Earthen Vessels (PDF)

Contrary to popular impressions, the days of the missionary are far from over. North American churches send more missionaries than ever before, and 90 percent of them are evangelicals who are not affiliated with the "mainline" Protestant mission boards.

The first major historical treatment of the distinctly evangelical wing of twentieth-century American missions, Earthen Vessels truly breaks new ground. Covering territory that missions histories have scarcely explored yet, the distinguished historians contributing to this volume portray the North American (including Canadian) evangelical missionary enterprise from the Student Volunteer Movement to the very recent past.

The book traces the influences of premillennial eschatology, the fundamentalist-modernist controversies, the rise of independent missions and conservative denominational boards, the role of World War II and America's rise to world power, the recent development of a distinctly evangelical theology of missions, and the growing influence of the Two-Thirds World's evangelical leaders. While this volume certainly does not contain the last word on these subjects, in a number of areas it does offer very nearly the first look.

With its fresh subject matter and new historical interpretations, Earthen Vessels will interest church history scholars and students, missionaries and ministers, and any others who wish to know more about American missions.