THE GREAT CENTURY IN EUROPE AND AMERICA- A REVIEW

It always fascinates me when people are creative in their blending disciplines, like missions and science or missions and business. Kenneth Scott Latourette was a pioneer in integrating the fields of missiology and history to deliver a global history from a Christian perspective.[1] He studied science in Oregon and history at Yale University. These two fields became a passion for him that he shared with his missions and history students at Yale from 1921 to 1957. He also held a professorship at Reed College and Dennison University. Before he became a professor, he served briefly as a missionary in China through an initiative out of Yale University. He was also an ordained Baptist preacher.

            Latourette was a true missions historian. He is most remembered for his multi-volume works, including A History of the Expansion of Christianity, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, and A History of Christianity. Andrew Walls calls these works “the most comprehensive attempt to cover Christian history in all parts of the world and in all its traditions.”[2]

            For my next few posts, I will review Latourette's volume on Europe and America that he uniquely identified as great. I wonder how many others are out there that are using a variety of tools from the toolbox in the workshop known as missions.

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[1] Most of this biographical information about Kenneth Scott Latourette has been adapted from  information provided by Andrew Walls in his article, “Modern Pioneers: Kenneth Scott Latourette,” Christian History 20. (November 2001): 44–45.

[2] Andrew F. Walls, “Modern Pioneers: Kenneth Scott Latourette,” 44.