Eschatology and the Western Missionary Movement

The article considers the influence of eschatological concepts, especially in Puritan and Evangelical circles, on the development of Protestant missions from the early mission efforts among Native Americans to the mid-nineteenth century and notes the major changes introduced by a move from the expectation of a period of notable response to the Gospel to the expectation of the return of Christ to a worsening world. It is argued that very divergent eschatological expectations at different times brought stimulus and direction and that eschatology in African and Asian Christianity needs fuller investigation.