William J. Abraham, The Logic of Evangelism. Eerdmans, 1989.
Referenced in: Theology and Practice of Evangelism – Missional/Missio Dei
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Since its publication in 1989, this has become one of the most influential texts on contemporary evangelism, referenced by many authors on the subject, especially those of the Missional/Missio Dei perspective. Abraham is credited as the first to apply critical theological method to the theory and practice of evangelism. Today, he is often quoted by missional/emergent authors, but he wrote this text before these conversations sprang to life. Respect for his work spans beyond these conversations, and is reflected broadly among both evangelical and mainline scholar-practitioners.
Abraham challenges the notions of evangelism as simply proclamation or “church growth.” For example, he points out the varied work of evangelists in the New Testament, showing that they did not confine themselves to the proclamation of the gospel, but “they were keen to see those who responded became part of a community,” which could not occur “without a fair amount of instruction and teaching.” (51) Also, while he shares the concerns of the early church growth enthusiasts on the development of the church, he believes that to equate evangelism and church growth fails to uphold the biblical witness. By contrast, Abraham shows how even in the Great Commission, “the emphasis falls not on proclamation but on making disciples, on baptizing, and teaching.” (53) This leads him to define evangelism as the “primary initiation into the Kingdom of God for the first time. …It is more like farming or educating than like raising one’s arm or blowing a kiss.” (95) This is not to be confused with a series of catechetical rites and ceremonies, or with the lifetime process of Christian nurture and development, but to a “theocentric horizon where the focus is on the majestic and awesome activity of a trinitarian God whose acts on our behalf stagger our imagination and dissolve into impenetrable mystery.” (98) The full definition of what Abraham means my “initiation” is too vast to develop in a summary. Suffice it to say it is rich and meaningful, having a bit of a transcendant character as it was developed not out of the postmodern cultural milieu and the chaos of the emerging conversations (which came after he wrote), but out of the author’s study on the biblical witness. One quote is especially reflective:
Clearly, evangelism will involve proclamation of the good news of the kingdom; it will generally require the call to repent and come to faith in Christ Jesus; and it will call for the provision of a process of initiation in which the convert to Christianity can be grounded in the theological and moral tradition of the Christian community, be brought into its membership, and be provided with the necessary initial equipment to serve as one of God’s agents in the world. These constitute the meat and marrow of evangelism; the rest are on the menu as the occasion requires.
…Put another way, it will be impossible to claim that one act alone is enough to constitute evangelism. Preaching an evangelistic sermon on television is not in itself evangelism; nor is baptizing twenty people on a Sunday morning in church; nor is sending a consignment of Bibles to a tribe that has never seen a Bible before; nor is it teaching someone the basic doctrines of the Christian faith; nor is inviting someone to walk the aisle and repent; nor is leading someone in a prayer of personal commitment. Unless such acts are intimately related to a process that intentionally brings people into the kingdom of God, they are something other than or something less than evangelism. To be evangelism they must be causally related to the process of initiation into God’s rule, and they must be governed by the intention to achieve this end.” (104-105)
He argues that without this broad attentiveness in the work of evangelism, “’born again’ Christians remain anemic…nominal and barely socialized into the privileges and responsibilities of the kingdom of God.” (108)
In the remaining chapters of the book, Abraham traces the significance of this definition as it relates to conversion, baptism, morality, the creed, gifts of the Spirit, the classic spiritual disciplines, and other congregational practices. He also addresses the relationship between evangelism and modernity and the question of wider ecumenism.
One may not agree with Abraham’s definitions of baptism, the creed, etc., and must understand his appreciative affiliation with Methodism. But most of his insights transcend the peculiarities of faith traditions, being grounded in scripture. While many of his proposals are repeated and developed in more detail by others (e.g. Robert Webber, Ancient Future Evangelism), few express them as cogently as Abraham. He is a worthy read.
From the Publisher
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 waynot 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.
About the Author
William J. Abraham is a United Methodist pastor and theologian. He is currently Albert Cook Outler Professor of Theology and Wesley Studies at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.
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