317-548-2146

03. Book Cover Photoshop Template 12 182x300 - Impact of Samuel Zwemer on Missions

Samuel Zwemer: The Burden of Arabia (Christian Heroes: Then and Now)

The impact of Samuel Zwemer on the history of Islamic missions is difficult to overstate. According to J. Christy Wilson, Zwemer was born in Michigan in 1867 to a Christian family with a Dutch reformed background, attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and then enrolled in seminary in New Jersey in 1887. [1] During seminary, Zwemer became friends with James Cantine who partnered with Zwemer to begin raising funds for a new mission to Arabia.[2]

Zwemer’s missionary career occurred in three phases. Lyle Vander Werff explains that during the first phase, which lasted from 1891-1912, Zwemer spent time in Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait working in the areas of evangelism, education, and medical support.[3] Wilson notes that during this phase, Zwemer married a young nurse, Amy Wilkes, and then returned to the United States in 1905 where he accepted two job offers, a field secretary for the Reformed Board of Foreign Missions as well as a representative for the Student Volunteer Movement.[4] During the second phase of Zwemer’s career from 1913-1928, Vander Werff explains that Zwemer ministered in Cairo, Egypt, where he produced Christian literature at the center of Islamic thought.[5] Also, during this phase, Zwemer became the editor for the influential quarterly publication, The Moslem World, which he edited until 1947.[6] The third and final phase of Zwemer’s career took place at the Princeton Theological Seminary beginning in 1928.[7] Zwemer was the Chair of History of Religion and Christian Missions where he continued to write and publish books on Christian missions to Islam.[8]

Zwemer’s major contribution to global mission’s history is founded upon a missionary strategy with Muslims that evolved over time. John Hubers explains that Zwemer began his missionary efforts as a harsh critic of Islam.[9] Zwemer described Islam as spiritual slavery and a sociological straightjacket, and he attacked Islam’s view of God, rejection of the Bible, views of Muhammad and the Qur’an, as well as the morality of Islam.[10] However, as Zwemer’s career progressed, Vander Werff explains that Zwemer’s approach became more anthropological and Christocentric by extending empathy to the people of Islam and their beliefs.[11] In other words, instead of attacking the Islamic faith, Zwemer shifted to a focus that found common ground with Muslims and shared the Good News of the Gospel. For example, Hubers notes that although Zwemer’s later ministry still found Muhammad as flawed, he could recognize the creative genius of Islam’s prophet.[12] Zwemer even came to believe that “Allah is merely a different name for the same God worshiped by Jews and Christians.”[13] In sum, the common ground that Zwemer experienced forged and empowered empathy, and it caused him to be more of a listener who focused on dialog, rather than polemic.[14] During a century when Christian and Muslim relations have been described as a “clash of civilizations,” Zwemer’s lesson of empathy may be more important than ever for the future success of Christian missionaries with the Muslim community.[15] Accordingly, Zwemer’s major contribution to global mission’s history may be accurately summed up by Kenneth Scott Latourette who stated, “No one through all the centuries of Christian missions to the Muslims has deserved better than Dr. Zwemer the designation of Apostle to Islam.”[16]

__________________________________________

[1] J. Christy Wilson Jr., “The Legacy of Samuel M. Zwemer,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 10, no. 3 (July 1986): 117.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Lyle L. Vander Werff, “Our Muslim Neighbors: The Contribution of Samuel M. Zwemer to Christian Mission,” Missiology 10, no. 2 (April 1982): 187.

[4] J. Christy Wilson Jr., “The Legacy of Samuel M. Zwemer,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 10, no. 3 (July 1986): 118.

[5] Vander Werff, “Our Muslim Neighbors: The Contribution of Samuel M. Zwemer to Christian Mission,” 187.

[6] J. Christy Wilson Jr., “The Legacy of Samuel M. Zwemer,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 10, no. 3 (July 1986): 119.

[7] Vander Werff, “Our Muslim Neighbors: The Contribution of Samuel M. Zwemer to Christian Mission, 187.

[8] J. Christy Wilson Jr., “The Legacy of Samuel M. Zwemer,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 10, no. 3 (July 1986): 120.

[9] John Hubers, “Samuel Zwemer and the Challenge of Islam: From Polemic to a Hint of Dialogue,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 28, no. 3 (July 2004): 118.

[10] Ibid., 118–19.

[11] Vander Werff, “Our Muslim Neighbors: The Contribution of Samuel M. Zwemer to Christian Mission, 191.

[12] Hubers, “Samuel Zwemer and the Challenge of Islam: From Polemic to a Hint of Dialogue,” 120.

[13] Ibid., 121.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid., 121.

[16] Ibid., 117.

 

Bibliography

  • Hubers, John. “Samuel Zwemer and the Challenge of Islam: From Polemic to a Hint of Dialogue.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 28, no. 3 (July 2004): 117–21.
  • Vander Werff, Lyle L. “Our Muslim Neighbors: The Contribution of Samuel M. Zwemer to Christian Mission.” Missiology 10, no. 2 (April 1982): 185–97.
  • Wilson, J. Christy Jr. “The Legacy of Samuel M. Zwemer.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 10, no. 3 (July 1986): 117–21.
Wilder - Impact of Samuel Zwemer on Missions
Derek Wilder Executive Director
DEREK WILDER, PhD, is the Executive Director of Lives Transforming Group, Inc., a Christian counseling ministry focused on personal transformation, and the author of FREEDOM and Minds on Fire. Wilder has a Master of Theological Studies, an MDiv in Pastoral Counseling, and a PhD in Biblical Exposition. Wilder's scholarly focus lies in Pauline studies, with his doctoral dissertation specifically examining the ontological implications present in the eighth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Wilder, an adjunct professor, founded Convergence Therapy, integrating cognitive therapy and grace-based theology into the accredited college course: “Thought Life & Spirit Growth.”