Queen’s ‘Recapturing Evangelism’ tops Amazon charts in first weeks after release

Recapturing Evangelism: A Biblical-Theological Approach, an evangelism textbook published by B&H Academic, recorded the top spot for new releases in the categories of evangelism and Christian missions and missionary work during the first 11 days following its Jan. 5 release, said Matt Queen, author of the new work and interim provost at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“As the ninth occupant of the world’s first academic chair of evangelism, the L. R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism (“Chair of Fire”), I wanted to contribute a text consistent with the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary tradition,” Queen said, explaining why he wrote the textbook. “Along with Scarborough’s With Christ After the Lost, E. D. Head’s revision of that same book, and C. E. Autrey’s Basic Evangelism, I intended to offer this textbook as a biblically comprehensive, theologically applicable, personally and congregationally reproducible, and intentionally focused treatment of evangelism.”

The L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism is named after Southwestern Seminary’s second president. Queen also serves as associate dean of the Roy J. Fish of Evangelism and Missions School and as professor of evangelism.

Southwestern Seminary Interim President David S. Dockery wrote the foreword to the textbook, which Queen said, “in and of itself is a concise theology of evangelism.” Recapturing Evangelism is written in a three-part structure. Queen explained the first part, Foundations for Evangelism, “includes four chapters that explore common misconceptions of evangelism, a definition of evangelism based on the Great Commission, and examinations of the biblical foundations undergirding both evangelism and the Gospel message.”

He added the second part, Issues in Evangelism, “surveys spiritual, philosophical, practical, and methodological matters related to evangelism” while the third and final part, Implications for Evangelism, “discusses how to apply the practice of evangelism to communication theory, local church programming, and personal disciple-making.”

While the book is written primarily for “seminary and college students, as well as pastors and ministers,” Queen said he “endeavored to write it in such a way that lay people can understand and apply it in their lives and churches.”

Queen said he has sought to “present a thoroughly biblical philosophy and practice of both personal and corporate evangelism, in order to advance Great Commission disciple-making in the twenty-first century.”

“I hope God will use it to train readers in evangelistic methodologies and best practices, while also acquainting them with underlying issues, theories, and ideologies that either threaten, so they can be corrected, or reinforce a biblical philosophy and practice of evangelism,” Queen concluded.

A native of North Carolina, Queen earned a Bachelor of Arts in religion from Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, NC, and a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy in applied theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. He began serving at Southwestern Seminary in 2010 after serving as pastor of several churches in North Carolina.

Queen is also the author of Everyday Evangelism and Mobilize to Evangelize, both of which are published by Seminary Hill Press. Alongside O.S. Hawkins, senior advisor and ambassador-at-large, Queen is the co-author of The Gospel Invitation: Why Publicly Inviting People to Christ Still Matters, which will be released by Thomas Nelson later this spring.

In addition to his faculty and administrative roles at Southwestern Seminary, Queen serves as an evangelism consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and associate pastor of evangelism at Lane Prairie Baptist Church in Joshua, Texas.

Recapturing Evangelism may be purchased from the Seminary Hill Bookstore here.