Charles Taber, Professor Emeritus of World Mission, Emmanuel School of Evangelism, Johnson City, Tennessee, expressed his amazement at “evangelical dogma” on the definition of the Christian Gospel. Christianity Today (Feb. 7th, 2000) had offered its readers statements from nine leading evangelicals defining the Gospel.
“I read with the greatest interest the nine statements attempting to answer the question, ‘What is the Good News?’ I am amazed and dismayed to find not even a passing mention of the theme which was the core of Jesus’ Gospel in three of the four accounts: the Kingdom of God. Every one of these statements reflects the individualistic reduction of the Gospel that plagues American evangelicalism. In addition to being biblical, founding one’s understanding of the gospel on the Kingdom of God bypasses two false dilemmas that have needlessly troubled theologians for several centuries: the either-or between individual and systematic salvation, and the either-or between grace and works. On the one hand God intends to rescue the entire cosmos from the bondage to decay; on the other hand how can one claim to be saved who does not make every effort to do God’s will?”
Churchgoers who sit regularly in a church assembly make a number of assumptions. One of these is that what their church tells them about the Gospel is really the Gospel as Jesus preached it. But is this so?
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Author: Restoration Fellowship
Keywords: Gospel, godspell, good news, good news of the kingdom, good news of the kingdom of God, Gospel of the kingdom, Gospel of the kingdom of God, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, preach the gospel
Bible reference(s): Matthew 4:23, Matthew 9:35, Matthew 11:5, Matthew 24:14, Matthew 26:13, Mark 1:1, Mark 1:14, Mark 1:15, Mark 13:10, Mark 14:9, Mark 16:15, Luke 4:18, Luke 7:22, Luke 9:6, Luke 20:1, Acts 8:25, Acts 14:7, Acts 14:21, Acts 15:7, Acts 16:10, Acts 20:24, Romans 1:1, Romans 1:9, Romans 1:15, Romans 1:16, Romans 2:16, Romans 10:15, Romans 10:16, Romans 11:28, Romans 15:16, Romans 15:19, Romans 15:20, Romans 15:29, Romans 16:25, 1 Corinthians 1:17, 1 Corinthians 4:15, 1 Corinthians 9:12, 1 Corinthians 9:14, 1 Corinthians 9:16, 1 Corinthians 9:17, 1 Corinthians 9:18, 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2 Corinthians 2:12, 2 Corinthians 4:3, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 8:18, 2 Corinthians 9:13, 2 Corinthians 10:14, 2 Corinthians 10:16, 2 Corinthians 11:4, 2 Corinthians 11:7, Galatians 1:6, Galatians 1:7, Galatians 1:8, Galatians 1:9, Galatians 1:11, Galatians 2:2, Galatians 2:5, Galatians 2:7, Galatians 2:14, Galatians 3:8, Galatians 4:13, Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 3:6, Ephesians 6:15, Ephesians 6:19, Philippians 1:5, Philippians 1:7, Philippians 1:12, Philippians 1:17, Philippians 1:27, Philippians 2:22, Philippians 4:3, Philippians 4:15, Colossians 1:5, Colossians 1:23, 1 Thessalonians 1:5, 1 Thessalonians 2:2, 1 Thessalonians 2:4, 1 Thessalonians 2:8, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 1 Thessalonians 3:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:14, 1 Timothy 1:11, 2 Timothy 1:8, 2 Timothy 1:10, 2 Timothy 2:8, Philemon 1:13, Hebrews 4:2, 1 Peter 1:12, 1 Peter 1:25, 1 Peter 4:6, 1 Peter 4:17
Source: “Evangelical Muddle Over the Content of the Gospel and Christian Destiny,” Focus on the Kingdom, Volume 3, No. 9, June 2001.
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