Product Description

Be prepared to change your views on principles of missionary methods in this authoritative work, first published in 1912, but which contains a wide scope of information relevant for the present day. Within a decade, St. Paul established the Church in the four provinces of Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia and Asia. This informative study focuses on the social background to the Apostle's missionary journeys with comparisons between his methods and those of the modern day. The book divides into five parts; the first examines the social and religious world which the Apostle inhabited in AD 50; the second addresses how St. Paul presented the Christian Gospel and his financial policy of self-support for the new churches. Here, contrasts are made between St. Paul's financial and missionary principles, which differ alarmingly from those of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The rapidness of the Apostle's appointment of responsible church leaders is sharply contrasted with the slowness of the present in the third part. Part four deals with St. Paul's procedures for authority in churches, where those of the present day fail to address the conscience of the local church. Conclusions are provided in part five and the clarity and vigour of Allen's style ensures the reader's interest is maintained to the end.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #471006 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
"Many missionaries in later days have received a larger number of converts than St. Paul: [...] but none have so"

About the Author
Nazir-Ali is Vicar of Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, Lahore, Pakistan.

Customer Reviews

Timeless principles for carrying out the church's mission
"Roland Allen was an Anglican missionary in China from 1895 to 1903. For a few years afterward he was in charge of an English parish. For the next 40 years he was writing on missionary principles. Much of what he wrote seemed to be forgotten. The present work and a later volume written in answer to criticisms (The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes which Hinder It) are the only two that have been regularly reprinted. Allen himself told his son that his writings would come into their own about the year 1960. In fact that year saw the republication in a single volume of many of his other writings." [From the foreword.]

It is amazing to me that Allen wrote this book in 1912. Even today his radical critique of Western missionary methods is cutting edge, though the biblical principles he advocates are now being embraced more and more by some ministries that are not tradition-bound.

While this book and its sequel (Spontaneous Expansion) address mission work specifically, the principles described do not apply only to how the people of one country do missionary work in another. These books really are about what the Bible has to show us about how to carry out the mission of the church, whether in our own culture, in ministering cross-culturally in our own back yard, or planting churches across an ocean.

If Allen is right in the conclusions he draws about finance (chapter 6), many (most?) church planting efforts may be operating by financial principles that do more to hinder rather than help establish a healthy, self-supporting church.

His observations on the biblical pattern for selecting and equipping elders for local church leadership challenged not only the status quo of the Anglican church of his day, but continue to challenge the practices of most churches today.

In my work as a church consultant, my sense is that (1) most church members, and probably even most pastors, are unaware of the radical differences between our presentday ways of doing church and the New Testament precedents, because they are largely ignorant of the biblical precedents; and (2) even when they become aware of some difference, there is a tendency to assume that those differences are inconsequential. Yet many of the most passionate of today's church leaders look at the church of Acts and long to see God's Spirit at work with that kind of power in the church today.

If we really long to recapture the vitality of the New Testament church, wouldn't it be worthwhile to seek to understand the principles by which it operated? (The "Methods" of the book's title is misleading; "Principles" would be more accurate.) Then we can consider whether those principles might be essential to the spiritual vitality of the church and go about asking how we can apply those principles in our context.

For anyone serious about developing such a biblically-rooted vision of how to go about doing church, I highly recommend this book and its companion volume.

Truth is timeless
The fact this book was written in 1927 but is applicable to our times is evidence of the Truth it holds. It is not an easy read. It provokes much thought and reflection. I was given the book to read by Mission 21 India prior to a trip I am going on to learn how we can help Christian Indians spread the Word in India. I believe it has helped open/prepare my mind to accept, love and learn from others. I believe as Mr. Allen does that the Holy Spirit can work differently in each of our lives. We all have different gifts to use. This book is also an excellent commentary on many of Paul's letters. Roland Allen insights are Truth based.

Tried, Tested, Terrific
This must be a must read for everyone that is even contemplating a career overseas. Especially if the reason is to do Missionary work.

My wife and I worked on the African continent for 5 years and saw first hand the good, the bad and the ugly attempts even with with the best intentions. This book is dated in its vocabulary but the information is eternal.

These policies (chapters) are just as important today as it ever will be.

If you do not read any of the book but for chapter 6 on finances you have done yourself and your organization a great service.