Paradigms in Conflict: 10 Key Questions in Christian Missions Today

Dr. Hesselgrave pulls out the stops to tackle 10 key questions facing missions in our century. For anyone considering, currently active in Christian missions, and also mission-minded pastors and mission committee members, this should be required reading. Without a clear understanding of the paradigms that we are facing it seems likely that the course of Western missions will continue on its downward spiral. However, this does not mean that we necessarily need more Western missionaries as more nationals are starting to fill the gap. Still, the Western church's general apathy, focus on ivory palaces and entertainment, and a marked shift towards a social gospel and humanitarian aid are quite troubling. Without even mentioning how many evangelicals who do not actually tithe, some statistics state that less than 2 cents of every dollar taken in by the church goes to missions. Is it any wonder that some missionaries take years to raise support, or have come back to their sending country because they lack support? If Christians were tithing and supporting the Great Commission in a biblical manner, missionaries would be turning down support because they already have too much. The church of Laodicea in Revelation 3 comes to mind... I hope that our interaction with Dr. Hesselgrave's questions, and others, will help turn the tide back towards biblical mission. Some Highlights: Chapter One on "Sovereignty and Free Will" is well placed at the forefront, as it is an important part of the foundation that biblical missions needs to be built on. If believers don't have these two balanced in a biblical manner there will be a deadening of hearts to the Great Commission. As church history proves, its consequences are far reaching! Although Hesselgrave mainly looks at the differences between what he calls "Calvinism" and "Arminianism", he at least sees the possibility of five distinct divisions within them. Personally, I don't believe one must, of necessity, be either be a Calvinist or an Arminian. Moving on, Hesselgrave then looks at this issue in light of missions and after analyzing and discussing the two extremes, Augustianian Deterministic Calvinism and Open Theism, he discusses the more moderate views. The most noteworthy and harmonious in regards to the Bible and missions is undoubtedly the mediate position presented by C. Gordon Olson in his book Beyond Calvinism and Arminianism: An Inductive, Mediate Theology of Salvation and Getting the Gospel Right: A Balanced View of Calvinism and Arminianism. My take is that Hesselgrave also sees the inherent value of an inductive study and leans that way himself. On the other hand, D. A. Carson unsuccessfully tries to breathe new life into Calvinism by using "compatibilism", but in the final analysis he has to admit, "compatibilism remains something of a mystery". Hesselgrave's quote of church historian Philip Schaff puts all this into perspective, "The Bible gives us a theology which is more human than Calvinis

Dr. Hesselgrave has tackled 10 of the key issues that have needed to be dealt with for some time in the missions world, and he has done it with great clarity and much wisdom. Dr. Hesselgrave is a gifted writer and has contributed much over the years for evangelicals to ponder concerning missions. However, this may be his best work to date. I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned with getting the Gospel of Christ to the Nations. H. Edward Pruitt

I think Waldron Scott has identified, not a weakness of Hesselgrave's book, but its key strength. It is the fact that the author comes to sound conclusions about each of the ten issues that makes this book a very welcome balance to many skewed modern conclusions of these ten crucial issues. Hesselgrave's Biblical hermenuetics are very well thought out with possibly only one or two exceptions. He's extensively well-read and has a mountain of experience behind him. Strongest of all: he's committed to a Biblical basis for mission as being fundamentally the only foundation we can stand on for any argument within the world of mission. For more on how I felt about this text, check out Arukiyomi's blog at