• Positive signs in Europe
• The Commentary
  Should the worst happen...
• The well-being agenda
  A biblical view of lessons in happiness
• The Lewis revival
  60 years ago saw the end of a move of God on the Isle of Lewis
• Adam, where are you?
  Dr. John Peet asks: 'Is the biblical Adam a scientifically valid concept?'
• Communication in the church
  Understanding our single and married differences
• Any volunteers?
  Calling for wholeheartedness in our devotion to Christ
• Unapologetic Christianity
  A day at the museum
• The Music Exchange
  Love that drummer!
• Notes to growing Christians
  Olympic Christians
• Crossing the culture
  Atwood's ambiguous words
• The Third Degree
  Students on a mission
• Monthly youth leaders column
  Caring for the troops

other articles

• Eric Liddell: finish the race
• The future of the global church
• Marvel Avengers assemble
• 1 and 2 Thessalonians - A practical commentary
• Hit by friendly fire - What to do when fellow believers hurt you
• What the Bible teaches about the Trinity
• Preacher, keep yourself from idols
• The ethics of evangelism - A philosophical defence of ethical proselytising and persuasion
• The first letter to the Corinthians
• The other F-word - Faith, the last taboo
• Charles Simeon - An ordinary pastor of extraordinary influence
• The message of the Word of God
• John Stott, the humble leader
• 'Dear Abdullah' - Eight questions Muslim people ask about Christianity
• Thinking. Loving. Doing. - Glorify God with heart and mind
• Notes for the journey - Following Jesus, staying South Asian
• The crises of Christ - A study on the life of Christ
• What do you think of me? What do I care?
• In the shadow of the sword - The battle for global empire and the end of the Ancient World
• Pastor-teachers of old Princeton

Sensitive alarm sounding

THE ETHICS OF EVANGELISM
A philosophical defence of ethical proselytising and persuasion
By Elmer Thiessen
Paternoster. 304 pages. £10.99
ISBN 978 1 842 277 243

The apostle Paul was concerned with the ethics of evangelism and a theologian would probably have started a book on this subject by examining passages like 2 Corinthians 2.17. But Dr. Thiessen is a philosopher and intends this book not just for Christians, but as an apologetic into the non-Christian and anti-Christian world that, while claiming toleration as its highest virtue, is opposed to evangelism which it describes with the pejorative term ‘proselytising’.

This book has the aim of giving a philosophical defence of ‘proselytism’, but at the same time raising questions for all Christians who are involved in evangelism.

The first section of the book is Thiessen’s engagement with secular views on proselytism, which will provide some arguments for those who engage at this level. More useful for many will be the second section where he sets out criteria for what he regards as ethical evangelism.

He picks examples from both cults and evangelicals of what he regards as false manipulation of people. While we would decry the examples of military conversion that took place in parts of Latin America, questions about the nature of our friendship evangelism are rather more unsettling. Are our methods of evangelism always characterised by true love for individuals which respects them as people and not just objects of our desire for converts?

This is not a book for everyone, but it should be read by pastors, evangelists and missionaries who need to evaluate their evangelism against Thiessen’s criteria. It would be a good study book for a ministers’ fraternal or a missionary candidates’ course. It would have been a stronger book if Thiessen had linked his arguments explicitly with scriptural standards of evangelism that look upon conversion as a supernatural act of God rather than the product of human manipulation of people’s minds and emotions. Paul’s eschewing of the rhetorical methods of his time need to be matched by our rejection of everything that detracts from the real power of God in conversion.

Ray Porter,
member of OMF International & Director of World Mission Studies at Oak Hill Theological College, North London