Lesslie Newbigin: Am I missing something?

[Romans922]

Being a minister in the PCA, I like to see what other Pastors are doing and enjoy, etc. I have noticed that many ministers who graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary love reading books about or books by Lesslie Newbigin. I assume from this the CTS has their students read Newbigin. Same reason why I love the Puritans, I guess.

Anyway, who is Newbigin, why is he significant, should I have any concern over his theology of mission(s)? Any help here to understand my fellow PCA brethren? What's so special about this man?

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

Hello Andrew,

He's got some brilliant insights (as in The Gospel in a Pluralist Society).

I was highly suspicious of him - and alienated - when I saw him deny the view that in Ephesians 6 these were real demons; he has another view of "principalities and powers", that they're idolatrous structures of power we set up in our culture which become demonic (beauty, wealth, racial pride etc). Not that this isn't true, but to deny the actual demonic world and demons is patently false.

Here's a critique of him I just found (I liked McCallum's book on postmodernism, The Death of Truth): Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society and the "Emergent Church" movement

 

[Romans922]

McCallum definitely does have some problems with Newbigin. He says,

"Thus, Newbigin takes his place among the burgeoning caste of postmodern sympathizers writing on contemporary ministry (now increasingly known as the “Emergent Church Movement” or “postconservatives.”)1 In fact, this book is one of the handbooks read and quoted often by leaders in the movement. Although Newbigin scores effective hits on modernistic rationalism, his attack overruns the opponent until he finds himself on ground alien to the biblical world view—the ground of postmodern perspectivalism. Not only rationalism, but rationality itself is jettisoned in favor of subjective mysticism and a priori blind faith."

 

[Philip]

Newbigin really does have a lot of value. You just have to be careful with him. A year ago, though, my philosophy prof used his Proper Confidence as one of the textbooks for epistemology (my review is here). He's got a lot of insight into how culture shapes our thinking (sorry, it does) and how Christianity can speak to that with its metanarrative of creation-fall-redemption.

The reviewer is correct that Newbigin often gets it about half-right (his views on inerrancy are . . . interesting) but it's generally the half that most of us don't see, so he can serve as a good corrective on some of our enlightenment ways of thinking. You may also notice that the reviewer assumes a straight no-kidding evidentialist view on apologetics that even I (as a classical apologist) find hard to swallow.

 

[Pergamum]

I have been told that I should read and like Mewbigin because I am a missionary, but try as I might, this author just does not interest me much. I have several unfinished volumes on my shelf. Andrew Walls, on the other hand, is thought-provoking.