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Talking Points - Fall 2006

"What is the Gospel?"

On Monday, September 25, GRTS hosted, "What is the Gospel?", exploring the content and application of the gospel.

Presentations

The Individualistic "Gospel": What are the weaknesses of an individualistic gospel? 
     Dr. Scot McKnight

Analysis of a few basic gospel tracts reveals a gospel shaped by a thin view of Scripture, a thin view of Romans, an absence of Jesus' kingdom teaching, and therefore a thin view of community. The gospel God announces in Christ is fundamentally a "community-shaped gospel" designed to be embodied in a community and to be experienced by individuals in that community. 

The "Gospel" According to Matthew: What is the gospel of the kingdom of God?
     Dr. David Turner

Matthew’s distinctive gospel links an ethical imperative (“repent!”) to an eschatological indicative (“the kingdom of heaven is near”). God’s messianic reign calls people to turn from sin and follow Jesus in a new community of brothers and sisters who confess Jesus as the Messiah, obey God’s law, value one another, and make disciples from all the nations of the earth. Jesus sheds his life’s blood as a ransom for his people’s sins. His saving death also models the selfless sacrificial service required by his post-resurrection commission to make disciples from all the nations.
 
The "Gospel" in our world today: Contextualization or Confrontation?
     Dr. Ruth Tucker

The cry of mission leaders in recent decades: Contextualize the gospel. Jesus and Paul contextualized. But then in the succeeding centuries—especially the 19th and 20th—missionaries began dumping cultural baggage on unsuspecting “natives.” So, now we’ve got it right again. But do we focus on contextualization while slighting the other side of the coin: confrontation? In North America, meeting the felt needs of postmoderns and x, y, z generations often means giving short shrift to the tough love of telling the gospel like it is—perhaps with a confrontational approach.

The "Gospel" of Embracing Grace: What are the implications of a gospel that embraces grace?
     Dr. Scot McKnight

The Bible shows that the gospel is the work of God, the Trinitarian God, in the major moments of redemption to restore "cracked Eikons" to union with God and communion with others for the good of others and the world. Central to this is understanding that the problem (sin) is the problem (it is more than guilt), and that only when we comprehend the problem can we understand the enormity of grace. 

Featured Speakers

Dr. Scot McKnight is Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, the Department Chair, and the Director of the College Christian Life & Thought at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois. McKnight has authored more than twenty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others. Scot has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events. He and his wife, Kristen. Live in Libertyville, Illinois.

Dr. Ruth Tucker is the author of numerous articles and thirteen books, including From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biography History of Christian Missions. Her teaching career has taken her to a variety of schools – Calvin Theological Seminary, Northern Illinois University, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Moffat College of the Bible. Ruth’s desire is to train students in servanthood ministry for wherever God leads them.

Dr. David Turner has been Professor of New Testament at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary since 1986. Turner was a member of the Bible Translation Team for the Gospel of Matthew in the Tyndale New Living Translation. He has authored a commentary on the gospel of Matthew with Tyndale, and has a second commentary coming out with Baker publishers. David and his wife, Beverly, enjoy traveling.