Basic Christianity
by John Stott | Book Summary
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Author: John Stott
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While the spirit of the age may have more or less attraction to Jesus and His church, the central question we must answer about Jesus is this: "Was he true?" (p. Xi, emphasis in original) There is little question about whether or not Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure. Biblical and non-biblical sources clearly attest to His existence. The question we must wrestle with is whether or not we can "believe that he was also in some sense 'God'?" (p. xii). If Jesus was who He claimed to be, everything changes. If Jesus was not who He claimed to be, we may simply dispense with the entirety of the Christian faith. |
John Stott was born in 1921, to an agnostic father and a Lutheran mother. After being sent to boarding school as a boy, Stott heard the gospel and became a Christian. While studying at Cambridge University, he began training for entering the Anglican clergy and eventually became a leader of the church in which he grew up.
Stott's legacy reached far beyond English Anglicanism. Throughout his life, Stott was a major influence in global Christianity and evangelicalism. His books and sermons are considered by some to be modern classics. John Stott died in 2011, at the age of ninety. So impactful was Stott's death that several notable secular news organizations published obituaries honoring him.
Basic Christianity
by John Stott
[ Book Summary ]
| Author | John Stott |
| Publisher | William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company |
| Date | 958, 2008 |
| Pages | 160 |
Overview:
In the 20th and 21st centuries, many people have turned their back on the church. These people object to institutional power, entrenched privilege, and religious corruption. "Yet what they have rejected is the contemporary church, not Jesus Christ himself." (p. xi) When one begins to study the person of Jesus, one finds a man who was anti-establishment, revolutionary, and virtuous. For all of these reasons, the person of Jesus is strangely appealing to many who want nothing to do with the church.
While the spirit of the age may have more or less attraction to Jesus and His church, the central question we must answer about Jesus is this: "Was he true?" (p. Xi, emphasis in original)
There is little question about whether or not Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure. Biblical and non-biblical sources clearly attest to His existence. The question we must wrestle with is whether or not we can "believe that he was also in some sense 'God'?" (p. xii). If Jesus was who He claimed to be, everything changes. If Jesus was not who He claimed to be, we may simply dispense with the entirety of the Christian faith.
John Stott was born in 1921, to an agnostic father and a Lutheran mother. After being sent to boarding school as a boy, Stott heard the gospel and became a Christian. While studying at Cambridge University, he began training for entering the Anglican clergy and eventually became a leader of the church in which he grew up.
Stott's legacy reached far beyond English Anglicanism. Throughout his life, Stott was a major influence in global Christianity and evangelicalism. His books and sermons are considered by some to be modern classics. John Stott died in 2011, at the age of ninety. So impactful was Stott's death that several notable secular news organizations published obituaries honoring him.