In Paradigms in Conflict, Hesselgrave acknowledges the changing of mission and emphasizes the importance of getting back to sound biblical mission. In the discussion, he integrates biblical theology with insights from ministry experience (history) and the social sciences (20-21). He discusses ten conflicting paradigms which started with the discussion on the sovereignty of God and human responsibility/ free will. He revisits the arguments from John Calvin and Jacob Arminius and analyzes the extremes from both sides. He then continues with discussions on the mediating arguments presented by D.A. Carson, Grant R. Osborne and C. Gordon Olson. Further, he takes us back to the Scripture to review this issue according to Paul. At the end of this chapter, Hesselgrave emphasizes that the sovereignty of God and human free will are not an impossible mix but appear to be a perfect match (49). The discussion in this chapter is brief yet rich, and it helps to clear up the understanding of the doctrines of God, man and salvation, which are important to understand mission. This discussion becomes the foundation to deal with the next issue: Restrictivism and Inclusivism.
In dealing with a quest for the salvation of the unevangelized or those who never had the chance to hear the gospel, Hesselgrave argues that we should embrace what the Bible says on this issue and avoid imposing non-biblical sources. He further emphasizes the need to share the gospel (77). Just like gospel preaching to the Athenians was done by Paul in Acts 17:16-34, making the gospel available to as many people as possible is necessary.
On the issue of mission’s priority, Hesselgrave argues using the meaning of “poor” in Scripture. He emphasizes that the gospel still is the main priority in Christian mission, that “the primary concern of our Lord has to do with meeting spiritual needs, not meeting physical, material, or social needs” (136).
When discussing the missionary models, Hesselgrave affirms that representationalism provides more biblical answers (152). He builds his arguments from Kostenberger who is concerned with John Stott’s incarnational approach. Hesselgrave argues that the metaphorical use of Christ’s incarnation could obscure his identity and detract from his mission (153).
Hesselgrave continues his argument on the issue of power and truth encounter. He examines some arguments on power encounter in contemporary mission and dedicated some pages to discuss Bavick’s truth encounter arguments. Hesselgrave present an argument against power encounter that it has shifted the biblical worldview in mission to the worldview of animism, tribalism, folk religion and magic (181). He affirms a “chronological Bible study” approach to truth encounter as more effective gospel communication (185).
In the next chapter, Hesselgrave examines the issue of Amateurization of Ralph Winter and Professionalization of John Piper. He builds his argument by evaluating biblical and theological foundations of church mission as well as the cultural factors. He concludes that in facing the complexities of postmodernity, short-term missionaries have potential as long as they work alongside long-term missionaries.
Hesselgrave further discusses about Scripture and contextualization. He argues that the effectiveness of contextualization does not begin with linguistic knowledge, communication savviness, or other additional knowledge such as cultural anthropology. He emphasizes that it must begin with the commitment to the authority of Scripture.
In the discussion of mission and its relation to the end times, Hesselgrave concludes that no one knows when exactly the time is, but we should constantly be on alert and encourage each other to do good works and godly living.
In the last chapter of this book, Hesselgrave reviews the ecumenical history of mission. He evaluates how new mission paradigms arose and discusses how to preserve biblical missiology. He concludes that dialogue that does not compromise the uniqueness of Christ and the necessity of evangelism should always be an option.
Paradigms in Conflict is very informative and at the same time, it challenges my thinking and brings me to reflect on how I dealt with the discussed issues in my past ministry. I would recommend that anyone interested in missions at any level give it a thorough reading.