What’s So Great About the “Great Century” in Christian Missions?

Alexander the Great, the Great Wall of China and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – what do each of these people, places and things have in common? Well, as Tony the Tiger would say, “They’re grrreat!” We use the word “great” to refer to things that have a superlative quality. In fact, Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines “great” as “remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effectiveness.” [1] The period of Christian history from roughly 1792-1910 has come to be known as the “Great Century” in Christian missions, but what makes it so great compared to any other period in history, and why does that matter for us today?

What is the Great Century?

Many Christians are familiar with the time period in the 16th century known as the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, a German monk with a hammer and nail and ninety-five arguments against the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences, is credited with beginning a movement that turned the church and the world upside down. What is not as well-known, however, is that the Reformation did not immediately propel the newly formed Protestant branch of the church into international missions.

So where did the passion for the global completion of the Great Commission that characterizes today’s evangelical church come from? That passion and fervor for international missions is largely a product of the “Great Century” of Christian missions.

Global missions was not completely unheard of from the Reformation to the end of the 1700s, but most Protestants were not concerned with reaching the lost outside their immediate geographical location. However, one major factor helped tip the church out of complacency and into international missions – a small book with a long title published in the year 1792. William Carey, a poor cobbler-turned-pastor from England was burdened by the greater Protestant church’s lack of zeal to take the gospel to unreached people and places, and he wrote a book called An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversation of the Heathen. Carey’s words fell like bombshells on his readers’ hearts and within a year, a missionary society was formed with William Carey as its first appointee.

A number of other global and political factors combined during the 19th century that allowed for an explosion of Protestant missionary activity. Over the course of the next 120 years, it is estimated that the number of international missionaries increased about fifteen-fold, and the number of Protestant Christians in Asia, Africa and Latin America grew from 1% to 10% of the population. [2] Areas that are modern hotbeds of Christian activity and even mission sending movements such as Brazil, Korea and parts of Africa owe the beginnings of their rapid spiritual growth and development to faithful missionaries. The spiritual and religious temperature of the entire world was transformed because of the “Great Century” in Christian missions.

Notable Figures 

While we will never know the names of many men and women who sacrificed during the “Great Century,” there are some key figures whose legacies have been recorded . William Carey is often referred to as the “father of modern missions” because he helped catalyze the beginning of the movement. He also established some guiding principles for mission strategy that missions organizations and missionaries still follow today. [3] Adoniram Judson and his wife Ann were some of the first Baptist missionaries from America, and they gave their lives attempting to reach the people of Burma (now Myanmar). David Livingstone, a British missionary, is famous even outside of the church for his pioneering work in exploring the interior of Africa.

Other missionaries are known for their character and sacrifice for the cause of Christ, even at great cost to themselves. Hudson Taylor was a tireless visionary who made it his life’s goal to reach inland China with the gospel. He lost his first wife and multiple children in pursuit of this cause, and the story of his life has had a profound spiritual impact on many. Amy Carmichael ministered in India towards the end of the “Great Century,” and many know about her work and her life because of devotional books that she wrote. While most people associate the name “George Muller” with miraculous stories of faith and care for orphans rather than international missions, this man of prayer whose life has touched many was also an ardent supporter of missionary work. [4]

What Does it Mean for Us?

The end of the “Great Century” in Christian missions was over 100 years ago, but it still has implications for our lives today. History is an exercise in humility, and this prolific period in missions history reminds us that we owe much of what we take for granted today to the valiant men and women who forfeited everything– often including their lives – to get the gospel to the lost across the world. They were only human, and they made mistakes that we can learn from, but we stand on the foundation of their zeal, missionary strategy, and global impact. Try picking up a missionary biography of someone from the 19th century like To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson or Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. See if your heart isn’t pricked to be part of what God is doing in places far away from your neighborhood and city. Maybe if we gain a better understanding of the missionaries and missions history of the 1800s, we will also embody the fire and passion to get the gospel to the ends of the earth that characterized the lives of those who made the “Great Century” so great.