150 Roy Stults, Dale F.

Walker, Makito Yoshimoto

that it is not a Western institution but is truly a
global movement. The book provides excellent
exercises at the end of each chapter to help the
reader, whether in the church or in the class
room, to fully engage the material presented in
each chapter. These exercises are well-thoughtout and probe the subject in a manner that aids
in the instruction and continued discussion of
the material.
The book is obviously the result of many
years of serious and intense missiological
thinking and teaching, accompanied by signif
icant experience in doing hands-on missionary
work. That is the perfect combination for
writing a book on missions.
Missiological Models in Ministry
to Muslims
By Sam Schlorff
Upper Darby, PA: Middle East Resources
2006, 202 pp., paper. $19.95
Reviewed by Dale F. Walker
Sam Schlorff writes from long experience of
ministry with Muslims and a long association
with Arab World Ministries (and predecessor
organizations). He is no stranger to readers of
Missiology; three of his previous articles have
been in these pages (1983; 1993; 2000). The
third of these is adapted in several parts of
the present book and should be compared with
Dean Gilliland's response in the same issue.
Part I of Schlorff's book is a short histor
ical overview of six models of ministry to
Muslims. These range from polemics in the
19th Century, which developed into the Direct
Approach model, typified by Christy Wil
son, Sr., to the Fulfillment Model, represented
by Bevan Jones, the Dialectal model (Hen
drik Kraemer), the Dialogical Model (Ken
neth Cragg and the WCC), and the Dynamic
Equivalence/Translational Model, illustrated
by various attempts at "contextualization."
This historical review is very compressed, but
valuable; it would be even more valuable if
Roman Catholic models had been included in
the survey.
Part II deals mainly with questions concern
ing the use of Qur'anic expressions in Bible
translation and in teaching. There is exten
sive discussion about the use of 'Isa/Jesus, but
none on the use of Allah/God. Some would

use Qur'anic expressions only negatively, in

debate; others would use them positively, try
ing tofillthem with Christian meanings. This
leads into more discussion of an "islamicized
church." Schlorff is very doubtful about min
istry at the C4-C5 parts of the familiar scale.
In Part , Schlorff sets out aspects of his
own model of ministry. He focuses die ob
jective of mission to Muslims in terms of the
Kingdom of God; the Bible is the only theo
logical starting point, rejecting any positive use
of Islamic teaching. Contextualization applies
to non-religious language and customs. The
church is planted with what Schlorff calls the
"Betrothal Model," based on 2 Cor. 11:2-3.
An extensive appendix illustrates Schlorff's
model with the ministry and teaching of Church
Without Walls, founded by Amees Zaka, and
based around Philadelphia, though evidently
there are branches in other places. This min
istry is important in itself, though to compare
like with like, a better illustration contrasting
the "Bethothal" and the "Dynamic Equiva
lence" models would be from a movement in
the Muslim world.
The bibliography is very extensive, largely
from the historical materials of Parts I and II.
It is not annotated as stated; only a handful of
entries have any annotation. (A real annotated
bibliography would be a wonderful project.)
In summary, this book is an extensive ex
position of one model of ministry, along with
critique of other models. Whether one agrees
with this stance or not, it is an important state
ment. Our thanks to Schlorff for making it
available.
Theology in Japan:
Takakura Tokutaro (1885-1934)
By J. Nelson Jennings
American Society of Missiology Dissertation
Series,
University Press of America, Lanham;
Boulder; New York; Toronto; Oxford
2004, xxx + 488 pp., paper. $64.00
Reviewed by Makito Yoshimoto
This Ph.D. dissertation (1995) was written
by J. Nelson Jennings, who was a former mis
sionary in Japan, first as a church-planting
missionary in Nagoya (1986-1991), secondly
as an assistant professor at Tokyo Christian

Downloaded from mis.sagepub.com by guest on March 9, 2015

Book Reviews
University in Chiba (1996-1999). He tried to
analyze and assess the theology of Takakura
Tokutaro from the Western point of view.
In the middle of the nineteenth century,
Japan was forced to abolish her two-and-half
century-long isolation policy by the Western
powers and opened up and began to achieve
modernization. This era of Japanese history is
designated in the Japanese calendar according
to the reigns of the emperors, respectively as
Meiji 1-46 (1868-1912), Taisho 1-15 (19121926), and Showa 1-64 (1926-1989). The
present designation is Heisei according to the
reign of Heisei Emperor (1989-).
The introduction of Christianity into Japan
was first done by the Jesuit missionary Fran
cis Xavier in the middle of the 16th century.
It was accepted by several feudal lords and
developed rapidly to the significant size by
the time of the total destruction of the church
by the ban in 1638. The Protestant mission
began after the Meiji Reformation (1868)
and in Meiji 5 (1872), before abolishment
of the prohibition of Christianity the next
year by the Meiji government, the first Prot
estant church was established in Yokohama
by 11 Japanese Christians and the American
Dutch Reformed missionary James H. Ballagh.
Takakura Tokutaro, the mainfigureof the the
sis, belonged to the second generation of the
Japanese Protestant church and was the rep
resentative theologian and leader in the late
1920s and the early 1930s.
The author analyzed and evaluated exten
sively Takakura's life and theology according
to the scheme of: Part I: The Life Context
that Shaped Takakura's Thought: Takakura the
Human Being; Part II: Chapter 1: The Chris
tian Faith Conveyed to Takakura through the
Church in Meiji Japan; Part III: Chapter 2: The
Christian Faith Conveyed to Takakura through
the Western Church; Part IV: Takakura's Ar
ticulation of the Christian Faith Within His
contemporary Situation: (especially on his
major work, Fukuinteki Kirisutokyo ("Evan
gelical Christianity"); Part V: Analysis of
Takakura's Thought. I will cite here briefly the
author's observation.
In thefirsthalf of the Meiji Era (until about
1890), Japan had introduced actively Western
science and technologies and had been eager to

151

catch up with the Western nations by promoting

the policy of industrialization and militariza
tion. Generally, people were also receptive
towards Christianity and especially representa
tive leaders of thefirstgeneration of the newly
developed Japanese churches were from the
Samurai (soldier) class, which had been de
moted from their prestigious ruling status by
the Meiji Reformation. Most of them accepted
Christianity in order to realize their personal
and national ideals in the new Japan by dint of
Christian values. In contrast, Takakura's father
was originated from a rising merchant family in
a rural village near Kyoto. He came into contact
with Christians when he began to learn silk in
dustry near the Tokyo area and eventually was
baptized. He could afford to have his eldest son,
Tokutaro, take the highest education. While
Tokutaro was in Tokyo to attend the presti
gious Tokyo Imperial University, he came to
know intimately Uemura Masahisa, a leading
churchman of the Protestant church, and was
baptized by him in 1906. The next year he quit
studying at Tokyo University and entered the
newly founded seminary of Uemura.
In the latter half of the Meiji Era and Taisho
Era (1890s 1920s), Japan succeeded in
achieving industrial revolution and now began
to struggle with overcoming obedient imita
tion of the West and creating her identity as a
member of modernized nations. Especially in
the Taisho era, the trend of democracy and in
dividualism, the so-called Taisho-Democracy,
was widely spread among the middle class ur
ban people. In this age, Takakura was led to
the Christianity of the second generation Jap
anese church. Whereas his mentor Uemura's
Christianity was characterized with Confucian
morality of the ruling military class, Takakura
of the merchant family sought for Christianity
as a way of solving the "problem of ego." The
author pointed out that the underlying Japa
nese spiritual heritage of Takakura's theology
was a Japanized sect of Mahayana Buddhism,
the Jodo Shinshu, as well as its faith in the
Buddhist Savior, Amida, and also the philos
ophy of Nishida Kitaro (1870-1945), one of
Takakura's teachers at his higher school. The
latter is a representative philosopher of the
Modern Japan, who got acquainted with the
Western philosophy thoroughly and created

Downloaded from mis.sagepub.com by guest on March 9, 2015

152 Makito Yoshimoto, Charles C. West, A. H. Mathlas Zahniser

successfully his original philosophical system should be emphasized as his credit to have in
on the basis of the Oriental worldview by ap troduced a highly recommended example of
plying the Western philosophical concepts and theologizing by a Japanese theologian to the
logics. The author believes that this approach wide Christian world in spite of the language
of Nishida was reflected in theologizing of barrier, because otherwise, such an ethnic
Takakura. Takakura learned Evangelical Chris production could rarely be appreciated by out
tianity from his mentor, Uemura, and studied side people because of linguistic and cultural
vastly Western theologies both through theo limitation.
logical books in original languages in Japan
and study in Scotland and England. But he ac The Witness of the Student Christian
cepted Western theologies only critically and Movement: The Church Ahead of the
tried to identify the original form and mean Church
ings of Christianity and articulate it as a truly By Robin Boyd
Japanized theological system. After the death London: SPCK
of Uemura in 1925, he publicized his main 2007, xii + 212pp., paper. 14.99
work, "Fukuinteki Kirisutokyo (EvangelicalReviewed by Charles C. West
Christianity)," in 1927. It was rather a small This is a book for everyone concerned with
thesis but a very sharply and deeply thought- the church in mission in the last hundred years.
out theological work. He assumed the role of It pursues a central strand of this mission
Uemura and was expected greatly as the lead the Student Christian Movement (SCM)
ing figure of the second generation Japanese its evangelical formation, its ecumenical spirit
church in the new era. But he fell by a serious and its worldwide influence, down to the pres
disease and died shortly before his forty-ninth ent day. The author tells the story from a British
birthday in 1934. Shockingly enough, later it perspective (he is Northern Irish) but includes
was reported by his family that his death was much of the history of the World Student Chris
actually suicide. Concerning his death, the au tian Federation and of the Movement in India
thor is sympathetic that his death was not the and Australia where he has worked.
result of crisis of faith but rather purely the re
It is an inspiring story of "the church ahead
sult of illness. Raised in the age of the search for of the church," to use the author's phrase. "The
independence and identity of Japan and being evangelization of the world in this generation"
successful to find the solution of the problem was a Student Christian Movement goal that
of ego in Christianity and to create an indige- challenged the churches as the 20th century
nized theological system, he himself could not began. It led to the Edinburgh Conference on
accomplish his faith unto the end of his full World Mission in 1910 where the Ecumenical
length of life under the burden of studying the Movement was born. The SCM in its student
Christian theology and pasturing the church. It groups educated the leaders of that movement
was a tragedy and regret.
who later led churches through most of the
As a conclusion, the author values Takakura century: in Biblical and theological renewal;
highly as a creative thinker and theologian who in mission as it became a world-wide task of
tried to accept the Western theologies critically the whole church in every land; in search for
and to create an original theology of the prim the unity given us in Christ beyond church di
itive and authentic Christianity in the Japanese visions; in prophetic witness to God's work of
cultural milieu. Further, he recognizes the sig justice and mercy in the world; and in com
nificance that he could gain the new standpoint munity of worship and prayer to undergird
to appreciate his own Western Christian her it all.
itage through the heterogeneous non-Western
All of this Boyd describes event by event.
theology. He insists that we, Christians from SCM meetings were places where Christian
various cultures and nations, should learn and faith was defined politically in intense en
share with each other in order to enrich and counter over against Communism, Nazism,
complement one another for the full manifes imperialism and other ideologies of the day.
tation of the Body of Jesus Christ. Lastly, it They were also where Christian witness in the

Downloaded from mis.sagepub.com by guest on March 9, 2015