Christian missionary views of Islam in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Protestant Christian mission to Muslims began in earnest in the nineteenth century with the rise of the evangelical movement. In this, the ‘great century’ of missionary outreach, theologians generally denied the hope of salvation to anyone outside of the Christian faith. Missionary treatises dealing with Islam were written mainly for the purposes of helping foster the work of conversion, of proving the superiority of Christianity in comparison with Islam, and of criticizing the Oriental churches. A few were forerunners of the more tolerant attitude that would characterize much of the more recent missionary reflection on Islam. The twentieth century has seen a change from early predictions of the imminent demise of Islam to a generally greater appreciation for Islam and even for the role of the Prophet Muhammad, although the main theme of evangelical literature is still hope for the ultimate conversion of all Muslims to Christianity. Recent missionary literature on Islam has exhibited a clear tension between the approaches of dialogue and of witness.