Preface to the First Edition (1984)
Preface to the First Edition (1984) One of the most notable features of the worldwide evangelical movement during the past ten to fifteen years has been the recovery of our temporarily mislaid social conscience. For approximately fifty years (c. 1920-70) evangelical Christians were preoccupied with the task of defending the historic biblical faith against the attacks of theological liberalism, and reacting against its "social gospel." But now we are convinced that God has given us social as well as evangelistic responsibilities in his world. Yet the half century of neglect has put us far behind in this area. We have a long way to go to catch up.
This book is my own contribution to the catching up process. Its source may be traced to 1978-79, when Michael Baughen, now bishop of Chester, but then rector of All Souls Church, invited me to preach a series of occasional sermons under the title Issues Facing Britain Today. Several of these
, chapters began their life in the pulpit, and subsequently grew into lectures at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, whose raison d'étre is to help people develop a Christian perspective on the complexities of the modern world.
I confess that several times in the course of writing I have been tempted to give up. Ihave felt now foolish and now presumptuous to attempt such an undertaking. For Iam in no sense a specialist in moral theology or social ethics, and I have no particular expertise or experience in some of the fields into which I trespass. Moreover, each topic is complex, has attracted an extensive literature, only some of which I have been able to read, and is potentially divisive, even in a few cases explosive. Yet I have persevered, mainly because what I am venturing to offer the public is not a polished professional piece but the rough-hewn amateur work of an ordinary Christian who is struggling to think Christianly, that is, to apply the biblical revelation to the pressing issues of the day.
For this is my concern. I begin with a commitment to the Bible as "God's Word written," which is how it is described in the Anglican Articles and has been received by nearly all churches until comparatively recent times.
Such is the basic presupposition of this book; it is not part of my present
Preface to the First Edition purpose to argue it. But we Christians have a second commitment, namely, to the world in which God has placed us. And our two commitments often seem to be in conflict. Being a collection of documents that relate to particular and distant events, the Bible has an archaic feel. It seems incompatible with our Western culture, with its space probes and micro-processors. Like every other Christian I feel myself caught in the painful tension between these two worlds. They are centuries apart. Yet I have sought to resist the temptation to withdraw from either world by capitulation to the other.
Some Christians, anxious above all to be faithful to the revelation of God without compromise, ignore the challenges of the modern world and live in the past. Others, anxious to respond to the world around them, trim and twist God's revelation in their search for relevance. I have struggled to avoid both traps. For the Christian is at liberty to surrender neither to antiquity nor to modernity. Instead, I have sought with integrity to submit to the revelation of yesterday within the realities of today. It is not easy to combine loyalty to the past with sensitivity to the present. Yet this is our Christian calling: to live under the Word in the world.
Many people have helped me develop my thinking. I thank the "apostolic succession" of my study assistants—Roy McCloughry, Tom Cooper,
Mark Labberton, Steve Ingraham, and Bob Wismer—who have compiled bibliographies, assembled groups for the discussion of sermon topics, gathered information, and checked references. Bob Wismer has been specially helpful in the final stages, reading the MS twice and making valuable suggestions. So has Frances Whitehead, my secretary for twenty-eight years.
She and Vivienne Curry typed the MS. Steve Andrews, my present study assistant, has been meticulous in proof correcting. I also thank friends who have read different chapters and given me the benefit of their comments—
Oliver Barclay, Raymond Johnston, John Gladwin, Mark Stephens, Roy McCloughry, Myra Chave-Jones, and my colleagues at the London Institute, Andrew Kirk (associate director) and Martyn Eden (dean). I am particularly grateful to Jim Houston, founding principal and now chancellor of Regent College, Vancouver, whose vision of the need for Christians to have an integrated worldview has stimulated both my own thinking and the founding of the London Institute.