Category Archives: History of Missions
Mentoring from a Father.
Henry Allen Tupper was Corresponding Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1871 to 1893. In the seminal biography of his life and contribution, Al James (my PhD mentor) includes this little tidbit about his … Continue reading
Filed under Education, History of Missions
Persons of Peace Preserving the Progress of the Gospel: A Historical Example
The years 1899-1900 were terrible years in North China. The Boxers, a group so-called because of their fighting methods, arose in opposition to everything foreign and in support of the Qing dynasty. They had formed a belief that their protecting … Continue reading
Filed under China, History of Missions
Nevius Methods and Church Planting Movements – An Article
If you have read much of my blog in the past, I have posted on various revivals that have occurred in nonWestern lands, such as in Korea, China, and East Africa. I’ve also mentioned a guy named John Nevius quite … Continue reading
Filed under History of Missions, Korea
Sacrifice and Southern Baptist Missions
Yesterday, Nathan Finn and Micah Fries, in their joint post on Between the Times, made a call for Southern Baptists to commit to make the sacrifice to support the Cooperative Program for the sake of the gospel as it is … Continue reading
Filed under History of Missions, Other
Speaking in Tongues and the Shandong Revival
One of the recurring questions surrounding the Shandong Revival is whether or not the missionaries spoke in tongues. Historically, Southern Baptists have held that ”speaking in unknown languages” was not the biblical understanding of glossolalia, and certainly that speaking in tongues … Continue reading
Filed under China, History of Missions, Revival
Historical Quote of the Day
from Daniel H. Bays, A New History of Christianity in China, pg. 3. Ahem…please pardon his French… plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose In other words, “The more things change, the more things stay the same”
Filed under China, History of Missions
Non-Violent Resistance in China
This past March, I had the joy of attending the ISAE conference held this year at the irenic Duke University campus. I heard several tremendous presentations given by some of the top scholars in Christianity, particularly as it relates to … Continue reading
Filed under History of Missions
Questioning Self-Support
My friend Dougald and I get together almost every Friday morning for breakfast and we usually end up discussing something about either the Old Testament, Missions, or both (surprise, surprise since we are getting degrees in these two fields, respectively). … Continue reading
Filed under History of Missions, Missionary Methods, Missions
What Can We Learn from History We Disagree With?
I was allowed to publish a guest blog post a month ago on the Center for Great Commission Studies @ SEBTS blog. There, I discussed the possibility of learning from what some might consider bad history. I never linked to … Continue reading
Filed under History of Missions
Going to a Conference
There are several ways of answering the question: what is Christian mission? First, there is are biblical responses. That is, trying to define mission in scriptural categories. Even within this category, you have hermeneutical approaches that point to salvation history, … Continue reading
Filed under History of Missions
Women and Missions
The Lewis A. Drummond Center for Great Commission Studies has asked me to contribute from time to time on their blog. Honored I was. So, I decided to write a series entitled “Missional Dynamos” to highlight the dynamic nature of … Continue reading
Filed under History of Missions
Missional Dynamos
Starting today, I’ll be a guest blogger on the blog of my institution. There, I’ll be posting a series on my gleanings from the history of Christian missions. I’ve entitled my series Missional Dynamos. I’ve chosen ‘dynamos’ to reflect the dynamic … Continue reading
Filed under History of Missions
Bertha Smith & Keswick Theology in the Shantung Revival
The two revivalists who frequented Cowpens, SC, made a lasting impact upon the life of Bertha Smith.[1] Rev. Troy and Luther Manness had attended God’s Bible School, founded by Martin Wells Knapp in 1897 in Cincinnati. Knapp was a Methodist … Continue reading
Filed under China, History of Missions, Revival
Glory on the Mountaintop–A Revival Report
In a newsletter dated Sept. 27, 1933, Abernathy recounts an experience from the revival.[1] That summer, they had planned a Bible Conference on Tai Shan, the sacred mountain of the province. Note: the Shantung province was the provincial home of … Continue reading
Filed under China, History of Missions, Revival
Introducing the Abernathys, Missionaries to China
John Arch and Zenobia Jewell Leonard Abernathy John Arch Abernathy was one of two sons born to John and Sarah Abernathy in Statesville, NC. John A., (b. 1/3/1896; d. 3/19/1973), experienced conversion after a revival meeting and was baptized at … Continue reading
Filed under China, History of Missions, Revival
