Rating: 
Summary: The Gospel is not a white, European male invention
Review: I found this an exciting book because it is filled with numerous historical examples of peoples from diverse cultures the world over whose lives have been blessed by the missionary spread of the Gospel.
If you've ever been challenged, confused or concerned that the Gospel is something exclusively white, European and male that for primarily greedy, arrogant and condescending reasons has been imposed upon other cultures this is a book you may want to read.
I loved it. I've read it several times and found it easy to read and to understand.
The author himself is a missionary. He presents numerous factual examples of what he calls 'redemptive analogies'. These are "hidden keys" within the very fabric of non-European cultures that have wisely been recognized and utilized by many (but of course not all) missionaries over the centuries.
In contrast to seeing the Gospel as something illegitimate and disrespectful imposed upon the unsuspecting, ignorant, gullible and uncivilized 'heathen' the beautiful and respectful truth of God's redeeming love for all humankind is shown to have blessed millions. Have you only heard about the wolves in sheeps clothing? Read this book and hear about some amazing stories of blessings.
Rating:
Summary: World Religions Seek to Know Jesus
Review: Mr. Richardson does an excellent job of explaining the difference between General and Special Revelation along with explaining how God uses both to spread his Word. The author provides many examples of how God is active in spreading His gospel. It is humbling to realize that God does not "need" man to spread His Word, but rather chooses to share the experience with us.
Rating: 
Summary: His Ways are Indeed Higher
Review: One negative result of living in a society in which Christian is synonymous with status quo is that we begin to make the assumption that our religion is bound up intrinsically in our civilization. When God is reduced to the "god of western civilization," or even further to the "god of good upstanding americans," the inevitable result is that God is tamed and becomes a glorified household god. The sheer power and majesty of the True God is forgotten. This book provides an excellent reminder that His ways are truly higher than ours, and that He does indeed transcend any human culture in a way we can only see dimly.If you appreciate fictional redemptive allegories such as Lewis' Til We Have Faces this book you will enjoy the excellent accounts provided of counterparts found the oral traditions of various peoples. The book also led me to reflect on God's nature as demonstrated in the Biblical accounts of Job, Melchizedek and other non-Jewish followers of the true God, and has provides fodder for some very interesting insights into and discussions on the nature of election and God's sovereignty as displayed through his choosing some to be candidates for His grace. I can't give this book five stars because I find fault with Richardson for not providing more information about his research and sources for the book. In all fairness, though, it isn't intended to be a scholarly work. Overall, this is a great, very insightful read.
Rating: 
Summary: could have been edited better, but the info is good...
Review: The premise that this author brings to the table is fascinating and well worth reading about. In it self it deserves a 5 star rating, however, I did have a problem with the way the book was put together and the editing that went (or didn't) go into it. It was this problem that caused me to lose interest and put it down somewhere in the middle. I have a many books in this state, and it is my experience that I seldom get around to finishing them. I felt compelled however to write a review as I don't feel it is necessarily good for the system to only write about books that we loved. The idea that God revealed Himself (or better is currently and always revealing Himself) to all peoples on the earth should not be that controversial. I imagine it is to some because they have the fault of being a bit arrogant. It is not hard, after all, to go to some small little country church in the middle of Ohio and find a group of people that feel they are the only ones going to heaven. Mark Twain once made the statement (I'll paraphrase) that the some have reduced the number of the elect to such a small group they are hardly worth saving. It is important, I think, to reflect on what this skeptic had to say and how it relates to the general idea behind this book. It doesn't seem reasonable to think that God would make it impossible to most of mankind to relate to Him. And it doesn't seem reasonable to think that some small group in Ohio is the only group special enough to understand the revelation of God Almighty. Of course I am not saying by any means that there is (in my belief) any way to heaven besides through Christ, or that this book purports to say that there is either, but that the way to Christ is not always through an American church service or a Billy Graham crusade. Perhaps God had the fore sight to reveal Himself to other cultures and they used different names (ie their own language) to call God God. I would recommend this book to those going to other cultures and to those that need to study on the subject. I am hesitant to recommend it however to those that like smooth flowing easy to read text. The stories are a bit hard to follow, there are too many names and places thrown in too quickly and much of the information comes in a text book style.
Rating:
Summary: could have been edited better, but the info is good...
Review: The premise that this author brings to the table is fascinating and well worth reading about. In it self it deserves a 5 star rating, however, I did have a problem with the way the book was put together and the editing that went (or didn't) go into it. It was this problem that caused me to lose interest and put it down somewhere in the middle. I have a many books in this state, and it is my experience that I seldom get around to finishing them. I felt compelled however to write a review as I don't feel it is necessarily good for the system to only write about books that we loved. The idea that God revealed Himself (or better is currently and always revealing Himself) to all peoples on the earth should not be that controversial. I imagine it is to some because they have the fault of being a bit arrogant. It is not hard, after all, to go to some small little country church in the middle of Ohio and find a group of people that feel they are the only ones going to heaven. Mark Twain once made the statement (I'll paraphrase) that the some have reduced the number of the elect to such a small group they are hardly worth saving. It is important, I think, to reflect on what this skeptic had to say and how it relates to the general idea behind this book. It doesn't seem reasonable to think that God would make it impossible to most of mankind to relate to Him. And it doesn't seem reasonable to think that some small group in Ohio is the only group special enough to understand the revelation of God Almighty. Of course I am not saying by any means that there is (in my belief) any way to heaven besides through Christ, or that this book purports to say that there is either, but that the way to Christ is not always through an American church service or a Billy Graham crusade. Perhaps God had the fore sight to reveal Himself to other cultures and they used different names (ie their own language) to call God God. I would recommend this book to those going to other cultures and to those that need to study on the subject. I am hesitant to recommend it however to those that like smooth flowing easy to read text. The stories are a bit hard to follow, there are too many names and places thrown in too quickly and much of the information comes in a text book style.
Rating:
Summary: Read it! Give it to friends!
Review: 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. d.marshall@sun.ac.jp
Rating:
Summary: The Circle Inside the Sphere
Review: The thesis of this book is that there is a "One True God" has, in one form of special rfevelation or another, revelaed Himself to all peoples within His creation. For the author, this God is of course the God of the Bible, which I will not address in this review. As a student-anthropologist, I find Richardson's thesis to be quite compelling for those of us in cultural anthropology who are, in essense, "closet creationists" (i.e., those who hold that some type of real God must exist, or those of specific religions), or who are at lest open to the notion of considering such a posit. Because there are very hard questions that need addressing. How did religions gain such an enormous incorporation into the active cultures of peoples? Are they in their totality a mere creation of man, as Tylor, Durkheim, and others thinkers in the anthropology of religion have posited? Are they mere power tools that will one day go extinct as society "progresses" as Marx and Engles forwarded? Can religions among peoples be explained in terms of just social evolution, where more "primitive tribes" hold religion, but "enlightened" people have discarded it, and the former need to "catch up" with the the latter? My inerpretation to Richardson is that that answer to those questions is a resounding "no." And he gives most intersting anthropological data to back up his assertion. Yet, this does not negate the fact that there is an enormous area in which man does indeed "create" his religions into a unified socio-cultural system that "makes sense" to him, as Geertz asserts. But is there perhaps a small circle inside that larger field--a circle that represents not delusion, but reality, the reality of a real God who is there and who is not silent toward peoples? My interpretation of Richardson is that there is indeed such a God, which means that strictly materialistic explanations for the gargantuan reality of religions among peoples may not be such the "mistake notion" that it is thought to be some some theorists. These ideas could be seminal toward revolutionizing the field of the anthropology of religion. They offer the basis for an interpretation to religions that says, in esssence, that the fact of religions among peoples points to something "bigger" in the universe, namely, that there IS a God out there who wants to be known by people; that a strictly materialistic interpretation of the universe is not satisfactory. Richardson's approach is not very academic, though it is fair in this regard. His target audience is those among the Christian missionary movement, who he hopes will use his thesis as a starting point for evangelism among the nations. Yet, whether one takes his application of his underlying thesis or not, it is still profound and holds much water in giving an alternate explanation for the phenomena of religion among peoples. Richardson's thesis could well stand to be developed upon by those in larger academic cirlces. This is because many in socio-cultural anthropology will find this alternate explanation for the fact of religion among peoples much more satisfying than other theorists give. To all those interested in the anthropology of religion, I would suggest you buy this book, consider its deepest thesis, and develop upon it. I see a niche!
Rating:
Summary: The Circle Inside the Sphere
Review: The thesis of this book is that there is a "One True God" who has, in one form of special revelation or another, revelaed Himself to all peoples within His creation. For the author, this God is of course the God of the Bible, which I will not really address in this review. There are deeper matters to consider in the book. As a student-anthropologist, I find Richardson's thesis to be quite compelling for those of us in cultural anthropology who are at least open to the notion of considering that there may be some basis of reality in the phenomenom of religion among peoples. Indeed, there are very hard questions that need addressing. How did religions gain such an enormous incorporation into the active cultures of peoples? Are they in their totality a mere creation of man, as Tylor, Durkheim, and others thinkers in the anthropology of religion have posited? Are they mere power tools that will one day go extinct as society "progresses" as Marx and Engles forwarded? Can religions among peoples be explained in terms of just social evolution, where more "primitive tribes" hold religion, but "enlightened" people have discarded it, and the former need to "catch up" with the the latter? My inerpretation to Richardson is that that answer to those questions is a resounding "no." And he gives most some intersting anthropological data to back up his assertion. Yet, this does not negate the fact that there is an enormous area in which man does indeed "create" his religions into a unified socio-cultural system that "makes sense" to him, as, for example, Geertz asserts. But is there perhaps a small circle of something that man DID NOT create inside that larger sphere--a circle that represents not delusion, but reality, the reality of a real God who is there and who is not silent toward peoples? My interpretation of Richardson is that there is indeed such a God, which means that strictly materialistic explanations for the gargantuan reality of religions among peoples are unsatisfactory, and that religion may not be such the "mistake notion" that it is thought to be some some theorists. These ideas could be seminal toward revolutionizing the field of the anthropology of religion. They offer the basis for an interpretation to religions that says, in esssence, that the fact of religions among peoples points to something "bigger" in the universe, namely, that there IS a God out there who wants to be known by people; that a strictly materialistic interpretation of the universe is not satisfactory. That religion and religious people should be respected not only because people hold to their religion, but because there is something more to it. Richardson's approach is not very academic, though he is fair in this regard, particularly in a places. His target audience is those among the Christian missionary movement, who he hopes will use his thesis as a starting point for evangelism among the nations. Yet, whether one takes his forwarded application of his underlying thesis or not, it is still profound and holds much water in giving an alternate explanation for the phenomena of religion among peoples. Richardson's thesis could well stand to be developed upon by those in larger academic cirlces. This is because many in socio-cultural anthropology will find this alternate explanation for the fact of religion among peoples much more satisfying than other theorists give. To all those interested in the anthropology of religion, I would suggest you buy this book, consider its deepest thesis, and develop upon it. I see a niche!
Rating:
Summary: The Circle Inside the Sphere
Review: The thesis of this book is that there is a "One True God" who has, in one form of special revelation or another, revelaed Himself to all peoples within His creation. For the author, this God is of course the God of the Bible, which I will not really address in this review. There are deeper matters to consider in the book. As a student-anthropologist, I find Richardson's thesis to be quite compelling for those of us in cultural anthropology who are at least open to the notion of considering that there may be some basis of reality in the phenomenom of religion among peoples. Indeed, there are very hard questions that need addressing. How did religions gain such an enormous incorporation into the active cultures of peoples? Are they in their totality a mere creation of man, as Tylor, Durkheim, and others thinkers in the anthropology of religion have posited? Are they mere power tools that will one day go extinct as society "progresses" as Marx and Engles forwarded? Can religions among peoples be explained in terms of just social evolution, where more "primitive tribes" hold religion, but "enlightened" people have discarded it, and the former need to "catch up" with the the latter? My inerpretation to Richardson is that that answer to those questions is a resounding "no." And he gives most some intersting anthropological data to back up his assertion. Yet, this does not negate the fact that there is an enormous area in which man does indeed "create" his religions into a unified socio-cultural system that "makes sense" to him, as, for example, Geertz asserts. But is there perhaps a small circle of something that man DID NOT create inside that larger sphere--a circle that represents not delusion, but reality, the reality of a real God who is there and who is not silent toward peoples? My interpretation of Richardson is that there is indeed such a God, which means that strictly materialistic explanations for the gargantuan reality of religions among peoples are unsatisfactory, and that religion may not be such the "mistake notion" that it is thought to be some some theorists. These ideas could be seminal toward revolutionizing the field of the anthropology of religion. They offer the basis for an interpretation to religions that says, in esssence, that the fact of religions among peoples points to something "bigger" in the universe, namely, that there IS a God out there who wants to be known by people; that a strictly materialistic interpretation of the universe is not satisfactory. That religion and religious people should be respected not only because people hold to their religion, but because there is something more to it. Richardson's approach is not very academic, though he is fair in this regard, particularly in a places. His target audience is those among the Christian missionary movement, who he hopes will use his thesis as a starting point for evangelism among the nations. Yet, whether one takes his forwarded application of his underlying thesis or not, it is still profound and holds much water in giving an alternate explanation for the phenomena of religion among peoples. Richardson's thesis could well stand to be developed upon by those in larger academic cirlces. This is because many in socio-cultural anthropology will find this alternate explanation for the fact of religion among peoples much more satisfying than other theorists give. To all those interested in the anthropology of religion, I would suggest you buy this book, consider its deepest thesis, and develop upon it. I see a niche!
Rating:
Summary: Seminal ideas
Review: This book is a must-read for every Christian who has a burden for missions. The approach is the one most likely to succeed in opening hearts to the Gospel, to the extent that a human being has any influence over such a task. The basic premise is that God, in His mercy, has permitted every culture in the world to retain a portion of the truth. If the missionary goes into the region searching the culture for its grains of truth, and then affirms that these ideas ARE true, and then presents the Gospel as the REST of the truth, he will be received. The book is heavily documented with specific examples. It will hearten anyone who agonizes over the question of God's justice in regard to people who have never heard the Gospel, and demolish the idea that God is unjust for condemning people to eternal hellfire because of their ignorance.
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