Newbigin Digest

I think I can accurately say that Lesslie Newbigin is the most seminal thinker I have ever read. I think this is because he was raised in the West, and was therefore educated and encultured in it. He left the West as a missionary to India for over thirty years, and then returned to the United Kingdom late in life as a missionary. Consequently, he has the eyes of an outsider to see Western culture and describe it, but unlike other outsiders who can see it, Newbigin also speaks the language of the West, having been raised in it, and can deconstruct our culture from the inside. These factors alone make for a breathtakingly clear view of modern Western culture. Yet what has made Newbigin's writings revolutionary for me, is his unceasing passion for the unity and mission of the church to achieve their purpose: the glory of Christ.

I've posted many excerpts from Newbigin (and more will follow) but I wanted to include here this Newbigin Digest from my friend Mike, who has been reading through Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian with me, and discussing it weekly.

Dichotomy 1
Dichotomy 2
Dichotomy 3
Dichotomy 4
Dichotomy 5

I am frequently amazed now at how much the Holy Spirit has allowed me to see, through this teacher, of things right in front of my nose that were formerly transparent, and now are opaque. Formerly I saw through them as lenses to the world. Now I see the contours of the lenses that have distorted my vision.