Kingdom Parables

M. M. NINAN
7.4 THE OPEN DOOR
Apart from the state ordered conversions and the so called enlightening
of pagans in State Church period, the world has seen two great periods
of missionary endeavor. The first was at the Apostolic Period and the
second during the the nineteenth century.
Protestant reformation was concentrated essentially in the Europe. They
did nothing substantially to encourage missions abroad. They were too
preoccupied to consolidate their gains or too narrow in their outlook to
love each other. Besides most missionary areas abroad were controlled
entirely by Roman Catholics. The Churches in other parts of the world
remained ritualistic with no missionary vision. Then there came a spurt
of missionary activities. History of missionary church starts with
Moravian Mission to the West Indies in 1730. They were the first to feel
the necessity of spreading the gospel through the nations of the world. It
is one of the conditions required to be fulfilled before the second
coming of our Lord. By 1760 Moravian Missions reached Greenland,
South America, Surinam, Guinea, Egypt, South Africa, Tranquabar and
South India. A flood of missionary societies followed in succession.
They are too numerous to catalogue. You can get a general idea of the
thrust of evangelism of this open door period from the chart below.
7.5 A PEOPLE OF PRAISE AND POWER
If the period of reformation was the age of reason, the new period
became the age of the spirit. The growth of the church came in three
steps in that order - body, mind, spirit. The building up of the external
church was followed by the intellectual church. Then to complete the
whole person of man comes the spiritual church. One cannot be taken
away from the other. All three together form the completed church.
As the centrality of the person of Christ began to dawn a new and
vibrant form of Christianity came into existence which expressed itself
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