An Unpredictable Gospel: American Evangelicals and World Christianity, 1812-1920

by Jay Riley Case

The astonishing growth of Christianity in the global South over the course of the twentieth century has sparked an equally rapid growth in studies of ''World Christianity,'' which have dismantled the notion that Christianity is a Western religion. What, then, are we to make of the waves of Western missionaries who have, for centuries, been evangelizing in the global South? Were they merely, as many have argued, agents of imperialism out to impose Western values? In An Unpredictable Gospel, Jay Case examines the efforts of American evangelical missionaries in light of this new scholarship. He argues that if they were agents of imperialism, they were poor ones. Western missionaries had a dismal record of converting non-Westerners to Christianity. The ministries that were most successful were those that empowered the local population and adapted to local cultures. In fact, influence often flowed the other way, with missionaries serving as conduits for ideas that shaped American
evangelicalism. Case traces these currents and sheds new light on the relationship between Western and non-Western Christianities.

Genres: History

324 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2011

Reviews

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jay Riley Case’s An Unpredictable Gospel provides a helpful overview of World Christianity and its relationship to American evangelicalism. By using mainly case studies to argue his points, Case gives an interesting and informative look at the shapes and trends of world Christianity in such a way that is engaging and gives a new perspective of major events and figures. This also allows one to evaluate and analyze the events and come to their own conclusions.

I found Case’s introduction to be particularly helpful as he analyzes some trends and characteristics of global evangelicalism. Particularly useful are his definitions of formalism and antiformalism which allow the reader to better analyze the characters and events of the book. By giving an outline of what events he will be looking at and how these events fit together and carry common trends, Case prepares the reader and prevents them from being quite as confused by what follows.

However, I found Case’s usage of case studies to often be difficult to follow. Oftentimes he would include information without explaining why he included it and would include many events and historical figures, quickly switching between them in a non-chronological format without adequately explaining their relations with one another. This format led to a book that I often found hard to follow and analyze. I found the structure made it very difficult to identify major themes within the large amount of information presented.

Overall I enjoyed An Unpredictable Gospel and found it to be very helpful in my understanding of world Christianity. He presented the complexities of the relationships between missionaries and native Christians in a way that was even and not overly biased, showing both the ways that missionaries helped and hindered the people they were evangelizing to. It also introduced me to many important figures and events in the history of global evangelicalism that I was otherwise aware of. It is a useful book that is helpful in one’s understanding of the complex relationship between global Christianity, missions, and western evangelicalism.