The Logic of Evangelism [Paperback]

William J. Abraham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 1989

In this book William J. Abraham attempts to address the dearth of modern theology on the topic of evangelism. In contrast both to the traditional focus on proclamation and to the more recent emphasis on church growth, Abraham argues that evangelism should be construed as primary initiation into the kingdom of God. / Fleshing out his thesis by discussing how conversion, baptism, morality, the creed, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the classical spiritual disciplines are related to kingdom initiation, Abraham seeks to articulate the implications of his theory of evangelism for the practice of evangelism. / Besides holding forth a specific norm regarding how evangelism should be understood, Abraham also maintains that the sorely needed critical discussion about evangelism should proceed in a particular way—not by drawing up new, specialized schemes but rather by bringing to bear on the topic relevant material from a number of appropriate disciplines. The book thus seeks to provoke or inspire other scholars to pursue critical reflection on evangelism, to further develop the new ground broken here.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Abraham (Perkins School of Theology) subjects the theory and practice of evangelism to modern theological reflection. He points out that very little critical theological thought has been applied to this area and that no major contemporary theologian has written about it. In an attempt to foster such serious study, Abraham takes a logical and scholarly approach, defining evangelism as "primary initiative into the Kingdom of God" as opposed to "preaching the Gospel" or "church growth." After developing his thesis in the first five chapters, he then examines the relation to evangelism of conversion, baptism, spiritual gifts, and related topics. Practical evangelism and ecumenism are also discussed. An excellent and scholarly work long overdue in the field. Recommended for large public and academic libraries. For another look at evangelism, see Randall Balmer's Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory , reviewed below.
- Ed. -- C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

William J. Abraham is Albert Cook Outler Professor of Theology and Wesley Studies at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. His other books include Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology: From the Fathers to Feminism (Oxford).

Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (October 6, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802804330
• ISBN-13: 978-0802804334
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 1blessedbabe, October 27, 2011

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1blessedbabe - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Logic of Evangelism (Paperback)

thanks so much for the item... the product came in tact and in a timely manner. Please keep up the good service!

4.0 out of 5 stars Content wonderful, but book falls apart, August 25, 2011

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Roxann Schulte - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Logic of Evangelism (Paperback)

I bought this book for school and most of the pages are falling out. I am constantly taping it back together. I'm disappointed as it is a book I need to mark up, but if you open the book to write in it, pages fall out. The content of this book is so great and Dr. Abraham is a brilliant writer. I want to keep it, but the manufacturing is a great disappointment. Time does not allow me to return it as I need it for a class project now. I expected higher quality manufacturing.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too academic for the logic of good news, October 28, 2010

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Lukas Targosz "StepCloser" (Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Logic of Evangelism (Paperback)

Evangelism books are many and as I have read many of them, I always wished that evangelism would be simpler activity. The books that I have been reading were mostly written by people with clear evangelist gift, but not necessarily pastors, which made it difficult sometime to apply to regular church life as they seemed to be strictly proclamation focused and guilt driven. However, the book I would like to review is very different. Acclaimed theologian William J. Abraham, is a United Methodist pastor and theologian. A native of Ireland, he is currently the Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.

Abraham focuses his books on his colleagues and professional clergy, and raises some very important questions, especially when dealing with more traditional stream of protestant church. His main focus is that evangelism is an initiation into the Kingdom of God rather than just proclamation of the gospel or focus on the church growth. He constructs his thesis by discussing how conversion, baptism, morality, the creed, the gifts of the Spirit, and the classical spiritual disciplines are related to kingdom initiation. After developing his thesis in the first five chapters, he then examines the relation to evangelism of conversion, baptism, spiritual gifts, and ecumenism. Discussed orientations of evangelism: proclamation and church growth, along with three other perspectives: soul-winning, witnessing, and disciplining focus on one dimension of the kingdom of God which is then erected into the essence of evangelism. The kingdom perspective of evangelism, that Abraham suggests, shifts the focus from the anthropocentric to the theocentric where we focus on the majestic activity of a Trinitarian God, thus on worships.

No doubt, Abraham's volume will be praised among the theological colleges and among his peers, also he estimates highly John Wimber's "power evangelism" because of its eschatological orientation, which makes him popular also in the Pentecostal/Charismatic circles. He praises the work of the church growth movement for revitalizing the debate about evangelism but critiques its pragmatism, the shallowness of its theological reflection, its discontinuity among Christian traditions and its overly simplistic view of initiation into the body. We need to note, however, that he wrote it in 1989 and these has been days before some of the theological concepts of church growth as well as spiritual side of growth such as prayer life, Spirit filled life and such were discussed in the church growth movement (and as we see in later works of C. Peter Wagner, Thom Rainer, Elmer Towns and Gary McIntosh). So it is hard to compare his beliefs when there is another 21 years since the book was written and the contemporary church growth movement is far more organic and discipleship oriented than the one he criticizes.

I have personally did not understand why he introduces the discussion about the wider ecumenism as he may go too far in suggesting a form of universalism. While it is possible to say that biblical Abraham was unaware of Christ yet saved through Him, it is a stretch to argue that this permits a similar work amidst those of other faith traditions today. Abraham was worshipping the true God as He had revealed Himself at that point in history. As such to draw a distinction between God of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ is counterintuitive when considering the experience of the Old Testament people. While we as Christians must pursue evangelistic encounters with respect towards both atheists and other faiths, it does not change the fact that there is one God of the universe who has demanded a response from His Creation through acceptance of the life changing work of Jesus Christ.

The overall feel I have from the Abraham book (perhaps because of lack of personal stories), is that Abraham writes more as a theorist of evangelism than an active participant. He certainly has interesting and important things to say, but for the practical learning on evangelism and for motivation of the church it is not an ideal choice.