Status
Available
Call number
Call number
M41 Ri
Publication
Regal (2006), Edition: New edition, 208 pages
Description
Has the God who prepared the gospel for all people groups also prepared all people groups for the gospel? Don Richardson, author of the bestselling book Peace Child, has studied cultures throughout the world and found startling evidence of belief in the one true God within hundreds of them. In Eternity in Their Hearts, Richardson gives fascinating, real-life examples of ways people groups have exhibited terms and concepts in their histories that have prepared them for the gospel. Read how Pachacuti, the Inca king who founded Machu Picchu, the majestic fortress in Peru, accomplished something far more significant than merely building fortresses, temples, or monuments. He sought, reached out, and found a God far greater than any popular "god" of his own culture. And there have been others throughout the world, like him, who lived to receive the blessing of the gospel. Get ready to be amazed at these intriguing examples of how God uses redemptive analogies to bring all men to Himself, bearing out the truth from Ecclesiastes that God "has also set eternity in the hearts of men" (3:11).… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member sparkleandchico
Summing up in one word--disappointing. I was recommended, and really enjoyed, Peace Child and Lords of the Earth by this author. I had thought that, of his other titles, this book would be most similar in style. It was not.
The author continues his attempts to prove his theory that God has left
However, a lot of the material is duplicated from the other books and there was not a lot of new information. This book is more of a general summary proving redemptive analogies with a short overview of each story. Unfortunately, the author uses a lot of words where one would be sufficient. It almost feels like he is trying to 'flesh-out' the book to make it a full length novel.
Instead of keeping his focus on contemporary mission and people groups, the author returns to the stories in the Bible. He seeks to apply his theory to a lot of the well-known stories. Whilst some of his observations are relevant, I felt that he took a bit too much licence with others. He is obviously passionate about his subject (hence the excessive use of exclamation points,) and therefore feels the need to prove it using anything and everything at his disposal. I realise that it was not his intention to modify the meaning of Scripture or to read things into passages that are just not there. But that is the effect in places.
I would give this book a miss. It could do with a good editing to improve the flow and to cut out a lot of the repetitive detail. I highly recommend the previously mentioned books by this author but this was disappointing.
The author continues his attempts to prove his theory that God has left
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redemptive analogies in most, if not all, remote people groups. The idea being that sharing the Gospel is part using Scripture and part connecting it with the existing cultural ideas. In his previous books, I appreciated that the author made it clear that the analogies should be used to facilitate the Gospel and should in no way change or usurp it. This is an important point that must not be over-looked. I was amazed and fascinated by some of his stories and was looking forward to further examples in this book. I accept his theory in principle, although I'm not sure that there will be useful analogies in every cultural group. God alone knows that and maybe He has chosen different methods to engage with different groups. Maybe God was being gracious to the missionaries in opening their eyes to the potential inroads for the Gospel on these occasions.However, a lot of the material is duplicated from the other books and there was not a lot of new information. This book is more of a general summary proving redemptive analogies with a short overview of each story. Unfortunately, the author uses a lot of words where one would be sufficient. It almost feels like he is trying to 'flesh-out' the book to make it a full length novel.
Instead of keeping his focus on contemporary mission and people groups, the author returns to the stories in the Bible. He seeks to apply his theory to a lot of the well-known stories. Whilst some of his observations are relevant, I felt that he took a bit too much licence with others. He is obviously passionate about his subject (hence the excessive use of exclamation points,) and therefore feels the need to prove it using anything and everything at his disposal. I realise that it was not his intention to modify the meaning of Scripture or to read things into passages that are just not there. But that is the effect in places.
I would give this book a miss. It could do with a good editing to improve the flow and to cut out a lot of the repetitive detail. I highly recommend the previously mentioned books by this author but this was disappointing.
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LibraryThing member vnovak
Explores the concept that God has already placed a basic knowledge of Himself in cultures that have not yet heard the gospel. Missionaries must find cultural keys (redemptive analogies) that will bring understanding. Helped me to see many parts of the Bible in a whole new light -- God has always
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had an all peoples perspective. Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnnyBrooks
"Startling evidence of belief in the one true God in hundreds of cultures throughout the world," is what Don Richardson's book claims to be. In fact it is not. Which is a shame as I am really interested in this subject.
Unfortunately Don makes a very poor argument, and goes way off topic for the
The second half of the book is extraordinarily tedious to read. Richardson essentially preaches an extra long sermon about why we should all be evangelists. Thank God I'm finished with that.
I did enjoy most of the stories he told in the beginning of the book, and found the monotheistic nature of those beliefs to be fascinating. I will do some more reading on this subject in the future.
If you are looking for the same old arrogant, tired, clichéd, and just plain ignorant writing from the American Evangelical group, then by all means pick up "Eternity in Their Hearts."
Unfortunately Don makes a very poor argument, and goes way off topic for the
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second half of the book. The first part of the book is full of stories about animistic cultures that seem to have strangely similar beliefs to the Christian set of beliefs. Too bad he doesn't expound on them, and seems to only select stories where "white" missionaries are the heroes or messengers of the "Sky God."The second half of the book is extraordinarily tedious to read. Richardson essentially preaches an extra long sermon about why we should all be evangelists. Thank God I'm finished with that.
I did enjoy most of the stories he told in the beginning of the book, and found the monotheistic nature of those beliefs to be fascinating. I will do some more reading on this subject in the future.
If you are looking for the same old arrogant, tired, clichéd, and just plain ignorant writing from the American Evangelical group, then by all means pick up "Eternity in Their Hearts."
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LibraryThing member OCMCCP
Fascinating accounts of how God enabled the people of different pagan cultures to understand the meaning of the Gospel.
LibraryThing member ascension-library
Eternity in Their Hearts is based off the premise that the traditional religions of many groups around the world have some of the groundwork for Christianity built in. This is a great book for learning how to do mission work as it should be done- finding an entry point and using that to introduce
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Christianity instead of making native religions out to be completely false. Show Less
LibraryThing member phoovermt
Startling evidence of belief in the one true God in hundreds of cultures throughout the world. This book contains twenty-seven incredible-but-true stories that prove the truth of Ecclesiastes, "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men."
Original language
English
ISBN
0830738371 / 9780830738373