by: Richard Bauckham

• Format

  Paperback

  ISBN

  9780801027710

  Dimensions

  5 x 7.75

  Pub. Date

  Jan 2004

  SRP

  $20.00

  Carton Quantity

  50

  Number of pages

  126

  Buy

About

"A remarkable little book. It deals ably and lucidly with hermeneutics, missiology, biblical theology, and apologetics. . . . It bridges biblical text and contemporary context with academic competence and in popular style."--Fergus Macdonald, Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology

This engaging study provides a new way of looking at Scripture--one that takes seriously the biblical idea of mission. Richard Bauckham shows how God identifies himself with particular individuals or people in human history in order to be known by all. He is the God of Abraham, Israel, and David and, finally, the one who acts through Jesus Christ.

Bauckham applies these insights to the contemporary scene, encouraging those involved in mission to be sensitive to postmodern concerns about globalization while at the same time emphasizing the uniqueness of Christian faith. In doing so, he demonstrates the diversity of Christian faith around the world. This book will be rewarding reading for pastors, lay readers, and students of Scripture, mission, and postmodernism.

Endorsements

"The events and aftermath of 9/11 have renewed the case against missionary activity, which so many critics already relegated to the dark corridors of church history on account of the Crusades, the deployment of Christian mission in the service of imperialism, and the more recent valuing of pluralism and diversity. Without minimizing the force of these criticisms, Bauckham nonetheless urges that the narrative of Christian Scripture is inescapably missiological and sets out to show us how to read the Bible so as to take seriously its missionary direction. The result is a programmatic reading of Scripture, by one who is fully at home in its pages, that exemplifies the craft of wise engagement with Scripture in relation to a postmodern, globalized world."--Joel B. Green, Asbury Theological Seminary

"How do biblical concepts of the universal mission of God's people engage today's 'cultures of progress'? I warmly commend this beautifully brief but utterly masterful and penetrating guide."--Max Turner, London Bible College

"There are many books that take a biblical look at mission. There almost none that take a mission-centered look at the whole Bible, but that is exactly what Bauckham does here, with outstanding clarity. This is a book of biblical hermeneutics from an angle you may never have considered before and with powerful contemporary relevance."--Chris Wright, International Ministries director, Langham Partnership International

Reviews

"This relatively brief but substantial study provides a biblical vision of the Church's mission. . . . [Bauckham] emphasizes the interplay of the universality and particularity in the Bible, and the dynamic movement within the biblical story from the one to the many. This is an engaging and significant essay on the universal mission of the Church today."--Donald Senior, Bible Today

"Persuasively argues that there is a consistent movement through Scripture from the particular to the universal. . . . Bauckham's book is both informed by sound scholarship yet accessible to a wide audience. There is much in these pages to ponder, and I heartily recommend this book to anyone wrestling with how to think scripturally about Christian mission in these changing times."--Philip D. Kenneson, Stone-Campbell Journal

"This is a remarkable little book. It deals ably and lucidly with hermeneutics, missiology, biblical theology and apologetics within the space of a mere 112 pages. It bridges biblical text and contemporary context with academic competence and in popular style. And it does all this with a sense of enthusiasm, relevance and urgency that reflects a passion for Christian mission."--Fergus Macdonald, Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology

"A refreshing attempt to read the Bible with mission as the key hermeneutic. Richard Bauckham zeroes in on how the Scriptures interpret the relationship between the particular and the universal. The author's reading yields fresh insights on biblical stories and images that have been worn out by other interpretive viewpoints. . . . The book aims to provide a biblical theology of mission and is perceptive in its discernment of the patterns and movements in the biblical narrative. Yet it is the philosophical reading of the Christian metanarrative and its relevance to the postmodern world that is perhaps its strongest and most enlightening contribution."--Francis M. Macatangay, Mission Studies