Customer Reviews

Household of God

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I cannot believe that this is the first Amazon review of this book. Even Fr. David Zampino has not given it his attention. In this book, Bishop Newbigin lays out the beginnings of what would become known as "convergence theology" -- a sort of Grand Unified Theory of Christianity that seeks to unite the truth of divergent Christian theologies into a workable, holistic practice.

Newbigin was no stranger to this work, as he was essentially led down this path when he formed the Church of South India, which merged several formerly competing denominations into a more honest reflection of the Body of Christ. He identifies three streams of Christian practice: the Catholic, the Evangelical, and the Pentecostal, and notes that they actually complement each other. This principle is vital to the Christian Church through the ages, but it seems to be lost in the "church growth" free-for-all we seem to be experiencing today.

This book is well worth reading just for his wonderful exegesis of the Book of Romans. However, realize that this is an early work (which loses the fifth star). Newbigin took a historical view of the "three streams", so the rest of his life was devoted to trying to foster unity between the historical denominations. This is evident in the role he took in forming the World Council of Churches. I believe that the real problems are more theological in nature, and that a thorough re-evaluation of each denomination's core beliefs must take place. One cannot simply glue a Catholic congregation to a Baptist congregation and to a Pentacostal congregation and claim "unity". Each congregation must be able to operate in each stream. Yes, this means a lot of tearing down before building up. But, without the fullness of God in the entirety of the Church, how can we claim to be the unified Body of Christ?

Lesslie Newbigin challenges Christians of all denominations and types in The Household of God. For Newbigin, the divisions among Christians are scandalous in light of the gospels clear teaching that Christians are of one body and one faith.

In this book, Newbigin is calling Roman Catholics, Protestants and Pentecostals to reject denominational boundaries and protectiveness in order to fulfill the gospel's mandate for unity in the Body of Christ. He does not advocate throwing away the practical orgainzations of the church, but he does not pull punches when lamenting how far the church has fallen from the community of the early church. He somewhat chastises Christians for not recognizing or being complacent about the church's characteristics that completely contradict the union we have in Christ.

The main reason for Newbigin writing this book I think is that fact that some of the behavior of Christians undermines the church's proclamation of the gospel to the world. Newbigin is concerned about the church's mission above all.

I was impressed with Newbigin's grasp of the many topics on which he writes. He is versed not only in his argument but in the contrary points of view also, and he lays these out in his book and recognizes their valid bases.

Newbigin presents the full picture of Christianity and the mission of the church as it exists in the time between Christ's comings. Newbigin emphasizes the regeneration of believers for the purpose of engaging the world and the powers of this age in advancing God's Kingdom. He discusses in a full chapter the role of the Holy Spirit in this age. He illustrates the place of the individual in Christ and in the community of believers.

The only fault I found with this book is that Newbigin may try to do too much by leaving no stone unturned in trying to help the reader understand the nature of the church.

Craig Stephans, author of Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays