Lesslie Newbigin Quotes

It has never at any time been possible to fit the resurrection of Jesus into any world view except a world view of which it is the basis.

If we cannot speak with confidence about biblical authority, what ground have we for challenging the reigning plausibility structure?

Do things that will get people asking questions, the answer to which is the Gospel.

The history of Christian attempts to discern the signs of the times makes discouraging reading. At

In the attempt to be "relevant" one may fall into syncretism, and in the effort to avoid syncretism one may become irrelevant.

the authority of Jesus is ultimate, the

Every proposal to seek authorization elsewhere than in the gospel itself must lead us astray. The

The Church must be seen as the company of pilgrims on the way to the end of the world and the ends of the earth.

Part of the terrible irony of war is that it enlists the best in human nature for purposes of mutual destruction.

Ministerial leadership is, first and finally, discipleship.

Universality and particularity do not contradict one another but require one another. How

Separation of church from mission is theologically indefensible. More

the mission is not ours but God's.

Christ is the clue to all that is.

I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

It is less important to ask a Christian what he or she believes about the Bible than it is to inquire what he or she does with it.

It is God who chooses, calls, and sends. When

The living God is a God of justice and mercy and He will be satisfied with nothing less than a people in whom his justice and mercy are alive.

The reign of God is his reign over all things.

If I do not know the purpose for which human life was designed, I have no basis for saying that any kind of human life-style is good or bad.

When the Church tries to embody the rule of God in the forms of earthly power it may achieve that power, but it is no longer a sign of the kingdom.

The "home base" of missions is now nothing less than the worldwide community, and

The Church, wherever it is, is not only Christ's witness to its own people and nation, but also the home-base for a mission to the ends of the earth.

The business of the church is to tell and embody a story

When coercion of any kind is used in the interests of the Christian message, the message itself is corrupted.

God's grace is not limited by any ecclesiastical barriers.

A person who wields power cannot see truth; that is the privilege of the powerless.

Mission is not just something that the church does; it is something that is done by the Spirit, who

Live in the kingdom of God in such a way that it provokes questions for which the gospel is the answer.

Modern capitalism has created a world totally different from anything known before.

God does not cancel his calling.
If

Bureaucracy is the rule of nobody and is therefore experienced as tyranny.

God's kingship is present in the church, but it must be insisted that it is not the property of the church. It

The witness of which the New Testament passages speak is God's gift, not our accomplishment.

The attempt to interpret human behavior in terms of models derived from the natural sciences eventually destroys personal responsibility.

The Spirit himself is sovereign over the mission, the church can only be the attentive servant. In

Our confidence ... is not in the competence of our own knowing, but in the faithfulness and reliability of the one who is known.