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Williams, Book Review  93 
 

Book Review 

 

A Gospel for the Poor: Global Social Christianity and the 

Latin American Evangelical Left  
By David C. Kirkpatrick 

 
Reviewed by Andrew L. Williams 

 
 

  
 

Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, $55.00 

 

This monograph provides a detailed and intricate 

look into one of the most important Christian 

developments in the latter portion of the 20th century: 

the emergence of an Evangelical Left in Latin America 

and the influence of its misión integral (“integral 

mission”) on international evangelicalism more 

broadly. In the immediate aftermath of WWII, Carl F. 

H. Henry lamented a fundamentalist/evangelical retreat 

from social issues in his book, The Uneasy Conscience 

of Modern Fundamentalism. Prominent Western 

evangelicals such as John Stott and the Berlin Congress 

on World Evangelization (1966) illustrated this retreat 

by espousing the primacy of evangelism over social 

concerns. 

In that context, Latin American evangelical leaders 

grew wary of a gospel of the wealthy and its lack of 

interest in economic and political structures that 

perpetuate oppression, racism, and poverty. At issue, in 

the simplest terms, was (and is) whether social action is 

inherently part of the gospel or is only an implication of 

the good news. Beginning with the role of Global South 

leadership at the 1974 Lausanne Congress, Kirkpatrick 

reviews the growth of a Christian movement that sought 

a more robust and balanced theology. What they would 

produce, referred to as integral or holistic mission, 

would become standard evangelical language within a 

few decades. 

To some degree, the story of this book is about 

navigating boundaries with the purpose of articulating a 

theology that is both faithful to the biblical witness and 

carefully contextualized. Ideologically, Latin American 

evangelicals sought a middle way between Marxism and 

right-wing politics of the U.S. church and its 

missionaries. Theologically, leaders such as Miguez 

Bonino and René Padilla navigated the border of 

ecumenical (Left leaning) and evangelical (Right 

leaning) groups within Latin America.  Relationally, 

Samuel Escobar, Padilla, and others functioned as 

liaisons between the Latin American body of Christ and 

Christian leaders external to the continent.   

This book makes many valuable contributions to 

our understanding of Christian relief, development, 

and advocacy, three of which are discussed here. First, 

it offers an example of the important fruit born by 

contextualizing church and theology. One practitioner 

quoted in the book says that Christian humanitarians 

and missionaries needed to “up our game” theologically 

(161). The evolution in one element of global church 

relations, between Latin America and Europe/North 

America, that Kirkpatrick’s research captures is a 

compelling corrective in the continued struggle with 

Western cultural and theological imposition and 

blindness. Lamin Sanneh is an example of a prominent 

missiologist who explored similar themes. Second, 

Padilla, Escobar, and others show that the Kingdom of 

God transcends political ideology (Left or Right; 

Communist or Capitalist). Though the term “Left” in 

the title may suggest otherwise, the theology and 

ministry of misión integral is neither partisan nor in the 

service of a particular political agenda—an important 

reminder in our age. Third, for scholars interested in 

themes related to Christian humanitarianism, as well as 

Latin American Christianity or theology, this book is an 

intricate, perhaps definitive, record of one important 

movement. The extensive use of archival research and 

substantial documentation of secondary sources will 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 2(2),  Winter 2021 

Williams, Book Review  94 
 

likely constitute a lasting reference for the academic 

community.  

A Gospel for the Poor raises the ever-present 

question of discontinuity versus continuity in historical 

analysis. Thankfully, Kirkpatrick is aware of the 

complexity of the record. Even though his book sides 

principally with discontinuity or the innovation of 

misión integral, in numerous instances he 

acknowledges that the concepts at the heart of it are not 

novel to the Latin American Evangelical Left in the 

1960s and 70s. For example, he calls into question the 

historiography of the “Great Reversal,” or the 

fundamentalist/social gospel split in the early 20th 

century, by pointing to the more holistic theologies of 

the Black Church and female missionaries. Yet, despite 

a few contrary examples, Kirkpatrick places a significant 

onus on readers to hold the complexity of the historical 

narrative together. For instance, the book has relatively 

little to say about the post-World War II explosion of 

international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) 

that was deeply influenced by Christians concerned 

about poverty and oppression; and that included the 

creation of evangelical organizations such as World 

Relief (1944), World Vision (1950) and Compassion 

International (1952). Brian Woolnough, a scholar of 

Christian relief and development, uses the language of 

holistic mission to discuss post-war Christian 

humanitarian NGOs.  Another example is provided by 

Latin American Catholicism, which is more nuanced 

than the dichotomy of Liberation Theology, on the one 

hand, and support of hierarchy and despotism, on the 

other. In fact, the via media of the Latin American 

Evangelical Left is similar in approach and analysis to 

such encyclicals as Rerum Novarum (1891) and 

Quadragesimo Anno (1931). 

Additional questions, theological in nature, are 

close to the surface throughout the writing. Several 

come more clearly into focus in the discussion of the 

Emerging Church’s connection to Padilla and integral 

mission. Is misión integral, as Brian McClaren asserts, 

a “different theological ecosystem” that moves away 

from an emphasis on penal substitutionary atonement 

(164)? Would McClaren or Padilla give no priority to 

eternal or spiritual over temporal, terrestrial, or social 

ends? In addition, misión integral follows a more 

optimistic, or “realized,” eschatology. By way of 

illustrative contrast, “Christian realism” (e.g., Richard 

Niebuhr), which played a major role in post-war neo-

liberalism, was more skeptical of human institutions 

and structures—a view influenced by the failure of the 

League of Nations to prevent either WWII or the 

Holocaust. Are Christian realism and integral mission 

different emphases or incompatible ecosystems? One 

could also ask about the theological categorization of 

Latin American figures such as Padilla and Bonino. 

Kirkpatrick, who raises that question in various ways, 

partially answers it by noting that Padilla became 

increasingly ecumenical and Bonino increasingly 

evangelical over time (133).  

The conclusion, which feels too rushed, begins 

with the dichotomy of Jim Wallis and Al Mohler, and 

the former’s assertion that he has more in common with 

global Christianity than with American evangelicals like 

Mohler. Yet, in some segments of the Global Church 

and with certain issues (including some “social issues”) 

Mohler’s evangelicalism is a much closer fit abroad. A 

better inquiry may be to probe the limits of terms like 

“evangelical” and “ecumenical,” or “left” and “right,” 

especially across geographies and decades.  

We should be grateful to Kirkpatrick for 

excavating this history and raising such questions. All 

told, this is a terrific resource that works hard to tell an 

important story accurately. I highly recommend A 

Gospel for the Poor to practitioners, scholars, and 

students. 

 
 

 

Andrew L. Williams is a PhD student in Nonprofit 

and Global Studies at IUPUI, and a lecturer in 

International Relations and Development at LCC 

International University. He has lived and worked in 

the Dominican Republic and Rwanda. 

 

Author email:  andylwilliams@gmail.com  
 

 


