Insider Movements: Biblically Incredible or Incredibly Brilliant?

Description: In 1938 the Reverend Henry H. Riggs wrote Shall We Try Unbeaten Paths in Working for Moslems? He encouraged the church to help Muslim converts remain inside Islam so that they might not lose their cultural identity. These ideas were soundly denounced by leading missionary scholars of the time: Samuel Zwemer J. Christy Wilson and Hendrik Kraemer. In the 1980s Riggss suggestions bubbled up to the surface with new life in Bangladesh but the proponents of these views--known as the insider movements (IM)--maintained a low profile. The church did not know what was taking place in Bangladesh until the 1990s when anonymous authors published papers with made-up locations reporting hundreds of thousands of new believers. Today proponents of IM support their observations of what God is doing among Muslims with eight biblical passages. If the biblical support is real it behooves you to support missionaries who advocate for IM; but if the biblical evidence is absent you will have a difficult decision to make. The purpose of this book is help clarify the insider movements claims and paradigm by simply examining the Scriptures. Endorsements: Morton holds up insider movement advocacy (IMA) alongside biblical content and a sound way of reading the Bible. In example after example Morton shows that biblical texts do not say what IMA uses them to say . . . He highlights the necessity of a solid biblical theology of religions. And he does it all in a chatty personal style that includes touches of humor. It is extremely rare to find such an even sensible and friendly treatment of the IMA controversy completely free of animus and grudge. --Gordon Nickel author of Narratives of Tampering in the Earliest Commentaries on the Quran If anybody wants to get an analysis of insider movements from a biblical perspective this is a good book to start with. But be prepared to be shocked once in a while. --Eddy Lanz Forum Wiedenest Morton aims a laser beam of clarity through the fog of insider movement (IM) theology shining a corrective beacon upon common IM interpretations of key biblical passages and illumining certain assumptions that grip IM proponents. Through Scripture and around the world in just over one hundred pages you will discover surprising and disturbing features of IM thinking but you will also--by the careful balanced and biblical way in which Morton responds--find your heart burning afresh for the faithful preaching of the gospel . . . This is a must-read for those who love Christ and are concerned that Christs name is proclaimed faithfully. --David Garner Associate Professor of Systematic Theology Westminster Theological Seminary This is a simple book with a simple theme: insider movements are not biblical. --Elijah Abraham Founder and Director of Living Oasis Ministries Morton has exposed the real Achilles heel of insider movements. This book helps us see the problems of claiming biblical support for a movement advocated by many ill-trained Western missionaries. --Joshua Lingel Founder of i2 Ministries Morton has taken a topic saturated with missiological gobbledygook and made it as clear as a pane of glass. If you need clear biblical reasons why insider movements are a giant step in the wrong direction read this book. --Bill Nikides teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America Whether it is a biblical blueprint for fulfilling the great commission or merely a Trojan horse for heresy it is high time for the insider movement to be taken seriously. In this fascinating book Morton does exactly that by unpacking and critiquing the movements claims to biblical authority. This gracious but unapologetic turn in a conversation about biblical truth is also a call to the church to stop looking the other way join in the conversation and come to an informed decision. --Mark Durie human rights activist and Anglican pastor About the Contributor(s): Jef