






























Ecclesial Futures
2025 – Volume 6 – Issue 1

77
Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23521

B O O K  R E V I E W

DOI: 10.54195/ef23521

Herbst, Michael, Andreas C. Jansson, David 
Reißmann and Patrick Todjeras. 2024. 
Evangelisation: Theologische Grundlagen, 
Zugänge, und Perspektiven1

Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt
ISBN: 978-3-374-07514-0 (print)

Stoppels, Sake, Jan Marten Praamsma and 
Jan Martijn Abrahamse. 2023. Zoeken naar de 
dingen die boven zijn: heil in een seculiere tijd2

Utrecht: KokBoekencentrum Uitgevers
ISBN: 978-90-435-4036-0 (print)

Reviewed by Edwin Chr. van Driel

Among German theologians and religious studies scholars, evangelism is not a cool 
topic, so the writers of Evangelisation: Theologische Grundlagen, Zugänge, und Perspek-
tiven assert. Therefore, as convinced students of the subject, they have launched a 
contextually appropriate mission to place evangelism back on the academic agenda. 
For the sake of German theological scholars, used to massive academic handbooks 
that with unparallelled Pünktlichkeit discuss every historical, systematic and practical 
aspect of a certain topic, the writers produce exactly that. In three parts, ten chap-
ters, and five hundred thirty-five pages, they discuss the biblical grounding, histor-
ical expression, systematic-theological embeddedness, and practical theological 
implications of the Christian practice of evangelism.

The four authors of the book were or are all connected to the former Research 
Institute for Evangelism and Church Development at the University of Greifswald 

1 Evangelization: Theological Foundations, Approaches, and Perspectives.
2 Seeking the Things Above: Salvation in a Secular Age.



78
Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23521

78

or to its successor institutes at the Martin-Luther-Universität of Halle-Wittenberg 
University of Halle-Wittenberg (Missional Church Development at the Centre for 
Empowerment Studies) and in Austria (Institut zur Erforschung von Mission und 
Kirche). For twenty years, after its founding in 2004, the institute at Greifswald was 
a somewhat lonely, but also highly productive voice, engaging developments in 
missional thinking in other parts of the Western world and contributing to them from 
the perspective of the deeply secularized context of eastern and central Germany. 
That work is now continued at the other two institutes.

In the first part of the book, David Reißmann lays the foundations of the discus-
sion by offering an extensive historical account of the concept “evangelism” from 
its roots in the New Testament up to contemporary usage both in international 
missional and German ecclesial and academic accounts. Andreas C. Jansson follows 
with two chapters on the history of the practice and theology of evangelism, the first 
focused on evangelism in German Protestantism since the eighteenth century, the 
second on the notion of evangelism in international missional theology since the 
twentieth century.

The second part turns in a theological direction, beginning with two essays by 
Patrick Todjeras. The first essay returns to the New Testament notion of gospel/to 
evangelize and then document the remarkable lack of systematic theological reflec-
tion on the idea of evangelism in German-language literature. This lack stands in 
contrast to the notion of “faith” (Glaube) and the path to faith, which receives signif-
icant attention in literature rooted both in pietism and liberalism. Todjeras lists a 
number of reasons why evangelism is theologically ignored, ranging from a perceived 
notion that evangelism is a practical theological concern rather than a systematic 
theological one, to cultural and theological resistance against the very idea of pros-
elytizing and conversion (136–7). In the rest of this wide-ranging chapter Todjeras 
attempts to remedy this situation by looking at evangelism from the full range of 
theological loci, from Trinity and creation to ecclesiology. Interestingly, he does not 
push it all the way to eschatology, even while significant praxes of evangelism are 
eschatologically motivated. In a subsequent chapter Todjeras zooms in on the appro-
priation of faith in conversion or rebirth. This chapter is also most explicit about 
the book’s confessional commitments, which are best characterized as “generous 
Lutheranism”. The Book of Concord and the following Lutheran theological tradition 
are the cantus firmus for Todjeras’ reflections. In the next two chapters, Andreas 
Jansson follows up with parallel theological analyses of the place of and reflection 
on the idea of evangelism in temporary missiology and practical theology. Michael 
Herbst concludes this part of the book with an extensive constructive contribution 
offering a “practical theology of evangelism”. Herbst registers a similarly silencing of 
or resistance against evangelism among German practical theology as Todjeras noted 
concerning systematic theology (270–86). In response, Herbst offers a wide-ranging 



79
Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23521

79

discussion of both the theological motivation for evangelism as well as its practice 
as embedded in the holistic life of the Christian community. This chapter is particu-
larly sensitive to the post-Christian context in which evangelism in western Europe 
takes place and engages the classics of a philosophical analysis of the secular (such 
as Charles Taylor) and the wider missional theological debate. In particular, Herbst 
takes up Lesslie Newbigin’s suggestion that the congregation is the hermeneutic of 
the gospel and develops an account of all the various ways in which the congregation 
gives public – and thereby evangelistic – witness to its faith. Herbst accounts for the 
goal of evangelism as conversion, but, based both on theological considerations and 
empirical research, wishes to conceive of conversion as a longer journey that itself 
leads to a continued life of Nachfolge (“discipleship”; Dietrich Bonhoeffer) rather than 
a particular moment in time. If there is such a moment, Herbst locates it, with Paul, in 
baptism, when one dies and is resurrected with Christ (392), rather than in a moment 
of human agency.

The third part of the book explores the idea of evangelism in two different direc-
tions. In his chapter, Patrick Todjeras takes on the question of what evangelization 
might look like in the unexplored realm of digital space. He maps the various digital 
religious practices and explores if and how they are conducive to evangelism. In the 
last chapter, David Reißmann ventures in another direction. His is the most construc-
tive theological discussion, taking the topic right to the gates of German academic 
theology. When theological reflection is focused on religion rather than revelation, 
with the particularities and contextualities of people’s experiences and convictions 
suppressed for the sake of the modernist construct of religio, evangelism is nothing 
more than another human religious expression, and an intolerant one at that. The 
heart of Reißmann’s counterargument is the urging for the Christian community not 
to understand “evangelism” as an expression of Matthew 28, but of Luke 4. That is, 
evangelism is less about a commissioned activity of humans than it is about reve-
lation; it is less about an obedient witnessing on our part than that it is about an 
inbreaking in all our lives – church people and academics alike – by the living God, a 
pouring out of the Spirit, a lifegiving work of Christ that demands not analysis, but a 
response.

Evangelisation can thus be read as an act of evangelism itself, a contextual witness to 
the gospel in an (academic) European culture that is increasingly post-Christian. But 
the book can also be read for the sake of determining what new thinking is demanded 
of us as we reflect on the gospel and its proclamation in a post-Christian world, and 
where our theological conceptualization is still thin, and our footing unsure. Evange-
lisation can help us to identify at least three.

First, what is the hoped-for outcome of evangelism? When congregations and 
churches give witness to the gospel, what vision drives them? In a Christendom 



80
Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23521

80

context, where the Christian faith was woven into the fabric of society, evangelism 
was meant to deepen that Christian conviction, to let is shape not only public but 
also individual lives and to draw back those who might have wandered away from 
the faith of their youth. As Christendom unravelled, evangelism for many became 
a means to attempt dechristianization, revival and finding new and fresh ways to 
counter the powers of secularism. But as in post-Christian Europe the immanent 
frame thickens (Charles Taylor), and not just the Christian faith, but any form of 
religiosity becomes to be seen as implausible or irrelevant, such dreams of revival 
seem increasingly improbable. What then shall we hope for? Moreover, in the back-
ground of such considerations are also deep questions that touch directly on the 
perceived identity of the church and its role in society, questions about the rela-
tionship between Christ and culture. Christendom is built on the idea that Christ 
is transforming culture, and that the church is a critical instrument or expression 
of this. Post-Christian realities seem to deal such vision a deadly wound. But then 
what should the church hope for when it preaches the good news? Such questions 
come particularly to the fore in Michael Herbst’s essay. At several places he refers 
to contemporary Dutch missiologist Stefan Paas, who argues that we are to accept 
that the world will never be Christian, and that until the last day church and world 
will be different entities (e.g., 305–7). On such a view, mission in the post-Christian 
West needs a radically differently vision from anything akin to post-Christianization. 
Paas finds such vision in the idea that the church, on pilgrimage in exile, is to be a 
priestly community that prays and worships for and on behalf of the world. As such, 
it gives witness to the gospel, it welcomes and rejoices about those who wish to join 
her, but its witness is not driven by the expectation that the nations will (re)turn to 
the church. Paas is an increasingly influential voice in the European missional conver-
sation. Herbst acknowledges the appeal of Paas’ vision but is not ready to sign up. Is 
the biblical witness not more hopeful than that of an essential and enduring differen-
tiation between church and world? If that is so, what does this mean for evangelism 
in the reality of a post-Christian society?

Second, but closely related to the first dilemma, is that of divine speech. Evangeli-
sation can be read as a contextualization of the international missional reorientation 
on the missio Dei. That idea is now applied to the European and, in particular, German 
theory and praxis of evangelism. This is particularly expressed in the final essay 
by David Reißmann. Evangelism is not our speaking in response to the gospel we 
have received, but it is God’s transformative speaking and working of goodness and 
healing. This is indeed the implication of the idea of the missio Dei. Notice, however, 
the unreflected assumption of these arguments: that God continues to speak. But 
is God still speaking? If God is, where is our post-Christian reality coming from? Why 
is Western culture caught in what seems to be an increasingly immanent framemin 
which the transcendent seems to have no place or voice? Is this simply the result 



81
Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23521

81

of human mishearing, or unwillingness to listen? But that would suggest that God’s 
speaking is not as transformative as we hope it might be; that it very easily can be 
drowned out and ignored, that far more than we might be theologically comfort-
able with, creatures are the masters of their own universe. Therefore: might post- 
Christian realities not be the result of something else – that is, that sometimes God 
does not speak? The Scriptures speak of times when “the word of the Lord was rare, 
and visions were not widespread” (I Sam. 3.1). Might we not live in a similar time?

Contemplating the idea that we might experience divine silence rather than 
divine speech and mission is not comfortable. It also raises deep theological ques-
tions about God’s relationship to history and divine intentionality within history. At 
the same time: if this is indeed what we are experiencing, we ignore these kinds of 
questions at our peril.

Third, we seem to be living in a time when history has sped upon considerably. 
I was particularly aware of this in reading Patrick Todjeras’ essay on evangelism in 
digital space. While he does an excellent job naming and reflecting on the various 
questions that come up as we are trying to understand what digital reality is, and 
how community and communication happen there, Todjeras could not have real-
ized how in recent months the owners of digital space – the technology gurus that 
own, shape and manipulate the social media on which most digital community life 
takes place – would prostrate themselves for the new American president and make 
common cause with what can only be characterized as a new authoritarian, illib-
eral, post-Christian regime. In fact, through the engineering of algorithms and other 
means, social media have become instruments that actively manipulate the elec-
torate to usher in illiberal democracies, which in turn will serve the expansion of 
wealth and power for those who own those very same digital spaces. This invites 
renewed (theological) reflection on the realities we are dealing with here. Is digital 
space a neutral expansion of the space already familiar to us, to be used for good 
or bad; and are the social media platforms, on which most forms of evangelism take 
place, simply the cities and houses that allow us to inhabit this space and reach out 
to our digital neighbours with blessing or curse? Or do the developments of the 
last months reveal that digital space and social media are intrinsic instruments of 
wealth and power, designed to manipulate free citizens into commodities, and not 
just supporting, but actively furthering a project to colonize our hearts and minds in 
the service of venture capitalism? If so, is there any sense for Christian communities 
to inhabit those spaces, thereby contributing to the ways they make money for their 
owners and furthering the ways our identities are shaped by digital space, or are 
Christian communities called to counter-culturally resist the role digital realities play 
in our lives and unmask social media networks for what they are?



82
Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23521

82

A fourth place where our theological thinking is thin, and our footing is unsure, 
is voiced by the other book up for review. Its editors have worked together on a 
research project sponsored by the Ede Christian University of Applied Sciences in the 
Netherlands, the country neighbuoring Germany to the west. Since the  Netherlands 
is just as secularized as eastern Germany, Dutch theologians are wrestling with many 
of the same questions as their German colleagues. The question raised in the Ede 
research project is: when it comes to missional work, the forming of new worship-
ping communities and missional outreach to a post-Christian society, what is the 
nature of the good news we believe we inhabit and share? What do we take to be the 
nature of salvation of which the Christian faith speaks?

Their research and that of others revealed that many contemporary church 
planters in the secular West are highly motivated to working on forming new rela-
tionships and creating new places of community. They have a much harder time, 
though, in locating this work theologically in some account of salvation. Research 
shows that both pastors of existing congregations and leaders on church plants find 
it challenging to formulate an account of Christian salvation. Soteriological models 
that turn around individual accounts of sin and grace are considered outdated and, 
in fact, somewhat embarrassing. Church planters feel uncomfortable telling people 
that they are “bad”. They are much more interested in the practical work of coun-
tering loneliness and engaging questions of meaning making, but are unclear on how 
to understand this kind of work in terms of Christian soteriology. Following British 
researcher Philip Wall, the editors of the book speak of “soteriological agnosticism”. 
As they characterize it also, this is the immanentization of Christian soteriology. But 
salvation has to turn around more than building of community or making the world 
a better place. Without a transcendent dimension, salvation loses its hopeful char-
acter.

The twenty-two essays in this book offer avenues to explore new ways of speaking 
about salvation in a secular time. In character, this book is very different from Evange-
lisation. Whereas the German book is more determinate in its conclusions, the essays 
in the Dutch book are exploratory, open-ended, a first inquiry into a subject that 
demands significantly more attention. The essays take us in many different direc-
tions: explorations about soul and positive psychology; disability and soteriology; 
an intercultural dialogue about soteriology in African and Dutch contexts; contextu-
alization of Israel’s liberating understanding of its God for a contemporary city like 
Amsterdam; the relationship between salvation and Christian practices. (Given the 
fact that these essays are in Dutch, few readers of this journal will be able to access 
them. I understand an English-language collection of similar essays, product of the 
same research project, is forthcoming soon from Brill.)

For the sake of this review the observation to make is this, though: the fourth 
challenge for our thinking about the missional challenge in a post-Christian world is 



83
Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23521

83

that post-Christianity is not something that happens outside the church; it plagues 
also us within the church. If secularity is characterized by a loss of the sense of the 
transcendent, by living in the immanent frame, then, as the project that produced 
this book illustrates, those who lead the church do not escape it. Thus, we are called 
to missionally and theologically examine our own practices of proclamation and 
theologizing, of prayer and ministry, as much as we consider what it means to faith-
fully reach out to those outside the church.

About the Reviewer
Edwin Chr. van Driel, Directors’ Bicentennial Professor of Theology, Pittsburgh Theo-
logical Seminary (USA). Contact: evandriel@pts.edu

mailto:evandriel@pts.edu

	Reviewed by Edwin Chr. van Driel
	Stoppels, Sake, Jan Marten Praamsma and Jan Martijn Abrahamse. 2023. Zoeken naar de dingen die boven zijn: heil in een seculiere tijd
	Herbst, Michael, Andreas C. Jansson, David Reißmann and Patrick Todjeras. 2024. Evangelisation: Theologische Grundlagen, Zugänge, und Perspektiven

