Eternity in Their Hearts

Excellent work here. As relevant now as it was upon first publication.A common misconception is that people of tribal nations/areas are totally lost without the Gospel, fumbling around in darkness. Wrong! "He has also set eternity in their heart" (Ecc. 3:11); "God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us" (Acts 17:27). The book presents powerful evidence that monotheism is the first stage of religious development among people groups, not polytheism or animism. Monotheism then degenerates into polytheism etc., due to various reasons, e.g., manipulations of people in ruling positions. Therefore this book runs counter to the evolutionary models such study of religion holds as orthodox. As such, this book is startling to anyone who takes it seriously and grew up in Western public educations systems (where we are taught the evolutionary models only).The book is not a "deep theological treatise." It is rather a thesis predicated on evidence from anthropology, sociology, the study of religion, and Scriptural exegesis. Of course it is richly theological, but it does not get "theologically complex," or dense.As for a criticism: The book does not explore so much about how it is the Spirit of God moving these people to reach out and find God. People are not prepared for the Gospel on their own doing, but rather through the Spirit. However, this theme is in fact found within the book! As a personal opinion, I simply would have liked to see it emphasized. As I said, the book is not a theological treatise; it does not get lost in complex debate—so it is not surprising that we do not find, for example, a chapter on "The Work of the Spirit."Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!

Don Richardson is a Canadian Christian missionary with a doctorate in literature; he has studied languages and tribal cultures. In Eternity in their Hearts, he shows how peoples all around the world, with no apparent exposure to orthodox religious instruction, apparently grasped the gospel message. The God/Allah/Jehovah/YHWH of the Abrahamic religions appears to be identical to Viracocha of the Incas; El and Elyon of the Canaanites; Thakur Jiu of the Santal; Magano of the Gedeo; Koro of the Mbaka; Shang Ti of the Chinese; Hananim of the Koreans; Y'wa of the Burmese Karen; Karat Kasang of the Burmese Kachin; Gui'Sha of the Burmese Lahu; Siyeh of the Wa; Phra-Ariya-Metrai of the Shan and Palaung; Chepo-Thoru and Gtuang of the Indian Naga and Mizo.It was Paul who made it clear that the gospel message applied to gentiles and it is a Pauline message (Romans 2:14-15) that provides Richardson with the idea for the title of the book: "They are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are WRITTEN ON THEIR HEARTS, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing them, now even defending them." Richardson also points out that Genesis includes the words: "... and ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH will be blessed through you." The book of Luke, relating the story of Simeon recognizing that Mary was carrying the future Messiah, says: "My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared IN THE SIGHT OF ALL PEOPLE, A LIGHT FOR REVELATION TO THE GENTILES and for glory to your people Israel ... ALL MANKIND WILL SEE GOD'S SALVATION." I never understood the story in Matthew 15:21-28 about Jesus' interaction with a Canaanite woman to whom he said "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" but Richardson convincingly portrays this parable as Jesus' way of explaining the broader mission to the disciples.In perhaps the most controversial quote of the book, Richardson echoes the words of missiologist Ralph Winter: "Jesus did not come to give the Great Commission! He came to take it away - from the Jews who had already possessed it in prototype for nearly two thousand years and had done almost nothing with it! It was time for the world to see what believing Gentiles, entrusted with that same imperative in New Testament form, would do with it." Richardson continues: "from Judas's ethnocentric viewpoint, Jesus' soaring ambition to dissipate Messianic blessings over the entire Gentile world (instead of concentrating the blessing among Jews where it could really count for something) must have seemed entirely impractical! Apparently Judas saw at last that Jesus really was serious about throwing the banquet hall of Jewish privilege open to Gentile dogs! If so, then Judas may have been the most intelligent of the 12 disciples, because the other 11 ... took much longer to take that emphasis of Jesus' ministry seriously."Paul and Barnabas declared (Acts 13:46-47) "We now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." Richardson parlays all of this into a fascinating idea about how the gospel message could have been dissipated through more than the "orthodox" Christian church. This is an excellently researched and presented book; it challenges many elitist ideas and offers a valuable insight into what the author has shown to be a worldwide phenomenon. Wonderful.

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read! The writer takes us back to the time of the Apostle Paul on Mars Hill and gives a graphic description of what it was like! Then the story comes forward through various groups who came to know and worship the Trinity!

This book looks into various cultural legends around the world, relating them to the eternal gospel.

This book was life changing for me. To understand that the Truth (with a capital T) of God is written on the hearts of ALL humankind, and is recorded in the history of the world, regardless of where and when you are born. MIND BLOWN!I've been a "christian" all my life, but I needed to know what people outside of the Judeo/Christian realm thought and understood about the nature of God to really understand what it means to be a Believer in the ONE TRUE GOD, and His Son, Savior, Jesus Christ.If you seek Him, He will find you.