\nIn this comprehensive yet engaging work, Frankopan highlights one central theme to world history — the Silk Roads. More specifically, since around 300 BC (the time of Alexander the Great) the West has been voraciously traveling to the East in order to trade goods and obtain natural resources. From the earliest days when caravans would bring silk and spices from China and India to the age of sailing where new trading routes brought ships around the Southern tip of Africa in order to access ports across Asia.<\/p>\n
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The Silk Roads<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n More than just a book about trade, Frankopan highlights the rise of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Islam. A lot of details are given to the rise of the Mongols, the spread of Islam, the crusades, the rise of the African slave trade, and the Black Plague. These were bloody and tragic times in world history.<\/p>\n I was stunned by Frankopan\u2019s telling of why Ferdinand and Isabella financed Columbus\u2019 voyages. As it turned out, Christopher Columbus\u2019 search for a sea route to India was not solely based on commerce or science, it also had a military purpose. At that time, the Iberian Peninsula was under constant threat by the Moors. The crusades had proven to be a failure. Yet, it was a commonly held belief that India was filled with tribes of Christians. If Columbus could contact the Christians in India, he might possibly convince them to join Europe\u2019s Christians armies for one more attempt to free Jerusalem from the Muslims.<\/p>\n I was also horrified to read the story of Vasco De Gama burning an Islamic merchant ship filled with families, with the description of mothers holding up their babies in vain to be rescued.\u00a0 Such savagery was left out of the history books that I had read in my youth.<\/p>\n My favorite part of the book might have been the premise that the Silk Roads were connected to America\u2019s Independence. In the 1700s, Britain\u2019s East India Trading Company had made critical mistakes in Bengal. Stories of a possible shortage of resources caused a run on the stocks in England (Frankopan, 269). Britain felt that the East India Company was “too big to fail” and bailed them out. They did this by raising taxes on the colonies. You know the rest of the story: Boston Tea Party, Revolutionary War, etc.<\/p>\n Throughout the book, Frankopan masterfully paints a picture of a world of both order and chaos. He describes a world where the powerful exploit the weak and great amounts of resources (whether it be China\u2019s silks, India\u2019s spices, Africa\u2019s slaves, South Americas\u2019 gold, or the Middle East\u2019s oil) being transferred from one continent to another.<\/p>\n Frankopan ends the book by talking about a modern revival of the Silk Roads. China has become an economic powerhouse in the world. When I was in Zambia this year, the Chinese were everywhere \u2013 trading infrastructure improvements for mineral rights. Frankopan highlights the many rail projects that China has that will bring more and more goods to and from Asia.<\/p>\n This book reminded me of another book that I read a few years ago: Back to Jerusalem: Three House Church Leaders Share Their Vision to Complete the Great Commission<\/strong><\/em>. This fascinating book was written by three leaders in China\u2019s underground church. The book tells of a vision that God has given many of the leaders of the churches in China. These Chinese Christians are well aware that the Jesuits and others brought the gospel into China along the old Silk Roads. They claim that God has commissioned the underground church in China to retrace the Silk Roads (from China to Jerusalem) and send out missionaries to the people of Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East.<\/p>\n In fact, this is happening already. Without a mission board or credentials, hundreds (possibly thousands) of Chinese believers have sold all their belongings and have moved to cities along the old silk road in order to share the gospel and plant churches.<\/p>\n Frankopan\u2019s premise is that the silk roads are a key component in world history. Could it be that the silk roads are also an important part of the church\u2019s responsibility to fulfill Jesus\u2019 great commission?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n More Information on the Back to Jerusalem Movement<\/a><\/p>\n
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