Against the Gates of Hell

Description: A riveting story of one man's life and ministry during the explosion of Christian missions in nineteenth-century America, Against the Gates of Hell is the biography of Henry T. Perry, a missionary to Turkey from 1866 to 1913. Based heavily on previously unpublished letters and diaries from the ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions) archives in Harvard's Houghton Library, Against the Gates of Hell provides an eyewitness account of the last years of the Ottoman Empire, years that are the foundation for the modern Middle East. Perry's diary also reveals a life wholly committed to Christ, by his example challenging the reader in his own Christian walk. Here too can be found historical testimonies of Muslim/Christian relations which have assumed renewed importance since the events of September 11, 2001.Against the Gates of Hell is classic narrative history, carefully researched, attentive to human interest detail, and contextually rich in historical background. Because of the richness of the historical background, the work becomes a cultural history as well as a biography. The book includes firsthand, eyewitness accounts of the 1894-1895 Armenian massacres and the 1915 Armenian genocide. Against the Gates of Hell is especially timely for the 100th anniversary in 2015 of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the twentieth century. Endorsements: ""A delightfully written history of one of America's great missionaries and champions of social justice (on behalf of persecuted Armenians) at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century."" --Douglas A. Sweeney, Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought and Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School "". . . very well written and quite engaging. . . The weaving of the story of Dr. Henry Perry and Ottoman/Armenian history and the massacres and genocide is almost like a modern TV or movie script and I believe it will engage readers. . ."" --Richard Hovannisian, Armenian Educational Foundation Professor of Modern Armenian History, UCLA ""Congratulations on a magnificent piece of work so carefully researched, attentive to human interest detail, contextually rich, and spiritually riveting. What a challenge to know that people like Henry Perry and his associates walked the face of the earth."" --Ken Curtis, President, Christian History Institute ""Many of the issues Perry struggled with in his day have strangely become contemporary again in our time. Terrorism, ethnic cleansing, economic upheaval, the boiling pot of Middle Eastern politics, the civilizational clash between Christendom and Islam- the same ferment was stirring in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. We cannot well understand our own times without looking closely at those of Henry Perry. "" --Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, and Executive Editor of Christianity Today ""I appreciate your wonderful scholarship . . . and your marvelous historical insights, which are so pertinent at this particular moment in history."" --Chuck Colson, winner of The Templeton Prize and founder of Prison Fellowship ""A truly superb book, well written, captivating, amply footnoted, profoundly disturbing, yet enjoyable and interesting. A story that needed to be told."" --Tom Hesse, Manager, KNIS Pilgrim Radio About the Contributor(s): Gordon B. Severance, PhD, JD, is emeritus professor of business law from California State Uni