American Missionaries in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Philip O. Hopkins

   Pages 1-43

3. Christianity in Iran

   • Philip O. Hopkins

   Pages 45-76

4. A Brief History of Iran During the Modern Era

   • Philip O. Hopkins

   Pages 77-89

5. American Missionaries in Iran During the Last Years of the Pahlavis

   • Philip O. Hopkins

   Pages 91-116

6. Evangelistic Activities of American Missionaries

   • Philip O. Hopkins

   Pages 117-150

7. Iranian Christian Thought and the Islamic Republic

   • Philip O. Hopkins

   Pages 151-190

8. Conclusion

   • Philip O. Hopkins

   Pages 191-201

9. Back Matter

   Pages 203-272

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This work explores the interaction of American Protestant missionaries with Iranians during the 1960s and 1970s. It focuses on the missionary activities of four American Protestant groups: Presbyterians, Assemblies of God, International Missions, and Southern Baptists. It argues that American missionaries’ predisposition toward their own culture confused their message of the gospel and added to the negative perception of Christianity among Iranians. This bias was seen primarily in the American missionaries’ desire to modernize Iran through education and healthcare, and between the missionaries’ relationship with Iranian Christians. Iranian attitudes towards missionary involvement in these areas are investigated, as is the changing American missionary strategy from a traditional method where missionaries had the final say on most matters related to American and Iranian Christian interaction, to the beginnings of an indigenous system where a partnership developed between the missionary and the Iranian Christian. 

• Modernisation
• Christianity
• Presbyterians
• Assemblies of God
• International Missions
• Southern Baptists
• Islamic Revolution
• Mohammed Reza Shah
• Din-e Dowlat
• Din-e Mellat

• Associate Professor of Church History, Gateway Seminary, Ontario, USA

  Philip O. Hopkins

Philip O Hopkins is Associate Professor of Church History at Gateway Seminary, USA, Associate Research Fellow for the Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews, UK, and Lecturer of Christianity and Islam at the Russian-Armenian University in Yerevan, Armenia. He is part of the editorial board for Iran and the Caucasus and has PhDs in Applied Theology and Iranian History.

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