The Ethics of Evangelism: A Philosophical Defense of Proselytizing and Persuasion.

Bowen, John P.

The Ethics of Evangelism: A Philosophical Defense of Proselytizing and Persuasion.

By Elmer John Thiessen. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2011. Pp. 285. Paperback $24.

This book is a great gift to all who are reflective practitioners of mission and evangelism. In the past half-century, the Christian world has been sensitized to ethical issues In evangelism by two things: the historical link between missions and colonialization, and (more narrowly) the scandals around various evangelists during the 1980s. Since then, however, a bigger question has arisen in the secular world: not whether proselytization is done ethically or not, but whether it is ethical to do it at all.

Elmer John Thiessen, research professor of education at Tyndale University College in Toronto, has addressed both these issues in a way that is careful, thorough, irenic, and ultimately persuasive--to this reader's mind at least. He rightly takes on the bigger and more recent issue first and, having concluded that evangelism is a legitimate human activity (indeed he argues that it is necessary for human dignity!), moves on to suggest fifteen criteria of what makes it either ethical or unethical. In the process, he engages a wide range of thinkers, from John Locke to Lesslie Newbigin, and from Aristotle to Noam Chomsky.

The book is explicitly aimed at both Christian and non-Christian audiences. Thus in arguing that human dignity must be the cornerstone of all proselytization, Thiessen appeals equally not only to Scripture and theology but also to philosophers such as Kant. This is valuable, because the discussion needs to involve more than the Christian community. In a delightful way, Thiessen's "evangelizing" of his non-Christian readers exemplifies the respectful, dialogic approach he commends for proselytizers. Thus, when he says that "ethical proselytizing requires coherence between the proselytizer's character and the message being conveyed" (p. 196), it is a pleasure to report that he practices what he preaches--making his case all the more persuasive.

My only concern with the book is that it is not one for the average reader. But it is right that the debate should first be engaged at this academic level. We need now for Thiessen's thinking to percolate down to the general Christian public-not least via preachers and teachers and seminary professors--and beyond, to the public square of cultural discourse. The result would be Christians who are more confident and more courteous in their evangelism, and a world that is more open to hearing the Gospel because it is ethically conveyed.

John P. Bowen is Professor of Evangelism and Director of the Institute of Evangelism at Wycliffe College, Toronto.