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5.0 out of 5 stars
Basis Christianity...the foundation of a dynamic Christian experience, October 12, 2005
Stott, John R.W. Basic Christianity. Downers Grove: IVP, 1971. 142 pages.
Dr. John R.W. Stott was born in London in 1921. Dr. Stott holds a multitude of educational degrees, including French, theology, and various doctorate and honorary doctorates in theology. He has written over thirty books on various theological and religious topics and eight biblical expositions for the Bible Speaks Today commentary series. He has attended All Souls Place (home church) in London since his childhood. He has currently held the position rector emeritus since 1975. He continues to preach at the church several times throughout the year. Billy Graham has stated that Dr. Stott is "the most respected clergy man in the world today." One of his earlier publishing's, Basic Christianity, was first written in 1958 and has sold over two and a half million copies and has been translated into more than 63 languages.
Dr. Stott shows the reader that there is much hostility towards the `institution' of the church. It is not that this hostility is geared toward Christ Himself, but against the structure or the organization called `the church' and its fallible managers. The younger generation that is growing up, whether organic to the church or implanted from other religions, is seeking less and less the credentials that make Christianity true and valid.
He feels that many are making too much of the mind knowledge of Christianity and identifying less and less with the actions of Christianity. In essence, it seems he is stating that the culture at large is living a static or nominal Christianity where its participants are just identifiers and not spokesmen. The believers of the movement are only passively wearing the title Christian and not living a life of dynamism for Jesus. You see this by what he calls for in the theme-the return to basic Christianity:
"We must commit ourselves, heart and mind, soul and will, home and life, personally and
unreservedly to Jesus Christ. We must humble ourselves before him. We must trust in
him as our Saviour and submit to him as our Lord; and then go on to take our place as loyal members of the church and responsible citizens in the community."
So with this vivid life that humanity is to envelop, Dr. Stott has essentially written a book that is to encapsulate the foundations of what the followers of Christ are to stand firmly upon. His structure is thus centrally based on four movements through his book: (1) Christ's Person: His claims, His character, and His resurrection; (2) Man's Need: The fact and nature of sin and the consequence of sin; (3) Christ's Work: The death of Christ and the salvation of Christ; and lastly, (4) Man's Response: Counting the cost, Reaching a decision, and being a Christian.
Dr. Stott has written the book so that the present culture/generation can learn to hopefully establish themselves in identity with a revolutionary leader, Jesus Christ. If it is the church where this generation sees the hypocrisy, they it is this generation that must respond to the initiative of God by becoming foundational Christians and creating biblical structure within the Church.
"Our purpose," Dr. Stott says, "is to marshal the evidence to prove that Jesus was the Son of God." So in section one, the three pillars of evidence concretely set around the person of Jesus-claims, character, and resurrection.
He unfolds through the study of scripture for the reader that there are four different kinds of claims Jesus makes. (1) Jesus teaches in a very `self-centered' manner, yet insists a deep set humility in others; (2) Jesus teaches in `direct' manner concerning his divinity, such as claiming to be the `I am' which identifies himself as the God of the Old Testament; (3) Jesus teaches in a very `indirect' manner concerning his divinity, which is seen through the actions of His ministry-forgives sins, bestows life, teaches as if authority, and claims to eventually judge the world; and lastly, (4) teaches through his `dramatized' claims, which were his supernatural miracles.
Dr. Stott's second pillar of evidence for Jesus is His character, which he divides into four areas. (1) What Christ thought about Himself, especially His identification of being without sin; (2) What Christ's friends said about Him, such as Peter's reference to Jesus as `a lamb without blemish or spot'; (3) What Christ's enemies conceded about Him, such as Pilate's declaration of Jesus being innocent; and lastly, (4) What the contemporary audience can see of Jesus themselves, which in essence consists of the readers validation of the first three items.
The last pillar of evidence for Jesus is His resurrection. Again, Dr. Stott uses a cubed structure to show the strong evidence that Jesus had indeed raised from the dead on that Easter morning. (1) The body was gone from the tomb; (2) The grave clothes were undisturbed; (3) Jesus was actually seen after the resurrection by multitudes of witnesses; and lastly, (4) The disciples were changed-from dark grief to joyous belief.
The second movement of his book speaks about the needs of man. Dr. Stott states that, "we must understand who we are as well as who he was." He emphasizes that Jesus just did not come to the earth in a passive manner, but for a specific purpose...to become `the Saviour of sinners.'
The fact is that all humanity is born into the grasps of sin. There is nothing naturally good to mankind because the reaches of sin are universal. Thus man being destitute to perfection, we need someone to bring us out of this eternal death grip of condemnation and alienation from God.
As Dr. Stott had shown the reader the foundation of Christ's identity; he then moved into showing where all men are as they are born into this world. Man has an immense flaw because of the decisions of human choice. And so understanding that fallible man can not possibly create an infallible solution, Dr. Stott moves into the third movement of his book by showing Jesus' action on the Cross by death and the salvation that is imparted to humanity. As Dr. Stott wrote it so eloquently, "Christianity is a rescue religion. It declares that God has taken the initiative in Jesus Christ to deliver us from our sins. This is the main theme of the Bible."
The last section of the book deals specifically with man's response. As mankind understands who they are, sinful creatures, and then they acknowledge the divinity within Jesus, man must make a response to Jesus' death and plan of salvation. Man can only make two decisions to Jesus: reject or accept. There is no neutrality when it comes to religion. Dr. Stott leads the reader through, if it might by systematized, the process of how to come into the realm of Christianity and what it takes to daily live out the Christian existence.
Dr. Stott completes his book by speaking about the Christian's duty to the world. If this generation is rejecting the hypocrites of the institutions, namely the church and the `people', then it is this generation's responsibility to become biblical Christians and rebuild its foundations upon Basic Christianity.
The reviewer believes that Dr. Stott has accomplished his stated objective of calling mankind into action. He clearly stated that the foundations of Christianity were not mere understandings of factual information concerning Jesus, but must be held deeply within what the individual does with the information. He shows the reader that we must do-commit ourselves, humble ourselves, trust and submit to Him, and rightly/loyally take our places among the community of the body.
The reviewer believes that Dr. Stott has lain out a very strong apologetic for dynamic Christianity. This book could most definitely be read by the pagan and quicken them to new life. This book could most definitely be read by the Christian and be quickened to renew their spiritual walk with new power. And most assuredly, what he writes could also hit the disease of nominal Christianity dead in the face. Those that only passively bare the name of Christ could be called into repentance by Dr. Stott's demands of committed Christians. As God Himself is the initiator of all in our reality, so we must be the responders to God's call...either accept or reject.
The reviewer has not read any other books by Dr. Stott in their entirety, but after reading this thoroughly logical and fundamental view of Jesus, there will be many more books digested in the view near future. Dr. Stott is very thought provoking and makes an immense contemporary connection (even though he has been writing for over fifty-one years).
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