New Issues Facing Christians Today

by John Stott

• ISBN13: 9780551031722
• ISBN10: 0551031727
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-02-01
• Publisher: Harpercollins Christian Pub

Summary

Issues Facing Christians Today immediately became essential reading for all thinking Christians when it was first published. It has now been revised and fully updated to tackle the diverse array of social and moral responsibilities facing us today. This new edition builds on the previous one, examining the contemporary realities of war, the trauma of unemployment, the changing face of human rights, our environmental awakening from Rio to Kyoto and many more contemporary challenges. As the culture wars continue this book will remain an essential contribution, helping to define Christian social and moral thinking well into the new millennium.

Table of Contents

Preface to the First Edition (1984)	p. xi
Preface to the Second Edition (1990)	p. xiv
Preface to the Third Edition (1999)	p. xvi
Christians in a Non-Christian Society
Involvement: is it our concern?
The evangelical heritage of social concern	p. 3
Reasons for `The Great Reversal'	p. 8
The Church and politics	p. 13
The biblical basis for social concern	p. 17
Practical action 312 Complexity: can we think straight?	p. 33
A Christian mind	p. 36
The reality of God	p. 41
The paradox of our humanness	p. 43
The future of society	p. 47
An appendix on postmodernity 503 Pluralism: should we impose our views?	p. 53
Imposition	p. 55
Laissez-faire	p. 57
Persuasion	p. 59
Examples of persuasion by argument	p. 62
Political systems 664 Alienation: have we any influence?	p. 70
Salt and light	p. 73
Prayer and evangelism	p. 76
Witness and protest	p. 81
Example and groups	p. 85
Global Issues5
Wars and rumours of wars	p. 91
Contemporary realities	p. 91
Theological and moral reflections	p. 98
The call for nuclear disarmament	p. 110
Questions and qualifications	p. 113
Christian peace-making 1196 Our human environment	p. 123
Reasons for environmental concern	p. 124
The biblical perspective	p. 130
The conservation debate	p. 135
Contemporary awareness 1397 North-South economic inequality	p. 143
The Brandt Commission reports	p. 144
Debt and development	p. 149
The principle of unity	p. 154
The principle of equality	p. 158
Personal and economic deductions 1618 Human rights	p. 166
Human rights violations	p. 166
Concern for human rights	p. 169
Human dignity	p. 173
Human equality	p. 175
Human responsibility	p. 178
Social Issues
Work and unemployment	p. 185
Attitudes to work	p. 185
Self-fulfilment	p. 188
The service of others and of God	p. 191
The trauma of unemployment	p. 197
Solutions and palliatives	p. 199
The role of the Church	p. 201
Conclusion 20610 Industrial relations	p. 210
The biblical principle of mutuality	p. 211
Abolish discrimination	p. 214
Increase participation	p. 217
Emphasize co-operation 22611 The multi-racial dream	p. 234
Slavery and the American racial problem	p. 235
German anti-Semitism and South African apartheid	p. 239
Change in South Africa	p. 242
British attitudes and tensions	p. 246
Biblical foundations for multi-racialism 25312 Poverty, wealth and simplicity	p. 259
Three approaches to poverty	p. 260
Who are the poor? The paradox of poverty	p. 264
Good news for the poor	p. 269
Three options for rich Christians	p. 273
Sexual Issues	p. 3
Women, men and God	p. 285
The rise of feminism	p. 285
Equality	p. 289
Complementarity	p. 294
Responsibility	p. 298
Ministry 31014 Marriage and divorce	p. 319
Changing attitudes 320Old Testament teaching	p. 322
The teaching of Jesus	p. 328
The teaching of Paul	p. 333
Irretrievable breakdown	p. 337
Personal and pastoral realities 34115 Abortion and euthanasia	p. 345
The revolution in public attitudes	p. 346
The key issue	p. 349
The biblical basis	p. 354
A contemporary Christian debate	p. 359
Human fertilization	p. 362
Techniques and exceptions	p. 368
A call to action	p. 373
Euthanasia 37616 Same-sex partnerships?	p. 382
The context for discussion	p. 82
The biblical prohibitions	p. 385
Sexuality and marriage in the Bible	p. 392
Contemporary arguments considered	p. 397
The AIDS epidemic	p. 406
Faith, hope and love	p. 410
Conclusion	p. 7
A call for Christian leadership	p. 421
Vision	p. 422
Industry	p. 426
Perseverance	p. 427
Service	p. 430
Discipline	p. 433
Notes	p. 436
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

NEW ISSUES FACING CHRISTIANS TODAYFULLY REVISED EDITIONJohn StottPresident, the Institute for Contemporary ChristianityNew Issues Facing Christians TodayCopyright © 1984, 1990 and 1999 John StottFirst published in Great Britain in 1984 by Marshall PickeringSecond edition first published in 1990This edition published in 1999John Stott asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this workA catalogue record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN-10: 0-551-03172-7ISBN-13: 978-0-511-03172-2All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of thepublishers.Printed in the United States of America05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 /?DCI / 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6We want to hear from you. Please send your comments about thisbook to us in care of [e-mail]. Thank you.AbbreviationsThe biblical text quoted is normally that of the New InternationalVersion. If another text is used, this is stated.Arndt-Gingrich A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testamentand Other Early Christian Literature by WilliamF. Arndt and F.Wilbur Gingrich (University ofChicago Press and Cambridge University Press,1957).AV The Authorized (King James'') Version of theBible, 1611.JB The Jerusalem Bible (Darton, Longman andTodd, 1966).NASB The New American Standard Bible (MoodyPress, Chicago, 1960).NEB The New English Bible (NT 1961, 2nd edition1970; OT 1970).NIV The New International Version of the Bible(Hodder & Stoughton, NT 1974; OT 1979;revised edition 1984).RSV The Revised Standard Version of the Bible(NT 1946, 2nd edition 1971; OT 1952).PART ICHRISTIANS IN A NON-CHRISTIAN SOCIETYChapter 1INVOLVEMENT: ISIT OUR CONCERN?It is exceedingly strange that any followers of Jesus Christ shouldever have needed to ask whether social involvement was theirconcern, and that controversy should have blown up over therelationship between evangelism and social responsibility. For it isevident that in his public ministry Jesus both ''went about ... teaching... and preaching'' (Matthew 4:23; 9:35 RSV) and ''went aboutdoing good and healing'' (Acts 10:38 RSV). In consequence, ''evangelismand social concern have been intimately related to one anotherthroughout the history of the Church ... Christian people haveoften engaged in both activities quite unselfconsciously, withoutfeeling any need to define what they were doing or why.''The evangelical heritage of social concern2There were some remarkable examples of this in eighteenthcenturyEurope and America.The Evangelical Revival, which stirredboth continents, is not to be thought of only in terms of the preachingof the gospel and the converting of sinners to Christ; it also led towidespread philanthropy, and profoundly affected society on bothsides of the Atlantic. John Wesley remains the most striking instance.He is mainly remembered as the itinerant evangelist and open-airpreacher. And so he was. But the gospel he preached inspired peopleto take up social causes in the name of Christ. Historians have attributedto Wesley''s influence rather than to any other the fact thatBritain was spared the horrors of a bloody revolution like France''s.3The change which came over Britain during this period was welldocumented in J.Wesley Bready''s remarkable book, England Beforeand After Wesley, subtitled ''The Evangelical Revival and Social Reform''.His research forced him to conclude that ''the true nursingmotherof the spirit and character values that have created andsustained Free Institutions throughout the English-speaking world'',indeed ''the moral watershed of Anglo-Saxon history'', was ''themuch-neglected and oft-lampooned Evangelical Revival''.Bready described ''the deep savagery of much of the 18th century'',which was characterized by ''the wanton torture of animalsfor sport, the bestial drunkenness of the populace, the inhumantraffic in African negr