Global Good News | Book Review

Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough.

The title of the book, Global Good News, would appear to be a misnomer. The authors refer to "the cosmic Christ", "a forgiven universe", a "cosmic worldview", "the whole cosmos" - even "advanced extraterrestrial civilizations". Perhaps this should have been named "Inter-Galactic Good News"!

Global Good News had its genesis in a series of lectures presented at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, in October, 1992. Most of the chapters of the book are based on lectures given at this consultation, with other chapters having been added "to round out the topics addressed at that time". 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 the following four themes: evangelism, "shalom", Church in culture, and universalism.

WHAT IS EVANGELISM?

Contributor William R. O'Brien states simply: "Among conservative evangelicals there is no consensus on the meaning of the word 'evangelize'. Does it mean to proclaim the good news of Jesus in a clear way so that all peoples can accept it or reject it? Does it mean to complete the Christianization process? Is it synonymous with church growth?"

In fact, the problem of definition (or lack of it) is widespread in theology today. Theologians frequently launch into subjects, the meanings of which are assumed, leaving readers floundering until (perhaps) they stumble upon a significant clue as to the definition of e.g. "evangelism", "mission", or "the kingdom of God". In similar vein, contributor J. Andrew Kirk suggests: "All theology should begin with a 'prototheological' phase in which the theologian reveals and discusses all hidden assumptions". If only...

The book contains a number of definitions of evangelism, of which I shall touch on the two which are most clearly stated - and, as it happens, are the most divergent.

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". That is, as long as the very least of the world's creatures is suffering, Christ suffers, too. Therefore "God badly needs [our] help in restoring this planet to its rightful place in the cosmos", and evangelism means "a declaration of what will one day come to pass". In keeping with this, "It is a travesty of Christ's passion and death to imply that he went through all of that on account of your sin".

On the other hand, contributor Neuza Itioka states: "Evangelism and mission are warfare". She continues with a definition of such warfare as "war against Satan and his hosts". The Church is involved in "a struggle against the powers", which are understood to be personal spiritual beings. Therefore "evangelism depends [...] heavily upon how much we take the spiritual realms seriously". Evangelism is about delivering "the captive of Satan", and to evangelize "is to give impetus to the transfer of men and women from the empire of darkness to the kingdom of light of the Son".

WHAT IS "SHALOM"?

The general meaning of "shalom" is "completion, fulfilment". The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states: "The root meaning of the verb shalem better expresses the true concept of shalom - completeness, wholeness, harmony, fulfillment [...] In nearly two-thirds of its occurrences, shalom describes the state of fulfillment which is the result of God's presence."

Contributor David Lowes Watson expands on this definition by equating shalom with "the coming reign of God", which will see an end to "the global inequities that so offend God's justice". This is echoed by contributor Priscilla Pope-Levison, who understands "the reign of God to be God's new order". Watson states that such a perspective might be viewed as "irrationality" by many. However, "the ultimate mystery of evangelism is that the world will respond". With this in mind, "no one is saved as long as any of God's little ones suffer". "God's salvific objective is not merely souls, but the whole of planet Earth".

This view of shalom would appear to be mirrored by the book's editor, Howard A. Snyder. He states that "evangelization [...] will be a demonstration of the shalom that God is bringing to all creation". Although he does not define his own use of the word, he does not set it apart from the definitions found elsewhere in the book.

Contributor Robert G. Tuttle, Jr. takes a very different view. Although he does not make use of the word shalom itself, 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".

This raises the question: does Tuttle's view do an injustice to those who suffer now? or does Watson's view deny such people a present power they urgently need? The answer is surely not a simple one. Watson states that more than 100 million Christians live in "moderate poverty" today, and a further 95 million in "abject poverty" - not to speak of the rest of the planet. And in the words of Itioka: "In many respects [the world] is becoming worse every day". Shalom, apparently, is slipping further out of reach for many millions of people today, many of whom are in desperation. What is to sustain them in the present?

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF CHURCH AND CULTURE?

Contributor George G. Hunter III vividly relates a horror story of a man for whom "every idol had promised more than it delivered". Therefore he resolved to try the Church. Hunter traces this man's experience through "a half-dozen churches within a two-month period", then describes how each of these Churches failed to deliver. In each case, he claims, they set up "the culture barrier". He summarises: "Our church subculture has erected dozens of barriers that separate many people from the possibility of becoming disciples". They "block people [...] from faith".

One wonders, however, whether it is not overstating the case, that alienation from the Church is mostly attributable to culture. By way of example, Hunter states that "the culture barrier between the churches and the unchurched people of Europe is the largest single cause of European Christianity's decline in this century". That is, he identifies the malaise in the European Churches today as being chiefly cultural.

Contributor Robert G. Tuttle, Jr. focusses rather on cultural commonalities - "concepts that transfer from one culture to another". He suggests that we use these commonalities in the employ of "witness" and "revival". "Cross-cultural common denominators enable us to hear what people are really saying. They also teach us the kinds of things that alienate". He dedicates two pages each to several cross-cultural commonalities - to children, sports, music, community, and "a universal 'oughtness' and the need for power to measure up". In particular, this universal "oughtness" is "absolutely critical to the communication of the gospel".

Perhaps, by way of synthesis, one may state that there are cultural barriers and cultural commonalities, and that both may be referred to a higher purpose. Either they will serve the purpose of witness and revival - and ultilmately the purpose of worshipping and serving Jesus Christ - or they will hinder this. Or to state this differently, cultural idiosyncrasies might exclude others unnecessarily from "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints", while cultural commonalities might open opportunities for faith.

SYNTHESIS

What tended to make this book unusually awkward to assess is that many controversial statements were quoted without comment. This seemed not too unlike an evasive manoeuvre on the part of authors tackling uncomfortable subjects. As one example among many, contributor Norman E. Thomas quotes theologian Paul Devanadan, that there is "a new koinonia in Christ transcending the division between Christians and adherents of other religions and no religion". No comment. What, therefore, is the reader is to make of this and other statements which the writers do not own?

The book was too diverse to make a satisfying read. However, on more careful reflection and comparison, it does raise some interesting topics and some worthwhile contrasts.

CITATION OF REFERENCES

Harris, R. Laird (Editor). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1980.

Snyder, Howard A. (Editor). Global Good News. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2001. ISBN 0-687-01586-3. Publisher Price: U.S.$24.00.

Rev. Thomas Scarborough is the minister of an Evangelical Congregational Church in Cape Town, South Africa. During the course of a Master's degree through Fuller Theological Seminary, he needs to read and reflect on some 100 books - hence this review!