Looking to end the divisive conflict that has raged between Christians who attack each other either as "liberals" or as "fundamentalists," Newbigin here gives a historical account of the roots of this conflict in order to begin laying the foundation for a middle ground that will benefit the Christian faith as a whole. What results is a perspective that allows Christians to confidently affirm the gospel as public truth in our pluralistic world.
Proper Confidence
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By J. Williams
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a short paperback, but a good piece of lucid writing. Newbigin spent thirty years in India as a missionary, and learned there how to talk about his faith to people who grew up with a different view of how the world is. Then he retired and returned to his native Great Britain, only to discover that his homeland had become a place in which had a different view of how the world is.
Newbigin spent another couple of decades learning about the changes that had occurred in society, as well as how the Gospel message fits in with this, and wrote this book at the end of his life.
The book describes with great clarity the impact of Cartesian ideas on our society ("Doubt as the path to certainty"), the correction provided by Michael Polanyi and others, and the Biblical picture of how we should think about knowing and believing. The book ends with a marvelous address in three directions: Newbigin defends his conclusions against Catholic natural theology, liberal theology, and fundamentalist theology. It is a really good book, and I recommend it highly. It is already changing the way that I think about apologetics.
But it also affects the way I think about my Christian discipleship across the board. Newbigin centers on the person of Christ. This quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer opens the book, and--now that I understand it better--sums up Newbigin's ideas well:
Faith alone is certainty. Everything but faith is subject to doubt. Jesus Christ alone is the certainty of faith.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By J. Miller
Format:Paperback
Newbigin's little text from the final years of his life is a brilliant analysis of the history of religious epistemology. He critiques the spectres of Enlightenment rationalism that still dominates theological discussions today and offers an alternative form of knowing that withstands the scepticism of postmodernity.
He opens with a clever look at the worldviews of the ancient world. The certainty founded in the logos of Greek philosophy and that in the Israelite anthropomorphic God were suddenly challenged by the ultimate reality that was knowable in Jesus Christ. This led to Augustine's affirmation that he believed in order to know, an affirmation which Newbigin is essentially trying to resurrect.
Chapter 2 explores the Thomistic synthesis, in which natural theology and the proofs of God create a cleavage between truths demonstrable by reason and truths known only through faith. This, Newbigin says, was a mistake, because it implies that more sure grounds than the biblical narrative should be sought in the communication of the faith. This in turn led to the rationalist of Descartes which, he says, erodes inevitably into nihilism, because no knowledge can claim the kind of certainty that Descartes insisted was essential.
Chapter 4, the philosophical center of the book and foundation for Newbigin's epistemology, is an analysis of Michael Polanyi's writings. Polanyi argues that knowledge is "personal," that it is never objective and removed from the subject which claims it. Later in the book Newbigin will cite a helpful analogy from William James, that knowledge is like hanging on a breaking branch on the side of a cliff and deciding whether or not to leap to another branch. Knowledge involves personal commitment and risk.
The conclusion, then, is that biblical faith can not be defended through the wrong-headed doctrine of verbal inspiration, which rests on the foundation of Cartesian objectivism. Nor is it subject to the historical-critical challenge of liberalism, which, he says (with little explanation), is just a faith commitment of another kind. Instead, we believe in order to know, and faith in the person of Jesus is that hanging onto a branch which validates itself by holding us up.
The book is beautifully written, taut, and profound. If this is your first reading of Newbigin, you're bound to read more. I'm not altogether convinced that he has worked out a kind of religious knowing that is not just blind faith, though he says it is not. At some point, he would have to explain why a satisfying illusion is not equally as plausible as Christianity, or why Christianity isn't one. But truly a great read for all modern thinkers and church leaders.
James W. Miller is the author of God Scent
He opens with a clever look at the worldviews of the ancient world. The certainty founded in the logos of Greek philosophy and that in the Israelite anthropomorphic God were suddenly challenged by the ultimate reality that was knowable in Jesus Christ. This led to Augustine's affirmation that he believed in order to know, an affirmation which Newbigin is essentially trying to resurrect.
Chapter 2 explores the Thomistic synthesis, in which natural theology and the proofs of God create a cleavage between truths demonstrable by reason and truths known only through faith. This, Newbigin says, was a mistake, because it implies that more sure grounds than the biblical narrative should be sought in the communication of the faith. This in turn led to the rationalist of Descartes which, he says, erodes inevitably into nihilism, because no knowledge can claim the kind of certainty that Descartes insisted was essential.
Chapter 4, the philosophical center of the book and foundation for Newbigin's epistemology, is an analysis of Michael Polanyi's writings. Polanyi argues that knowledge is "personal," that it is never objective and removed from the subject which claims it. Later in the book Newbigin will cite a helpful analogy from William James, that knowledge is like hanging on a breaking branch on the side of a cliff and deciding whether or not to leap to another branch. Knowledge involves personal commitment and risk.
The conclusion, then, is that biblical faith can not be defended through the wrong-headed doctrine of verbal inspiration, which rests on the foundation of Cartesian objectivism. Nor is it subject to the historical-critical challenge of liberalism, which, he says (with little explanation), is just a faith commitment of another kind. Instead, we believe in order to know, and faith in the person of Jesus is that hanging onto a branch which validates itself by holding us up.
The book is beautifully written, taut, and profound. If this is your first reading of Newbigin, you're bound to read more. I'm not altogether convinced that he has worked out a kind of religious knowing that is not just blind faith, though he says it is not. At some point, he would have to explain why a satisfying illusion is not equally as plausible as Christianity, or why Christianity isn't one. But truly a great read for all modern thinkers and church leaders.
James W. Miller is the author of God Scent
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I spent this morning with two of life's great pleasures, a great cup of coffee and a really good book. The coffee was Kenyan Kiaguthu Peaberry roasted to the City+ level. Mmmm. The book is called Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt & Certainty in Christian Discipleship by Lesslie Newbigin.
If you knew me, you would've heard me talk about Michael Polanyi, the 20th century scientist and philosopher whose work was the subject of my Master's thesis. Newbigin's book is a great quick reference for the application of Polanyi's thought to the Christian life, and I highly recommend it. It's only 105 pages and is written in a very accessible style. I read the whole thing this morning.
If you're curious about how Christian thought fits (or doesn't fit, as Newbigin shows) into classical, modern, or post-modern ideas about knowledge, you should read this book. If you're one of those young evangelicals that is disenchanted with the hyper-rationalistic hyper-individualistic concepts of Christianity, you should read this book. If you want to figure out whether truth is objective or subjective, you should read this book. If you want to know what is really wrong with "fundamentalist" Christianity or with "liberal" Christianity (perhaps surprisingly, it's something they have in common), you should read this book.
A few weeks back, my friend Jon (who also introduced me to home roasted coffee) wrote an interesting piece for his blog about a recent trend among young evangelicals in which many are departing to more liturgical versions of Church, especially various Eastern forms (by the way, I think the Emergent Church is sort of a wimpy American-consumer version of the same trend). It's all a sort of pre-modern postmodernism. If we all read Polanyi (or Newbigin's short version of Polanyi), this trend would evaporate.
Newbigin shows here that Christianity simply cannot just append itself to other plausibility structures, but is itself a plausibility structure which claims a place of judgment over the others. We do not make Christianity acceptable by fitting it into modern epistemological systems. This is because Christianity is not just a set of propositional beliefs, but a comprehensive personal reality (Christ), embodied in the life and message of the Church.
If you knew me, you would've heard me talk about Michael Polanyi, the 20th century scientist and philosopher whose work was the subject of my Master's thesis. Newbigin's book is a great quick reference for the application of Polanyi's thought to the Christian life, and I highly recommend it. It's only 105 pages and is written in a very accessible style. I read the whole thing this morning.
If you're curious about how Christian thought fits (or doesn't fit, as Newbigin shows) into classical, modern, or post-modern ideas about knowledge, you should read this book. If you're one of those young evangelicals that is disenchanted with the hyper-rationalistic hyper-individualistic concepts of Christianity, you should read this book. If you want to figure out whether truth is objective or subjective, you should read this book. If you want to know what is really wrong with "fundamentalist" Christianity or with "liberal" Christianity (perhaps surprisingly, it's something they have in common), you should read this book.
A few weeks back, my friend Jon (who also introduced me to home roasted coffee) wrote an interesting piece for his blog about a recent trend among young evangelicals in which many are departing to more liturgical versions of Church, especially various Eastern forms (by the way, I think the Emergent Church is sort of a wimpy American-consumer version of the same trend). It's all a sort of pre-modern postmodernism. If we all read Polanyi (or Newbigin's short version of Polanyi), this trend would evaporate.
Newbigin shows here that Christianity simply cannot just append itself to other plausibility structures, but is itself a plausibility structure which claims a place of judgment over the others. We do not make Christianity acceptable by fitting it into modern epistemological systems. This is because Christianity is not just a set of propositional beliefs, but a comprehensive personal reality (Christ), embodied in the life and message of the Church.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow
Very helpful. Seemed a little unnecessarily intellectual but all in all a great read. I will read once a year for sure.
Published 26 days ago by Gary W. Little
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Read
This is a wonderful book by a brilliant and influential theologian which will be incredibly helpful for anyone struggling with religious epistemology.
Published 4 months ago by Alexander J. Demarco
5.0 out of 5 stars
such an incredibly helpful book
Offers a critique of how both fundamentalists and liberals exhibit an "improper" confidence, as both give way to a post-Enlightment understanding of the nature of truth. Read more
Published on December 18, 2010 by sgr
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing and Compelling
Newbigin's book "Proper Confidence" sets out to bridge the divide between the Protestant fundamentalist and the liberal theologian. Read more
Published on October 14, 2009 by Christopher W. Lilley
5.0 out of 5 stars
epistemology for the Christian in a hurry
I have read a lot of Christian books about the end of modernism and the beginning (or imminent demise) of postmodernism, mourning the losses and probing the resources that this... Read more
Published on October 9, 2009 by Mennonite Medievalist
4.0 out of 5 stars
Would that it were longer
A wonderful essay all in all, and quite pithy at points. I only wish it were longer.
Newbigin shows how both the Enlightenment project and many Christians in its wake... Read more
Newbigin shows how both the Enlightenment project and many Christians in its wake... Read more
Published on December 5, 2008 by mtlimber
4.0 out of 5 stars
Proper Praise
I just completed Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship by Lesslie Newbigin. It gets my four star rating. Read more
Published on March 10, 2007 by Aldhelm of Malmsbury
1.0 out of 5 stars
Silliness
Essentially asserts that, since knowledge is difficult to come by, and since certainty is virtually impossible because all experience is subjective, that the Bible should be taken... Read more
Published on September 13, 2002 by Kolby
