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The Gospel in a Pluralist Society
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Item Description...
Product Description
What is the Christian message in a society marked by religious pluralism, ethnic diversity, and cultural relativism? How does the prevailing climate of opinion affect, perhaps infect, Christians' faith? Newbigin addresses such questions in this incisive analysis of contemporary culture, and he suggests how Christians can more confidently affirm their faith in such a context.
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Item Specifications...
Pages 255
Dimensions: Length: 9" Width: 6" Height: 0.65"
Weight: 0.84 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Jun 1, 2005
Publisher WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING CO.
ISBN 0802804268
EAN 9780802804266
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Availability 84 units.
Availability accurate as of Feb 13, 2012 09:26.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Johnson City, TN.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | must reading !!! Jan 22, 2007 |
| This is simply a must read for bible believing christians. This is not a book that rants and raves about "bad pagans". No, this book is a very thoughtful work on the subject of the biblical gospel of Jesus as related to the various societies and cultures in a modern/post-modern setting. An eye opening work that should be learned from. | | | | Excellent theology. Nov 13, 2006 |
| I cannot recommend this book too highly. Newbigin shows us how to avoid the pitfalls of liberalism and fundamentalism, and how to express the Gospel unequivocally in today's language. My heart raced throughout the process of reading this book and, when done, I started over and read it again. | | |  | A Needed Challenge for Western Christianity Mar 3, 2006 |
Though slightly pessimistic about the future of the church in the West, Newbigin provides a needed challenge to the modern church. The church in North America is in a new situation--there are a plurality of cultures represented in our major cities, and this plurality is spreading to smaller towns. How does the church reach out to and minister to their neighbor who is Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Jewish--when the impression given is that some of these individuals of other faiths are more devout and holy than many Christians that we may know? What is a proper posture to take when standing for "the fact of Jesus?" How is the church to minister in a post-Enlightenment context, which has created a different worldview from that which dominated for the first 1800 after the coming of the Messiah?
This book is a good read--it provides challenges and a loose framework for how to move forward. | | | | "Truth" and Missions Jan 28, 2006 |
Lesslie Newbigin was (and is, through his writings) a celebrated missiologist. While on the surface of it, this book gives the impression of being an eclectic mix of ideas, there is a fundamental cohesion to the book. In fact it represents a fundamentally new approach to missiology.
The book may arguably be said to have one underlying theme: epistemology, or the theory of knowledge. That is, how can we know? How can we have confidence in the gospel "in the midst of a plurality of cultures and religions"? Newbigin, in his own words, has "relied heavily on the work of Michael Polanyi." Polanyi's epic work "Personal Knowledge" was published nearly fifty years ago, and reveals what might be said to be a coherence theory of truth. That is, if one's beliefs should cohere as a whole, this should be a good indication of truth. Polanyi, however, adds a radical twist to this. He writes about "the coherence of commitment". That is, once one has formed a responsible opinion about "truth", one needs to commit to it passionately, and publish. Only in this way can one both display integrity, and submit one's "truth" to the scrutiny of others -- to be affirmed, modified, or perhaps even overturned. It is not hard to see how this relates to missiology. In terms of this view, the gospel requires commitment and proclamation. This in turn leads to a confirmation of its truth in various ways -- or it may lead to a revision of Christian beliefs and practices.
Newbigin further applies Polanyi's epistemology to virtually every aspect of Christianity. He undertakes a broad task of synthesis, or reconciliation, within the Church. He suggests "a third way of understanding Christian belief" -- a method which seeks to take Scripture on its own terms, and which (he hopes) would be acceptable to Christians of virtually every persuasion. This represents, arguably, much of the drawing power of Newbigin's ideas.
However, Newbigin's epistemology is not without its problems. Not least, Polanyi himself considered that there would be "absurdly remote chances" of successfully applying his philosophy to Christianity, and that even a witch doctor "may gain a limited justification within a society" (p. 318, Second Impression 1962). Further, it seems doubtful that Newbigin gives adequate account of how a living God might find a place within an (apparently) closed theory of truth.
All having been said, Newbigin is intellectually agile, he writes with conviction, and his ideas have a considerable reach. He also shares many interesting insights gained in missions over nearly forty years, as well as important observations on the Church in the West. | | | | Classic and Unsurpassed Jun 21, 2004 |
| There's little I can say about this book that will do it justice. This is, in my opinion, without doubt (a phrase that takes on a whole new meaning after reading Newbigin) the best treatment of contemporary religious pluralism ever written. Newbigin is theologically astute, writes with clarity and acumen, missionally informed and focused and touches on virtually all the relevant issues connected with the question of pluralism. Some of the most rewarding things I have gleaned from Newbigin involve the issues of "faith" and "reason" and "science." Newbigin's engagement with Michael Polanyi and Alasdair MacIntyre treats these issues wonderfully well, showing how "science" does not have a privilaged position in the discussion of what counts as public truth. Science names a socially embodied tradition that relies on established doctrine, schooling, and ultimately, faith to function. There is, ultimately no contention between "faith" and "reason," but rather between different socially embodied traditions that each attempt to narrate their interpretation of the world from their own particular fiduciary-rational framework. This puts the whole issue of "science and Christianity" in a different light. After reading Newbigin, I was more conviced than ever the Christianity has no obligation or stake in attempting to justify itself on the basis of scular reason. Rather Christianity is an laternative form of reasoning based on different presuppositions. This ultimately calls for witnesses rather than lawyers, so to speak. Much of evangelical theology is intent on "prooving" that Christianity is true "beyond a reasonable doubt", not realizing that the role of the Christian is not that of the layer (if anyone is that it is the Holy Spirt), but rather of the summoned witness. Newbigin's work in this book yeilds so much fruit in relation to these questions. This book also touches on other relevant themes that are far too many to mention here. Newbigin's treatment of the principalities and powers was excellent, and his work on the church is also superb. When he declares that the congregation is the hermeneutic of the gospel, all I can do in response is write "YES!!" in the margins. This book should be required reading for any Christian attempting to think through the "tough issues" of religious pluralism, faith and reason, church and state and the like. Highly recommended. | | | Write your own review about The Gospel in a Pluralist Society
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