mission (or maybe I just missed it), but still a very enjoyable read.
June 3, 2025
Incredibly hard read. Have your dictionary next to you 😂 Probably a book that would be better on the second go around. Other than that, it was definitely new information as someone who has been a Christian for almost my entire life. A lot of the information was hard to comprehend, by the end I got what he was trying to say but throughout the middle section of the book it’s hard to see where he’s going.
February 24, 2026
My first time diving into J.H., firsthand. Really impressed. Ever the Reformed Missiologist, the biggest tell regarding the worth of the work was how timely his observations remain nearly 100 years later. The extended exposition on Romans 1, to the tune of a psychological consideration, was remarkable. There is so much here to enjoy and ponder - especially for Christians who want to grow in an evangelistic (and apologetic) spirit.
February 25, 2026
This book is a must-read for Christians interested in missiology, and it would be helpful for Christians in general. The first half explains various religions, their beliefs, and how they relate to Christianity. The second half focuses on Christian beliefs and how to reach people of other religions. I enjoyed the writing style, even though it is a series of lectures published posthumously, but it was written in layman's terms.
November 23, 2025
At times it felt over simplistic and reduced some things a bit too far - but the mindset Bavinck wrote in is great and needed in our highly caustic and argumentative time, and promotes a heart of relation in mission.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews