Announcing the Kingdom, Book Review Example

Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible

Introduction

In Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible, author and compiler Arthur S. Glasser, Dean Emeritus of the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, explores the foundation of God’s mission for humankind as contained in the Holy Bible. As noted by the publishers, Glasser “investigates the development of the kingdom of God theme” as found in the pages of the Old Testament via several pivotal approaches related to “God’s mission in creation, the flood, and the covenant with Abraham” and His mission “through the nation of Israel during the Exodus. . . and the kings of Israel.” Glasser also explores God’s mission related to the exile of the Hebrews which he contends set the stage for the coming of Jesus Christ. Overall, Glasser provides a solid blueprint for missionaries via the “proclamation of God’s kingdom among the nations and the work of the Holy Spirit” concerning the Christian church. ¹

Summary

Announcing the Kingdom is divided into six specific parts or sections. Part One explores God’s mission as laid out in the beginning of the Old Testament which includes the creation of the world, the flood, and God’s call to the patriarchs; Part Two concerns ____________

1. Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible, Baker Publishing Group, last modified 2013, accessed 10 February 2014, http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/announcing-the-kingdom/230361.

Egypt and God’s covenant with Israel and the Kings of Israel; Part Three concerns the Exile from Egypt and the coming of the Messiah; Part Four reveals God’s mission through Jesus Christ, while Part Five examines God’s mission via the Holy Spirit; and Part Six explores God’s mission until the end of humankind’s existence on Earth.

According to Paul G. Hiebert in the Preface, Glasser’s basic purpose for writing this well-researched and documented book was to “offer the reader a biblical study of the Kingdom of God and the worldwide mission of God’s people” and how it relates to mission theory and practice. ² This was accomplished by drawing upon the past work of other biblical scholars and missiologists and by “broadening missiological reflection beyond a predominantly individualized. . . understanding of salvation” and the “interaction of the church and the world.” ³

Evaluation

In his introduction, Glasser offers to the reader a rather astonishing observation  which in many ways serves as the foundation for the rest of the book–that the entire Holy Bible, from the beginning of the Old Testament and through the New Testament, is a “missionary book” based upon the “revelation of God’s purpose and action in mission in human history.” Glasser also declares that the basic theme or motif of the Old Testament is the “revelation of the redemptive activity of God in and through the son,” being

Israel, and that the New Testament was written as a form of continuity “between ancient ____________

2. Arthur S. Glasser, Dean S. Gilliland, Charles E. Van Engen, and Shawn B. Redford, Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003), 8.
3. Ibid, 11.

Israel and the church.” ⁴

In other words, the Holy Bible is an historical and religious account or record of God’s missionary work on Earth through the perspective of the Jewish people or the chosen people of God. It is also a record of Israel’s covenant with God which began with Abraham and as some scholars have suggested, continues today via the nation of Israel. Glasser supports this by declaring that the “old” covenant, a term which he finds

offensive, was ratified on Mount Sinai by Moses and is “forever settled in heaven” where it is “eternal and unending,” thus making it unnecessary to refer to it as “old.” ⁵ Therefore, as a missionary work, the Holy Bible outlines in great detail the actions of God in relation to bringing His word to the people of Israel and as a consequence, to all human beings as the only true path to eternal salvation.

As a matter of critique, does the Holy Bible contain any plausible references or evidentiary statements that support Glasser’s view of it as a “missionary book?” In Chapter Two of Announcing the Kingdom, Glasser does provide a tantalizing glimpse into the Holy Bible as a “missionary book” by quoting a passage found in Acts 2:39 in the New Testament–“The promise is for you and your children. . . for all whom the Lord our God will call,” an indication that God is calling His people to serve as recorders of His mission on Earth. Similarly, in Revelations 22:3-5), we find that God’s “servants will serve Him” and that God will provide His servants with light or enlightenment. ⁶ Thus,

____________

4. Ibid, 12.
5. Ibid, 17-18.
6. Ibid, 18.

God’s servants could be seen as missionaries who have been given the light of God or the truth which God desires to be spread across the world, much akin to the old adage of “spreading the Gospel.”

In Chapter Four of Announcing the Kingdom, Glasser adds that in contrast to man’s futile efforts to create a world empire without the presence of God (almost all of which have and will in the future collapse), God created his own movement in response to His need for “a servant people to whom He might reveal his redemptive purpose” as recruits for achieving the ultimate goal of His mission. ⁷ These recruits or missionaries were the Israelites, led of course by Abraham, the quintessential deliverer of God’s missionary goals who activities as shown in the Old Testament helped to grow God’s mission and spread it into all earthbound nations.

Another important recruit or missionary was Isaiah whom Glasser refers to as the “Holy One of Israel.” Much like Abraham, Isaiah could be viewed as a major missionary whose visions of God’s kingdom literally set the path for other Old Testament prophets. In the Book of Isaiah, we find several intriguing lines that appear to indicate that the people of Israel are truly God’s missionaries on Earth–“(God) will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths,” being the paths that will take God’s missionaries to every corner of the known world in order to spread the Gospel or as the apostle Paul once remarked to “bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head,” in this instance, Jesus Christ. ⁸

____________

7. Ibid, 30.
8. Ibid, 56.

In Chapter Eight, Glasser discusses how the Israelites as God’s chosen missionaries on Earth fell “into the trap of believing that its election by God made it His favorite,” an indication that the Israelites were not the only group of people assigned by God to be His missionaries. This false belief dates back to the times of King David who in the Book of David was promised by God that the city of Jerusalem would always be secure, that the temple would remain inviolate, and that the Davidic hereditary line would be permanent or everlasting. As a result, the Israelites forgot (or better yet overlooked) the fact that they, along with the Gentiles who were also within “the circle of God’s concerns,” had been selected by God to serve as His missionaries which was both “a privilege and an obligation.” ⁹ In many ways, this false belief may help to explain why the Israelites and the nation of Israel has experienced so much turmoil and discontent since the time of King David.

As a biblical scholar and historian of the Jewish people, Glasser has conceived a rather unique work which in many ways goes against the traditional views of the Holy Bible as a religious and historical account of the ancient Israelites and the kings that ruled over them for thousands of years before the coming of Jesus Christ as the Messiah whom Glasser sees as the final link in the missiological chain related to God’s eternal mission on Earth. Also, Glasser’s in-depth knowledge on the topic of missiological history rings true in Announcing the Kingdom which according to the book’s publishers is the result of Glasser’s more than thirty years of teaching experience and which could serve as a study

____________

9. Ibid, 21.

guide for missionary students and participants an an “ideal textbook for a Biblical Foundations of Mission university course.” ¹⁰

Many previous book reviewers seem to agree with this premise. For example, Gary B. McGee of the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary calls Announcing the Kingdom a “panoramic tour of the Kingdom of God from Genesis to Revelation” with a scholarly focus upon the theological foundations of missionary work. McGee also declares that Announcing the Kingdom “intersects biblical exegesis with missiological reflection to produce a solidly evangelical and relevant understanding” on the duties of Christian missionaries and organizations related to “spreading the Gospel” of Jesus Christ during a time of religious disillusionment and discontent. ¹¹

Conclusion

As is the case with most scholarly religious works, especially those that attempt to place the Holy Bible in a new theological light, Announcing the Kingdom might be a bit too dense for some readers to fully comprehend the message that Glasser is sending within its pages. But overall, as missiological scholar Gary Corwin explains it, Announcing the Kingdom presents a solid case that the overarching theme of the Holy Bible is one of mission ¹² and that as God has ordained presents His eternal plan for the salvation and redemption of humankind.

____________

10. Ibid, 136.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.

Bibliography

Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible. Baker Publishing Group. Last modified 2013. Accessed 10 February 2014. http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/announcing-the-kingdom/230361.

Glasser, Arthur S., Gilliland, Dean S., Van Engen, Charles E., and Redford, Shawn B. Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003