A Review by Mac Noden
Of:
“Eternity in their Hearts”
Author:
Don Richardson

ISBN 0-8307-3837-1
Third Edition 2005
189 pages of text plus authors postscript
End notes, study questions & bibliography.

This two part book contains in its first four chapters the outlines of the author’s central premise that cross cultural values and communications are often expressed in a manner that suggests and defines God’s word to many different people, in many different historic periods, in many different cultures and that is understood in many different ways. Notwithstanding the differences in human understanding, the message of the synchronicity of God’s work and word, and the resulting monotheistic human preferences, dubbed by the author as the “Melchizedek Factor” is the constant theme that runs through the first part of this instructive & and well written book.

The starting point of the human story is located in ancient Greece, in a council chamber in Athens as various characters wrestle with the concept of a name for God. Later in the section on the Canaanites, the author speaks eloquently about the mission of Paul as he struggles with the mysteries of the name of Yahweh. In turn, the Indian Santal people, the Mbaka of central Africa, and the Chinese and Burmese peoples all make their appearance as they seek to define the sameness of God presence in their societies.

The adventures contained in Chapter two entitled, “The Peoples of the Lost Book” details the missionary outreach from the Christian west to places in remote parts of Asia. Part one of the book ends with a learned & fascinating discussion and review of some of the strange religious theories that are in effect, the echo of their proponent’s political beliefs. The work of the Englishman, Edward B. Tylor, the promoter of the progressive evolution approach to the formation of the religious beliefs of primitive peoples, is the starting point for a short but rigorous review of western religious thinking on this subject.

In Part Two, Pastor Richardson writes eloquently and persuasively about what he calls, “The 4,000-Year Connection” in which he sets forth the ancient biblical text support for the requirement for mission on the part of believers. The careful review of the exact wording of the Abrahamic Covenant, with its emphasis on being a blessing to others, begins a very powerful discussion of how all peoples of the earth are included, and therefore it should come as no surprise that even the most primitive of societies contain the cultural and behavioral seeds set out by our ancient covenant with God.

In the final chapter of the book, called the “Hidden Messages of Acts” Richardson makes clear that the apostles were very reluctant to see, hear, understand and act upon the imperatives of apostolic outreach. The scriptural retelling of their reluctance, makes very clear that the cross cultural imperatives foreseen and embraced by Jesus in his ministry on earth, was the most troublesome aspect in the lives of the apostles, both during and after Christ’s death on the cross.
The retelling of the history, the excitement of the geographical exploration, the wonder of the revelation of God’s presence in the hearts of people worldwide, all make this book a valuable addition to our understanding of the universality of the one God.