2004-07-03

Ram Swarup’s Review of “Seven Hundred Plans To Evangelize The World”

The following is an excerpt from a book review by Ram Swarup in the The Statesman.

The book was ”Seven Hundred Plans To Evangelize The World: The Rise of a Global Evangelization Movement“ by David Barrett and James W. Reapsome. I found this excerpt as an appendix in the book ”Max Mueller – A Lifelong Masquerade“ by Brahm Dutt Bharti.

… The authors give us some very interesting figures. They have no use for the traditional biblical chronology, which allows man a bare 4000 years of sojourn on earth (According to a 17th century computation, Man appeared on the earth on October 23 of BC 4004 and the apostles were already getting ready for the end of the world in their times). Our authors however take a long stride, back and forth, go back to 5.5 million years when Homo appeared on the scene and they traverse 4 billion years in future. Undeterred by the fact that the new perspective involves grave theological problems, they boldly audit for us the missionary activity for all this era.

By the time Jesus came, 5.5 million years had already elapsed and 118 billion men and women had already lived and died, all ipso facto destined for hell as they did not know Christ. But new prospects opened for mankind after AD 33 when the Kingdom of Heaven was announced and inaugurated. Heaven, empty until then, began to be populated though rather unexpectedly slowly in the beginning. But by 1990, there are already 8 bil’lion dead believers (Church Triumphant), all qualifying for habitation in the new region. They are however still only 5.68% of unbelievers destined for hell, quarters across the street. But the demographic composition continues to improve in their favour. By AD 2100, they are 8.57%, and at the end of 4 billion years, they are fully 99.90%, the Christian heaven holding 9 decillion (one decillion is ten followed by 33 zeros) believers.

In AD 1,00,000, believers are still only 85% of the total living population. But by AD 4 billion, the gap practically closes and almost all are believers. The Great commission is fulfilled and missionaries are freed from their obligation to God and His Son.

The population figures given here take into account men whose longevity after AD 2500 turns gradually into immortality, and new men and human species artificially created by mass cloning and genetic engineering (Missionaries of the future believing, brave new world will have a different role; they will increasingly be able to raise their own crop of believers through genetic technology); they take into account humans increasingly living on off-earth space colonies, then across other galaxies and universes. In AD 4 billion, the “ultimate size of the Church of Jesus Christ,” the authors estimate, will be “1 decillion believers,” not counting 9 decillion dead by then …