Lesslie Newbigin

Posted on by kheevun

The church could have escaped persecution by the Roman Empire if it had been content to be treated as a cultus privatus—one of the many forms of personal religion. But it was not. Its affirmation that “Jesus is Lord” implied a public, universal claim that was bound eventually to clash with the cultus publicus of the empire. The Christian mission is thus to act out in the whole life of the whole world the confession that Jesus is Lord of all.
Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: Introduction to the Theology of Mission, p. 16–17

Taken from Kingdom Come

 

When the light shines freely one cannot draw a line and say, “Here light stops and darkness begins.” But one can say and must say, “There is where the light shines; go toward it and your path will be clear; turn your back on it and you will go into deeper darkness.”
Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: Introduction to the Theology of Mission, p. 175

Taken from Kingdom Come

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Finney’s Revivalism

Posted on by kheevun

I am working on McLoughlin’s ‘Modern Revivalism – Charles G. Finney to Billy Graham’. As I am writing an essay on Charles G. Finney, referring to this book is inevitable. It is interesting to see some different views from McLoughlin in this book, compared to Iain H. Murray’s excellent work – Revival and Revivalism. McLoughlin’s account of Finney is much more positive compared to Murray’s. He stressed the role historical context played in shaping Finney’s revivalism, while Murray tends to focus more on the split among the Presbyterians as a consequence of Finney’s influence. The best book for reading pleasure is Stuart Piggin’s ‘Firestorm of the Lord’ which deals more directly with the issue of revival and revivalism. The definition of revival and the difference between revival and revivalism are discussed in all three books, with Murray’s being a history account, while Mcloughlin looks at the larger American context of its revivalism, and Piggin includes more pastoral concerns.

Revival and Revivalism: Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858