Global Good News

Global Good News had its genesis in a series of lectures presented at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. The focus of the book is on "the global meaning of the Christian message" and "the most important questions of mission for the coming decades". On the surface of it, the fourteen papers in the book do not seem to have much cohesion. However, it might be possible to narrow them down to four themes: evangelism, "shalom", Church in culture, and universalism. I shall touch briefly on three of these: Evangelism: Contributor David Lowes Watson states: "The purpose of our evangelism [is] to bring Christ's sufferings to an end as quickly as we possibly can." The reason for this is that "Christ suffers with the very least of the world's creatures". On the other hand, contributor Neuza Itioka states: "Evangelism and mission are warfare". The Church is involved in "a struggle against the powers". These are understood to be personal spiritual beings. Therefore evangelism "is to give impetus to the transfer of men and women from the empire of darkness to the kingdom of light of the Son". Shalom: Contributor David Lowes Watson equates shalom with "the coming reign of God", which will see an end to "the global inequities that so offend God's justice". This may be viewed by some, he writes, as "irrationality" -- yet "the ultimate mystery of evangelism is that the world will respond". Contributor Robert G. Tuttle, Jr. takes a different view. He states: "Justice is in God alone, and if we wait until we receive what we deserve according to this world's standards to be happy, we will never be happy". Therefore, rather than defer our salvation to the coming reign of God, God "makes a power available to sustain you in your life". Church in Culture: Contributor George G. Hunter III relates a horror story of a man for whom "every idol had promised more than it delivered". Therefore, he resolved to try the Church. However, he continues by describing how every Church the man visited set up "the culture barrier". He summarises: "Our church subculture has erected dozens of barriers". Contributor Robert G. Tuttle, Jr., by way of contrast, focusses on cultural commonalities - among them children, sports, music, community, and "a universal 'oughtness' and the need for power to measure up". In particular, this universal "oughtness", he writes, is "absolutely critical to the communication of the gospel". This book was too diverse to make a satisfying read. However, on more careful reflection and comparison, it does raise some interesting topics and worthwhile contrasts.