Eternity in Their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World [Paperback]

Don Richardson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2006

Has the God who prepared the gospel for all peoples also prepared all peoples for the gospel? Don Richardson, author of best-selling Peace Child, demonstrates through compelling stories from many different cultures how the concept of a supreme God has existed for centuries in hundreds of cultures throughout the world. From deep in the jungles of Burma to a majestic fortress in Peru and in countless other civilizations, people have exhibited in their histories terms and concepts that have prepared them for the gospel.  Eternity in Their Hearts shows how God uses redemptive analogies to bring all men to Himself, bearing out the truth from Ecclesiastes that God “has also set eternity in the hearts of men.”

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DON RICHARDSON, author of Secrets of the Koran, Lords of the Earth and Peace Child, has been studying the Muslim world for over 30 years. He and his late wife, Carol, spent 15 years among the Sawi, a Stone Age tribe of Irian Jaya. Don designed an alphabet suited to the Sawi language, authored 19 primers, taught the tribesmen to read in their native tongue and translated the entire New Testament. More than half of the Sawi accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Since 1977, Don has served as ambassador-at-large for World Team, a mission organization. Don holds an honorary doctorate of literature from Biola University in La Mirada, California, is an ordained pastor and speaks at more than 40 church conferences each year.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Regal; 0003- edition (March 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830738371
• ISBN-13: 978-0830738373
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don Richardson is one of the most read authors on Christian missions alive today. Peace Child, a book about his missions work with the Sawi people in Irian Jaya. He is also the author of Eternity in Their Hearts. All of Richardson's books focus on what he calls his "redemptive analogy" thesis: the idea that each culture has some story, ritual, or tradition that can be used to illustrate and apply the Christian gospel message.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

160 of 165 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it! Give it to friends! July 5, 2000

By David Marshall

Format:Paperback

The thesis of this book is that God has prepared the cultures of the world for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This idea may sound bizarre to many people. But since I first read the book about seventeen years ago, I have found confirmation on three levels. First, Scriptural. Richardson's idea of "redemptive analogies" indirectly echoes the teaching of Jesus that he came "to fulfill" rather than to "do away with" the (Jewish) Law, and, more directly, the approach the apostles John and Paul in speaking to Greeks about the divine "Logos," or about altars "to an unknown God." Second, historical. In Augustine's City of God, Christ was preached as a fulfillment of the truest elements in Greco-Roman culture in the early church. This is in fact a large part of "How the West Was Won" to Christ, and a large part of the East, as well.

The third form of confirmation was psychological, from the mouths of skeptics. Humanist Huston Smith complains of Christianity that "If God is a God of love, it seems most unlikely that he would not have revealed himself to his other children as well." Buddhist Thich Naht Hanh agrees: "Sharing does not mean wanting others to abandon their spiritual roots. . . People cannot be happy if they are rootless." Both are quite right, as far as they go. But Richardson shows that God has revealed himself to "all his children" by planting a root for the Gospel within each culture, so when we call people to Christ, we call them to the deepest truths within their own cultures. I remember the first time I visited the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China, 16 years ago. Who was this "Heaven" whom the Chinese worshiped? Why did the emperor come once a year, just like the high priest in Israel, to sacrifice for the sins of the people? As I stood in the most sacred spot in China, it seemed as if a Voice spoke to my heart. "Do you think I just came to China with the missionaries? No. I have been here all along. I made China."

Many years of research in China confirmed this to me. Among the tribal cultures of southern China and Taiwan, the Polynesians, and China itself, I came across many examples that confirmed Richardson's thesis. Later, I wrote a book called True Son of Heaven: How Jesus Fulfills the Chinese Culture, and spoke around the Pacific Rim on the subject. People in the audience often pointed out further examples of this thesis.

Eternity in Their Hearts has been tremendously influential among missionaries. But I think it is a book that everyone should read, including non-Christians who ask questions like those of Smith and Hahn. Read the book, and pass it on to a friend.

If you are interested in a more philosophical approach to the issue, try Chesterton's Everlasting Man and Orthodoxy. "Redemptive analogies" are also a latent theme of many of C.S.Lewis' books: Surprised by Joy, Mere Christianity, Pilgrims Regress, and most intriguing of all, Till We Have Faces.

I've also just finished writing a book called Jesus and the Religions of Man. The book is not exclusively about redemptive analogies; mainly, it is a general argument for the Christian faith. But if you're interested in learning more about how persistent and coherent the idea of God is in the pagan cultures of the world, you'll find some interesting examples in there. I also give more examples of redemptive analogies that center on the person of Jesus and on his work on the cross. Many of these come from the more civilized cultures of Asia, and also Marxist, psychologist, feminist, and tribal sub-cultures of Western civilization.

[e-mail]

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Staggering Idea February 7, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Who were the Magi who brought gifts to the Baby Jesus, and how did they know that a Messiah was coming? Who was Melchizedek, the contemporary of Abraham who was a priest of the one high God? Who was the Greek prophets who Paul recognized as having spoken God's words to the Greek people? How did a King in South America before the coming of the Europeans recognize that there was only one true God? For the answers to these and many other questions about people who knew about God before they were ever visited by Christian missionaries or had contact with the people of Israel, read "Eternity in Their Hearts". It is a truly great book. The thesis of the book is simple-- God is the One God of all the earth. He has made himself known to all people in some fashion. He has prepared the way for the message of Christ. When Paul approached an altar to The Unknown God in Athens, he declared that God to be the one true God. Who had built the altar, and what did the builder know? There is now a novel that works with a premise similar to that of "Eternity in Their Hearts". It's about a pagan spiritist who recognizes that there is design in the Universe so he sets out to find the purpose of all things and finds God in the process. The novel is titled "Castle of Wisdom," and it is by an author named Rhett Ellis. It's a great read too.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting customs from tribal people around the world May 11, 2003

By Clare Chu TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Excellent study of tribal and ethnic traditions and myths that point to the true God of Creation and His Son the Messiah of Israel. Don Richardson shows stories of people who said that they once knew the true God, but somehow either lost the Book, or lost contact with Him. One tribe said that they were sure that a light-skinned messenger would come someday to tell about the Son of God. So sure were they that they had appointed people to watch for these messengers. This paved the way for the actual missionaries to share Christ with them, which was accepted eagerly. Other examples are people who had lost a Book, and were waiting for someone to restore it to them. One example was recorded in the Bible where Paul preached on Mars Hill to the Greeks about the unknown God. Richardson goes back further to tell about the story of Epimenides and the sacrificing of "dedicated" sheep to ask the "unknown God" to cure the city of a deadly plague, after they had offered atoning sacrifices to all of the gods that they had to no avail.

Very interesting reading. One disappointment is that in the last chapter he promises a book showing the spreading of Christianity in the last 2000 years, and the missionary fervor of the "World's First Bible Belt" (a 7,000-mile one completely encircling the Mediterranean Sea), but I can't find that this book has ever been published. This book leaves you wanting to find out more, so I recommend the author's "Peace Child" and "Lords of the Earth" talking about the people and customers of Dutch New Guinea (Irian Jaya), and how these people came to know the Lord Jesus Christ.