Eternity in Their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World by Don Richardson

Eternity in Their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World Reviews

• 
  Natalie Vellacott

  Summing up in one word--disappointing. I was recommended, and really enjoyed, Peace Child and Lords of the Earth by this author. I had thought that, of his other titles, this book would be most similar in style. It was not.
  
  The author continues his attempts to prove his theory that God has left redemptive analogies in most, if not all, remote people groups. The idea being that sharing the Gospel is part using Scripture and part connecting it with the existing cultural ideas. In his previous books, I appreciated that the author made it clear that the analogies should be used to facilitate the Gospel and should in no way change or usurp it. This is an important point that must not be over-looked. I was amazed and fascinated by some of his stories and was looking forward to further examples in this book. I accept his theory in principle, although I'm not sure that there will be useful analogies in every cultural group. God alone knows that and maybe He has chosen different methods to engage with different groups. Maybe God was being gracious to the missionaries in opening their eyes to the potential inroads for the Gospel on these occasions.
  
  However, a lot of the material is duplicated from the other books and there was not a lot of new information. This book is more of a general summary proving redemptive analogies with a short overview of each story. Unfortunately, the author uses a lot of words where one would be sufficient. It almost feels like he is trying to 'flesh-out' the book to make it a full length novel.
  
  Instead of keeping his focus on contemporary mission and people groups, the author returns to the stories in the Bible. He seeks to apply his theory to a lot of the well-known stories. Whilst some of his observations are relevant, I felt that he took a bit too much licence with others. He is obviously passionate about his subject (hence the excessive use of exclamation points,) and therefore feels the need to prove it using anything and everything at his disposal. I realise that it was not his intention to modify the meaning of Scripture or to read things into passages that are just not there. But that is the effect in places.
  
  I would give this book a miss. It could do with a good editing to improve the flow and to cut out a lot of the repetitive detail. I highly recommend the previously mentioned books by this author but this was disappointing.
• 
  Joseph Burk

  What a wonderful act of God! This book explains the providential wisdom our Heavenly Father displayed by preparing the Gospel for certain tribes and peoples in extraordinary ways. For example, a tribe in Asia had been waiting for a certain Holy book from their God that would show them the way to Heaven. When missionaries came, with the Bible, these people readily and happily embraced the Salvation through Jesus Christ, and countless thousands were saved! Every Christian ought to read this. It is such a inspiration!
• 
  anca dc

  Sintetizata foarte intelept in doua parti, "Vesnicia din inimile lor" atinge doua fete ale aceleiasi monede: revelatia lui Dumnezeu, pe de o parte, generala, pe de alta parte, speciala.
  Foarte bine documentat,
  Don Richardson prezinta in prima parte popoare incepind cu sec.VI ale caror credinte si obiceiuri releva cunoasterea lor a existentei unui singur Dumnezeu adevarat, Creatorul tuturor lucrurilor. De asemenea, au fost descoperite scrieri poetice adresate lui Dumnezeu, acestea fiind foarte asemanatoare cu Psalmii biblici. In credinta acestor popoare Dumnezeu poarta diferite nume, dar fiecare din ele isi are radacina intr'o caracteristica a Dumnezeului Cerului si al Pamintului. Prin toate acestea, autorul arata cum Dumnezeu s'a revelat acestor popoare pagine in diverse moduri, pregatind astfel calea crestinilor misionari carora le'a fost mult mai usor sa il prezinte pe Dumnezeul-Logos care s'a intrupat.
  Unul din obiceiurile care pe mine personal m'a fascinat a fost cel al poporului Asmat din Noua Guinee, vinatori de capete si canibali, care isi dezumanizau femeile fortindu'le sa participe la practicile de vinzare publica a propriilor soti si isi cinsteau rudele moarte folosindu'se de diferite parti din trupurile moarte ale acestora. Pe cind in alte parti ale Noii Guinei alti misionari experimentau mari treziri spirituale ale altor popoare si triburi pagine, cel care locuia deja de vreme buna in mijlocul Asmatilor nu gasea calea de a le spune despre Dumnezeul cel viu si adevarat si nasterea cea noua care ne face fii de Dumnezeu. Pina intr'o zi cind tot poporul Asmat se aduna la riu pentru a'si intimpina dusmanii de moarte, Poporul Basim. Si, spre surprinderea misionarului care se astepta la macel, iata ce se intimpla:
  
  

  Fiecare sotie de Asmat, rusinoasa, se opreste in picioare stind linga sotul ei, cu gleznele despartite, cu un picior virit sub pieptul lui si cu celalalt sub coapsa. Apoi batrinii celor doua grupuri aduceau copiii si le porunceau sa stea pe miini si genunchi pentru a se tiri pe spinarile parintilor intinsi pe jos. In aceasta procesiune, copiii trec si printre genunchii mamelor.
  Fiecare copil Basim, care trece prin acest pasaj insufletit, este luat de barbatii si femeile din Ochanep si este tratat ca un nou nascut. Unii aduc apa si-i spala, ca si cum i-ar curata dupa nastere. La rindul lor, copiii din Ochanep sint tratati la fel de poporul Basim.
  Apoi, imbracati cu scoarta de palmier si cu scoici, copiii devin centrul de atentie al mai multor zile de petreceri si de bucurii. In fiecare noapte adultii ii leagana pentru a dormi. Femeile le cinta cintece de leagan la ureche. Dupa aceea copiii se intorc iarasi in mijlocul familiei lor, in satele lor.
  Din acest moment incepe pacea! (...) Orice semnificatie ar avea, acest obicei este in stare sa acumuleze un dinamism capabil sa transforme compotamentul poporului Asmat (...) Pasajul format din spinarile parintilor si din incheieturile mamelor reprezinta o cale de nastere comuna! Copiii care trec prin acest pasaj sint considerati ca fiind nascuti din nou in sistemul relatiilor de rudenie al dusmanilor lor! Prin intermediul acestor copii nascuti din nou, in mod reciproc, cele doua grupari aflate in conflict devin o familie largita, asiguring astfel pacea.

  
  
  Exemplul acesta mi'a amintit de experienta proprie cind, rugata fiind de un coleg de facultate sa explic termenul de "nastere din nou" m'am framintat citeva clipe rugindu'ma in mintea'mi sa gasesc o modalitate potrivita si pe inteles, il aud zicind "ah! stiu ce ii!" (uimita)"ce?" "pacea aia care o ai cu Dumnezeu, cind simti ca esti impacat cu Dumnezeu. ca eu nu simt ca sunt." (zimbind)"da, asa'i. aia e!" E uimitor sa vezi cum Dumnezeu pregateste calea, modalitatea si da si revelatia omului care Il cauta.
  Pe masura prezentarii revelatiei lui Dumnezeu in diversele natiuni, autorul inainteaza si din punct de vedere istoric, astfel incit in ultimul capitol al primei parti sunt prezentati oameni de stiinta ai sec.IX-XX ale caror teorii atesta sau contesta fenomenul mondial al "monoteismului innascut". Richardson doveste o foarte buna cunoastere a scrierilor si teoriilor acestora si a miscarilor politice de'a lungul timpului care au influentat umanitatea in cunoasterea lui Dumnezeu.
  In partea a doua se vorbeste despre revelatia lui Dumnezeu speciala lui Avraam si semintei lui, poporul Israel, prin care Dumnezeu avea sa binecuvinteze toate natiunile. Cel mai interesant aspect al acestei a doua parti este prezentarea greutatii cu care evreii, apostolii au inteles ca Yahwe si, mai apoi, Hristosul intrupat nu s'a revelat doar lor si a exclus celelalte natiuni ale lumii, ci a lucrat spre a implini promisiunea facuta lui Avraaam "...si toate neamurile vor fi binecuvintate in tine" si actionarea pe baza acestui fapt [greutatea in raspindirea Evangheliei printre neamuri:]. Intreaga aceasta sectiune se apleaca asupra acestui aspect, al revelatiei lui Dumnezeu prin poporul Israel spre toate natiunile pamintului.
  Consider ca problema intelegerii faptului ca Dumnezeu se reveleaza celor care il cauta, trecind dincolo de granitele religiei si multor altor bariere impuse de oameni, este prezenta inca si astazi din plin intre crestinii evanghelici din orice natiune.
  Deoarece a fost publicata in 1981, personal cred ca se cere o revizuire a cartii datorita evolutiei anumitor natiuni din punct de vedere al curentelor politice dar si din punct de vedere al cresterii crestinismului.
• 
  John

  This is a fascinating book. It raised new questions about how God has worked in history apart from Israel to save sinners. Richardson doesn't really address that question--but he does demonstrate how God has prepared many people groups to hear the good news about Jesus Christ. Many peoples have anticipated the Christian gospel and received the news about Christ with joy, because God had left a witness with them over the centuries.
  
  I don't agree with some of his theology, and some of his arguments seem stretched. But the first half of the book is remarkable because it is a message that few have proclaimed.
• 
  Ed

  Very interesting book on the spread of the gospel from the old testament up to today. Richardson listed different peoples, nations, that at one time were monotheistic and then went into polytheism at later times because of Satan's influence. He mentions that many nations only worshipped one god at one time. I have experienced this in Taiwan (Republic of China). The Chinese, before Buddha worshipped only one God. They had a written language (or characters). When the Bible was translated into Chinese, there was no problem using the character they had for God as meaning one God. By the way the Cantonese and Mandarin characters are the same even though their speaking language is way different.
• 
  Apryl Anderson

  This was an excellent counterpoint to Joseph Campbell's 'the Power of Myth.'
  As we are created in the image of God, each of us carries a divine spark and a memory of the eternal. No matter how far one can wander, we recognize the essential truth, and it's carried from generation to generation, transcending cultures and societies, by way of myth.
  I find that absolutely thrilling!
• 
  Chad

  Fascinating. I am very much in favor of social sciences as apologetics. I think there is a relatively untapped well of insight to be found by observing people and their ways, that points to the existence and need for a Supreme and Good God.
• 
  Bryan Kim

  I read this when I was much younger than now... I remember tears flowing down my face as I caught a glimpse of God's "big-ness". I have my students read this, it's mandatory.
• 
  Rebecca Adelle

  I will probably remember this book for its excessive use of exclamation points rather than any content. Don Richardson is a master storyteller, but that didn’t translate very well to conveying mostly facts. I wanted to love this book but I couldn’t and that makes me sad.
• 
  RE de Leon

  Don Richardson's Eternity in their Hearts plays an important role in my bookshelf - it, along with a handful of CS Lewis' works, the primary bridge between the "Christian" shelf and the "Cultural Studies, Anthropology, and Anthropology" shelf.
  
  Its premise is that, within the fabric of each of the world's cultures are embedded threads -clues in the form of stories and traditions - that point the way to the Gospel message. If a missionary is senstive to such stories and traditions, it becomes easier for him or her to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that is deeply understood by peoples hearing it for the first time.
  
  You can imagine how this would be controversial.
  
  Imagine if a people reached by the gospel message for the first time believed in, say, a creator deity. Would it be appropriate to associate the name of God or of Jesus Christ to that deity? Where lies the boundary between a people's belief in the one true God, creator of heaven and earth, vis-a-vis, say, a Sun-idol?
  
  Richardson takes up the matter very seriously, but there are those who strongly disagree with him. In fact, most Christ-believing readers will come to this book inclined either to strongly agree or strongly disagree with Richardson.
  
  Me, I tend to approach the idea with much caution, and only ever on a case-to-case basis. But I think it must be taken seriously, lest the evangelist become guilty of "adding to the gospel" in the act of insisting that the people he shares the gospel to understand it and react to it in exactly the same way the west does, coat and tie and songs about winter and spring and all. (Or have we forgotten that a good number of people never reached by the good news have never even SEEN snow, much less winter?)
  
  Read it with open eyes and ask yourself if your understanding of the good news of Jesus Christ has been embellished by the specific patterns of your culture. And ask yourself if it is proper, in passing on the message, to force your own culture upon these people.
  
  But keep talking to people - within and outside your culture - about Christ. We believers were commanded to. This book is good because it might just help you do it more effectively.
  
  RE de Leon
  Agoo, La Union
  12:18 AM December 9, 2011
  
• 
  Ryan Rindels

  Eternity in their Hearts is written by missionary Don Richardson who spent time in Papua New Guinea beginning in the early 60's. His research has shown many cultures throughout the world are prepped for the gospel message due to promises and entrenched prophecies that bear striking resemblance to biblical ones. For instance, the ancient Greeks experienced a destructive plague in the 6th century B.C. and after sacrificing to every god in the pantheon experienced no relief. The men of Athens sent for a priest from Cyprus who told the men the only deity who possessed power to abate the plague was a god unknown to them. The pagan priest told the Athenians there are a few premises that must be true about this "god," based on the given facts. Namely, he must be good and gracious because what sort of god would help a people who did not know his name. He must be benevolent enough to overlook their error. Needless to say, the men did what the priest asked and sacrificed to this "unknown god" and the plague ceased. The Greeks created a monument to this nameless god.
  
  Now you probably know where this story is going if you've read Acts 17. Paul, five centuries later reasons with the men at Mars Hill and makes the connection between a story they knew well and the truth of Yahweh. He IS the unknown "god." But he is actually God-with a captial G, and "he does not dwell in temples built by men."
  
  There are a number of accounts of similar intrigue from cultures all over the world. The book is a fairly quick read--about 220 pages.
  
• 
  Justin

  One of the most unique books I've ever read. So neat to read how God has prepared several people groups all over the world to hear the gospel. The author shows how several people groups had in their ancient folklore a knowledge of a one supreme creator who cannot be made an idol and is completely righteous. The historic record shows a move away from monotheism, where many evolutionist ( now discredited) still believe that monotheism was an upward progression away from animism, pantheism, polytheism etc. Also there is some detail how in many ancient folklore religions there are accounts of a fall, and a flood. The author ties this in to how all people/nations will be blessed through Abraham's seed. This has been part of God's 4,000 year plan to reach everyone. So much more I could say, it's just worth your time to read. It will affirm your faith in Christ, creation, salvation, the genesis record etc. and even encourage you to be part of sharing the gospel.
• 
  Bob

  This book, carefully documented, is the account of dozens of incredible cases of peoples untouched by the West and Christianity who, whether buried deep within their own religious myths and culture, or by some other way, knew about the God of Heaven as told in the Bible, and sometimes were even waiting for their own copy to arrive!Thias is a living testament to Romans Chapter 1. Evidence exists that the Judeo-Christian God reveals Himself to all mankind...enough to surprise missionaries who arrived to tie up some loose ends later on.
  
  This book is fun and once you start will be difficult tio put down. I read it about 14 years ago & wanted to re-read hoping it would be just as thrilling as it was the first time.
  I️ must make it clear that I️ do not agree with contextualizing the Gospel, however I️ still have no regrets recommending this book to anyone.
• 
  Olivia

  Fascinating, faith-building, and perspective-challenging! The first half is saturated with examples of how the Lord has revealed Himself to all people, and the second half effectively demonstrates how God's purpose throughout Scripture and throughout history has been to draw all people unto Himself. It encouraged me in sharing the Gospel, to see how God has indeed places eternity in the hearts of men; and it challenged me to share the Gospel - to all people - realizing afresh the importance that the Lord places on blessing all nations through His Son.
• 
  Scott Hayden

  Don Richardson makes the case that God has preserved remnant memories of Himself embedded in each culture, what he calls redemptive analogies. He further maintains that missionaries would be much more successful if they would discover these. Fascinating.
• 
  Liesl

  God is at work through the centuries, preparing peoples and nations to know him. This book brings this out VERY clearly, a good read for anyone interested in God and history.
• 
  G.M. Burrow

  Fascinating. Don Richardson takes us through story after story of remote pagans (untouched by missionaries) who nevertheless possessed and preserved eerily gospel-like folk religions down through the generations. These folk religions primed each people for the gospel as soon as it arrived. These religions frequently featured 1) a good and all-powerful Creator who deserves our worship, 2) some transgression that alienated man from his Creator many years ago, 3) an ancient prophecy promising that one day, a "white man" would arrive with a "special book" to tell them how they could be reconciled with the great unknown Creator they were still clumsily attempting to worship. Truly, God has put eternity in the hearts of all His creatures! He was tilling the earth for centuries, priming the Gentiles everywhere for the good news. For as soon as the missionaries arrived, they were almost invariably greeted with joy, and proceeded to baptize happy thousands.
  
  Richardson's thesis would be bolstered by more footnotes, fewer exclamation points, and less hasty speculation on certain Bible passages, but it's still a delightful book that gives God all the glory.
• 
  Brad Dell

  I will be reading this again and again, I think. It's kept me up late at night, praising and pondering... and fact-checking! I was surprised that each claim I checked was easily confirmed as truth. I am just so in awe of how much the "every people had a great flood narrative" concept stretched beyond that story and beyond the Near East. The book is worth buying for even the last 1/5 alone — Don's command of scripture is astounding, and he made scriptural narrative observations I'd not yet read/heard in all my years of study.
  
  I wish Don made connections to Deuteronomy 32:7-8 and Psalm 82 because I think his arguments run so clearly in that direction, but that's not enough for me to remove a star.
  
  I'm off to go digest more ...
  
  (PS: Some cringey words in the text, but it was 1981, I suppose.)
• 
  Adam Muly

  This book starts out with some pretty interesting info about the apparent bridges or inklings of the gospel present in folk religions across the world. However, it’s followed by tiresome repetition and sometimes-ungrounded (in my opinion) and highly speculative biblical interpretation. Overall, I think Richardson’s message is fair and probably solid “we need to take the great commission seriously.” However, it seems like he could have made his point in a much shorter book, but stretched out his ideas to fill the first volume in a pre-planned series.
• 
  Luiz

  Marcante. Ele realmente nos estimula a pensar e repensar a grande comissão desde a fundação do mundo. Uma pesquisa robusta e ao mesmo tempo agradável. A primeira metade do livro flui de um jeito avassalador: simplesmente é dificil de parar! Conteúdo relacionado a missões e apologética.
• 
  Christy

  I found this book in a road side little library. I think it was there just for me! This book talks about how God has prepared a way for all of his sheep (all nations and peoples) to receive the gospel of Christ and how we should all be reaching out to spread God's word to the world. I honestly had trouble setting this book down. This is a new favorite book of mine. Read it!
• 
  Daniel Ligon

  Few books that I read anymore require me to think deeply about whether or not I agree with their theses. "Eternity in Their Hearts" certainly does that. For starters, this book is both informative and hard to put down due to its fascinating subject material. Richardson, a longtime missionary in Papua New Guinea, makes the case that many cultures display so-called "redemptive analogies," truths hidden within the myths and legends of their traditions and religions that point to the gospel of Christ. It's a persuasive argument, especially after Richardson backs it up with a couple of Biblical examples and 27 case studies of different people groups and their relevant traditions. Richardson believes that as Paul used the "unknown God" to point Athenians to Christ, so missionaries today should examine the cultures in which they minister to find similar nuggets of truth which they can use to relate the gospel. He cautions, rightly, that missionaries must be extremely careful not to misuse traditions in a way that would lead people to conclude that the gospel is simply an addition to their religion and not a complete change from it.
  
  Richardson also emphasizes the centrality of the Abrahamic covenant in both the Old and New Testament. Though often ignored by the Jews, God's plan was always to redeem people of all ethnicities, not just Israelites. Richardson's view of the book of Acts is that rather than being a stunning success story, it chronicles the repeated failures of early Christians to grasp the wideness of the gospel's appeal until years had passed.
  
  I take some issue with the framing of this book's thesis. Richardson dips a bit too far into allegory and typology, in my opinion. His stated thesis is the Abraham represents special revelation and Melchizedek represents general revelation. Drawing this conclusion from Scripture is a stretch, I believe; the character of Melchizedek is too vague. Richardson argues that general revelation is superior to special revelation in that it is older and that it has a worldwide appeal. This mindset could lead some to fail to recognize the sufficiency of Scripture.
  
  That said, this book was very interesting and thought provoking. It is a good read for anyone interested in missions, as long as you think through the assumptions Richardson makes before wholeheartedly agreeing with him.
• 
  Johnny Brooks

  "Startling evidence of belief in the one true God in hundreds of cultures throughout the world," is what Don Richardson's book claims to be. In fact it is not. Which is a shame as I am really interested in this subject.
  
  Unfortunately Don makes a very poor argument, and goes way off topic for the second half of the book. The first part of the book is full of stories about animistic cultures that seem to have strangely similar beliefs to the Christian set of beliefs. Too bad he doesn't expound on them, and seems to only select stories where "white" missionaries are the heroes or messengers of the "Sky God."
  
  The second half of the book is extraordinarily tedious to read. Richardson essentially preaches an extra long sermon about why we should all be evangelists. Thank God I'm finished with that.
  
  I did enjoy most of the stories he told in the beginning of the book, and found the monotheistic nature of those beliefs to be fascinating. I will do some more reading on this subject in the future.
  
  If you are looking for the same old arrogant, tired, clichéd, and just plain ignorant writing from the American Evangelical group, then by all means pick up "Eternity in Their Hearts."
• 
  Jared

  This book was an overall good read, but the author writes about some pretty heady stuff, making frequent references back to many different verses in the Bible that make it sometimes difficult to follow, and often bogs down under the weight of having so much of it crammed into certain sections of chapters. His style is good, but not necessarily compelling, making it a little difficult to gather the gumption to finish the book.
  
  However, the subject matter is really important, and it is put in context with many different recollections from history that illustrate the point in a very interesting way. My perspective of "general" revelation has forever been changed in a positive way and given me a different view on the early church and missions.
  
  So, though it may be difficult to get through certain sections, it is definitely a must read because of the subject matter. You won't enjoy the process of reading as much as you would a better written book, but you will get a satisfaction of learning what you do that few books will ever offer you.