Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian

At long last, I have finished reading Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian. I would place it easily among top ten books I've ever read. Why? Newbigin offers an outsider view of bringing the good news to western culture in the language of an insider. He lays bare western Christian syncretism more clearly than anyone I've read.

It took me a long time to read this collection of writings from the 1930s to the 1990s. Why? First, Newbigin is a true intellectual (so for me to read someone like this requires the kind of mental work that few authors require). Second, his epistemology is so foreign (i.e. not modern, not postmodern) that one cannot read without being aware of a profound dissonance between his rhetoric, and that of our contemporary context. Finally, Newbigin says so many things that deserve careful thought that I often couldn't read for very long before coming on an idea, argument or claim that consumed my thought life for the next several days.

Since this was essentially my first introduction to Newbigin (apart from a few forrays in college anthropology), I was deeply grateful for this Reader, that comprises writings from the 1930s to the 1990s. It demonstrated the unity, clarity, and cogency of Newbigin's thought over a considerable period, and through diverse historical and cultural situations.

Newbigin's writing is so diverse and rich, that it is hard to do it justice in a review. Here are just a few reasons to read this book:

1. Newbigin's exposition of the Church as the sign, instrument and foretaste of the Kingdom of God.
2. Newbigin's exposition and defense of the parish principle: that the church exists for the place in which God has placed it.
3. Newbigin's penetrating critique of the modern scientific worldview.
4. Newbigin's twin call to simple, faithful proclamation of the good news and to engage in the complex, challenging work of submitting to Christ as King in public life.
5. Newbigin's argument that the gospel is public truth and must be proclaimed with that confidence, intent and authority

There are quite literally dozens of other penetrating insights into the church, culture, the gospel, the kingdom and mission, each of which deserves to be enumerated alongside these. But I hope that these will be enough to prod a few people to pick up the book.