Green, Evangelism in the Early Church

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Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, Revised Edition. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.

Referenced in: Theology and Practice of Evangelism – Missionally Responsive/Evangelical

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

The first edition of this book came out in the 1970s, and has been a standard in seminaries and colleges worldwide. It is one of only a few books of its kind. I would place it alongside Andreas Kostenberger’s Salvation to the Ends of the Earth as excellent biblical overviews of the theology and practice of mission and evangelism.

In this volume, Green attempts to “go back to the beginning and see how the first Christians succeeded in making such an impact.” (13) He realizes we cannot “move directly from page to action,” as “their world was very different from ours.” (13) Nevertheless,

“we cannot fail to profit from reflecting on the ways in which this tiny band of men and women in a fringe province of the far-flung Roman Empire became a world faith within a few generations. They must have something important to teach us about evangelism, even though we shall need to transpose their music into another key if we are to touch the modern ear.” (14)

Green opens this edition with an excellent introduction on the principles of early evangelism that are relevant to our generation. These include the early believers confidence in truth, motivation, apologetics, transformation, conversion, and methods. This spirit of this section was best expressed later in the book:

Here were men and women of every rank and station in life, of every country in the known world, so convinced of the one true God whom they had come to know, that nothing must stand in the way of their passing on this good news to others. …They did it by preaching and personal conversation, by formal discourse and informal testimony, by arguing in the synagogue and by chattering in the laundry. They might be slighted, laughed at, disenfranchised, robbed of their possessions, their homes, even their families but this would not stop them. They might be reported to the authorities as dangerous atheists, and required to sacrifice to the imperial gods; but they refused to comply. In Christianity they had found something utterly new, authentic and satisfying. They were not prepared to deny Christ even in order to preserve their own lives; and in the manner of their dying they made converts to their faith. (373)

After the introduction, he delves into history by considering the pathways and obstacles for evangelism afforded by the environment of ancient Rome. He then considers the precise nature of their proclamation. Just what was the good news? He answers this by surveying the definitions and biblical usages of euaggelion (good news), kerusso / kerygma (proclamation), and martureo (witness). This is followed by how evangelization occurred among Jews and Gentiles, respectively. He then unpacks the unique character of Christian conversion, with an emphasis on “how strange the Judeo-Christian insistence on conversion must have seemed to first century Gentiles.” (203) The next chapter addresses the question of who were the people who brought about these conversions, i.e. “the identity of the early preachers and then the quality of their lives and deaths.” (234) This leads to a consideration of the three main motives behind their “tireless and unselfish evangelism” (273) and incredible zeal. Another chapter on evangelistic methods shows that “for more than 150 years [the early Christians] possessed no church buildings, and there was the greatest variety in the type and content of Christian evangelistic preaching.” (300) This includes discussions of evangelism in the synagogues, open-air contexts, households (a rich discussion, but reflects a bias toward infant baptism), personal encounters, and literature. The next chapter considers evangelistic strategies. Here, Green demonstrates that “the spread of Christianity was…largely accomplished by informal missionaries, and must have been to a large extent haphazard and spontaneous.” (356) Nevertheless, there were influencing factors such as geography, the strategic importance of certain towns, urban areas, and provinces. The epilogue synthesizes many of these historical insights, with a special attempt to generalize factors that may be important for the church to take heed of in any age.

Those who enjoy Green’s work on the subject of evangelism may also appreciate related volumes:

From the Publisher

Now a modern classic, Michael Green’s Evangelism in the Early Church provides a comprehensive look at the ways the first Christians — from the New Testament period up until the middle of the third century — worked to spread the good news to the rest of the world.

In describing life in the early church, Green explores crucial aspects of the evangelistic task that have direct relevance for similar work today, including methods, motives, and strategies. He assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the evangelistic approaches used by the earliest Christians, and he also considers the obstacles to evangelism, using outreach to Gentiles and to Jews as examples of differing contexts for proclamation. Carefully researched and frequently quoting primary sources from the early church, this book will both show contemporary readers what can be learned from the past and help renew their own evangelistic vision.

About the Author

Michael Green, one of the world’s leading evangelists, is currently Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, England. Prior to that he has been Principal of St. John’s College in Nottingham, Rector of St. Aldate’s Church in Oxford, Professor of Evangelism at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Senior Advisor of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on Evangelism. In addition to teaching at Wycliffe, he maintains a world-wide speaking and writing ministry.


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