The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited - eBook
3.7
5
11
11
An Interesting Take on What The Gospel Is
This book, like many others by McKnight, has caused a bit of a stir â you can see the mixed reactions below. Even those who do not agree with McKnight should be able to credit his writing style as well his passion for asking important questions.
The main question he so eloquently asks throughout this book is âÂÂWhat is the GospelâÂÂ? Most Evangelical Christians would say something about being saved from our sins by the death of Jesus. While McKnight agrees that Jesus does save us from our sins, he doesnâÂÂt see this as the Gospel. His point is that we have created a salvation culture, but not so much a Gospel culture. He sets out to explain what he sees as the Gospel â which is essentially Jesus Christ being the fulfillment of Israel. So on some level, this book serves as an easily accessible monograph on what the word âÂÂGospelâ means.
I really enjoyed this book â it is incredibly well-written and well-footnoted (I wrote down a few new books I want to check out). McKnight, as he usually does, is gentle with those he disagrees with. Since he is presenting a fairly novel idea for most of us (though he does fully document the Biblical and historical reasons of those who agree with him), I think this book would make for an excellent discussion in some sort of group setting. Thus, I wish he would have added a fourth Appendix with a discussion guide â however I also realize this might be nit-picking. I think it will take some time for me to think through the issues he brings up but I know that even though I might disagree with some of his conclusions, he nonetheless is an incredibly important voice in discerning what it means to be an effective Christian and how to be an effective witness to culture in our day.
March 19, 2013
Sliding to the left
Reading this book made me think of my late grandfather, who had, around age 30, âÂÂgot savedâ at a revival meeting. According to my grandmother, he attended church a few times, dropped out, and spent the rest of his life acting extremely Unsaved. My grandmother still wonders if he is in heaven, as does everyone who knew him. âÂÂOnce saved, always savedâ is the familiar phrase, but even people who believe that will admit that in some cases âÂÂgetting savedâ was illusory.
So, in light of all that, I was prepared to give this book a fair hearing. I agree that the âÂÂgetting savedâ mentality can lead a person to a false sense of security, as it can lead people to define âÂÂChristianâ as âÂÂsomeone who gets saved.â But just because something is abused doesnâÂÂt mean it ought to be discarded. The author of this book assures readers (too often, frankly) that he still believes that âÂÂdecisions for Christâ are important. But the upshot of his book is that âÂÂdecision evangelismâ is an embarrassment for modern Christians and ought to be moved to the back burner (or shoved off the stove). We live in a culture increasingly hostile to Christianity, especially in its traditional form, and we absorb some of that culture, so that many pastors no longer talk about evangelism or witnessing to oneâÂÂs faith â which means that they give up trying to please God in favor of âÂÂWhat will my non-Christian friends think?âÂÂ
As I read the book, I kept recalling PaulâÂÂs wonderful phrase: âÂÂI am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, it is the power of God that brings salvationâ (Rom 1:16). Paul was not a suburban pastor or seminary professor ensconced in a cozy three-bedroom, two-bath house with an Acura in the garage, he was âÂÂout there,â getting beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, mocked, slandered, which definitely proved that âÂÂI am not ashamedâ was no idle boast. Scot McKnight is no Paul, and neither are the vast majority of pastors, even those who hold (very loosely, and with embarrassment) to the name âÂÂevangelical.â Knowing that their own preaching is essentially just warmed-over Norman Vincent Peale positive thinking fluff (or the âÂÂGod wants you to vote Democratic and march in gay pride paradesâ preached by liberals), these comfortable, world-conforming pastors try to excuse their lack of zeal by proving that the âÂÂrealâ gospel and the âÂÂrealâ Jesus werenâÂÂt decision-centered. The author tries to prove that the cool people like himself are part of the âÂÂgospel cultureâ instead of the âÂÂsalvation cultureâ of those dumb, unsophisticated evangelicals. He is correct that a lot of âÂÂsavedâ people donâÂÂt ever grow into mature disciples who live out their faith. But in trying to prove that the âÂÂgospel cultureâ is better than âÂÂsalvation culture,â he is simply approving of Christians who do not evangelize or verbally witness to their faith in the hope that friends and family members will become Christians â in other words, Christians so intimidated by the secular culture that their âÂÂwitnessâ takes the form of something insipid and nonthreatening like âÂÂYou might like our church, we have a really cool music program, and our pastor is a fun guy.âÂÂ
Yes, we ought to ACT like Christians, because that is an indispensible part of our witness. The âÂÂsalvation cultureâ has never denied that. But there is a flaw in âÂÂevangelism by exampleâ â people may not know just what we are an example of. And aside from that, there is no getting around the Book of Acts: It all starts at Pentecost: âÂÂRepent, and be savedâ â yeah, you, the individual there â accept Christ. ThatâÂÂs Christian Life, Part 1. We get Part 2 in PaulâÂÂs letters, addressed to people who made the decision but are still flawed sinners who need PaulâÂÂs guidance in growing in the faith. But they had to do Part 1 first. No evangelism, no church. The church didnâÂÂt spread, in Acts, because the apostles ran around bragging about their music program or about how witty the pastor was, nor did they assure their audiences that âÂÂall roads lead to God, so one religion is as good as another â we donâÂÂt judge.â Peter and Paul are a tough act to follow, but thatâÂÂs the reason the pastorate is not for softies â come to think of it, thatâÂÂs true for the laity too. If we stripped the church down to the true believers â something God will do, at the end â we would have a much smaller but infinitely more vibrant mission force. After all, it started with just twelve guys, but itâÂÂs amazing how bold people are when theyâÂÂre not ashamed of what they preach. That certainly isnâÂÂt true of the vast majority of pastors and seminary professors.
So, despite its good points, this book falls into that growing category of books: âÂÂHow to Be an Evangelical and Make Your Unbelieving Friends Think YouâÂÂre OK.â Or maybe
December 18, 2012
This book is a MUST Read!
I canont stress enough that this is a MUST READ book. It's easy to follow and is foundational in it's teaching. It's a call to getting back to true discipling.
May 18, 2012
Author points us back to story of Israel completed
Focuses our attention to what his word teaches us about Israel and God's plan for them completed in Jesus, the King, and witnessed by the apostles who taught the same.
May 4, 2012
Welcome to Christianbook.com! Sign in or create an account
Cart
0 items
Checkout
We now accept PayPalfor ALL orders
