This book traces the story of evangelical Calvinism through several important episodes in the history of Reformed Protestantism. Long before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Christians, informed by Calvin's missional theology, were planting churches and preaching the gospel in the country we now know as Brazil. This story has long been forgotten, suppressed, and even distorted by those who should have known better. I welcome this well-researched book, which sets the record straight.
-Timothy George,
Founding Dean, Beeson Divinity School
Does a belief in sovereign grace stymie missions and evangelism? If that belief is rightly understood and rightly applied, the answer is an emphatic no. Haykin and Robinson skillfully present John Calvin's evangelistic zeal and channel it toward a new generation of Great Commission minded pastors, teachers, and evangelists. I'm grateful for these men and this book, and pray that God will use it for the greater advance of the gospel and a greater harvest of souls.
-Jason Allen,
President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and College
Among the many myths surrounding Calvinism is the idea that it's anti-missions. Michael Haykin and Jeffrey Robinson draw into one place the many sources that demonstrate the tradition's missionary passion. They do so without defensive rhetoric - more out of a love for the Great Commission than for any party label. You don't have to be a Calvinist to find this story inspiring.
-Michael Horton,
Westminster Seminary California
The rehabilitation of Calvin (and his robust theology of divine sovereignty) as a leading figure in global missions is overdue, and few authors are qualified to do it with such enthusiasm and expertise as Haykin and Robinson. In To the Ends of the Earth, the perennial assertion that Calvin(ism) is destructive of evangelism and missions is convincingly shown to be entirely false - theologically and historically. Indeed, the very opposite is the case: Geneva proved to be a center of missionary endeavor and expansion. Read this book and then purchase several more copies to give to your friends. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
-Derek Thomas,
Reformed Theological Seminary, Atlanta
The modern missionary movement did not begin ex nihilo in the late eighteenth century. To understand the thrust of contemporary global gospel advancement, one need understand that behind Fuller and Carey there were Edwards and Brainerd. And Edwards was the last theological bridge to classic English Puritanism. And the Puritans have their headwaters in Geneva. In this fine volume, readers will have many questions answered and many more questions raised, but a wonderful discovery will take place that I pray stirs many hearts to action in taking the gospel to the world.
-Jason Duesing,
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Evangelism, missions, and prayer for the lost cannot long endure without a foundation in the doctrines of God's glory and sovereign grace. Michael Haykin and Jeffrey Robinson demonstrate through careful historical research that despite all claims to the contrary, Reformed truth has been a vital root feeding visionary and sacrificial efforts to reach the world with the gospel. May God use these thrilling accounts to magnify the glory of his grace, and to move many Christians to pour out their lives for the sake of Christ's kingdom in all lands.
-Joel R. Beeke,
President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
Finally a book that not only removes the myth of a lack of mission incentive in the Calvinist tradition, but also solidly and enthusiastically stimulates those inside and outside that tradition to get the message out.
-Herman Selderhuis,
Theological University of Apeldoorn
