It is almost a theological truism to say that the Church, in all its historically conditioned forms, has always placed the Gospel as it has been understood at the time, at the very heart of its life. This central conviction might well be expressed in a combination of any of the following statements, in no particular order.
* The Gospel is God’s gracious Word to humans, bringing hearers from death to life, from darkness into light.
* The Gospel is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ, who is God’s living Word for humanity.
* The Gospel is the founding charter defining the Church’s identity and purpose.
* The Church exists to proclaim the Gospel
* The Gospel is an unchanging revelation from God given to an everchanging human world
* The Gospel is a living Word, challenging and transforming the Church in its resistance to God’s emerging purpose
* The Gospel defines an essential unity for a divided and fractious Church
* The Gospel must be heard afresh by each generation and culture
How can all these convictions be held together? That is the question to be explored in this section of the website…. if only for the reason that I believe them all to be true and important! At the very heart of my self-identity is a conviction that I am a child of the Gospel, and that my life has been an exploration of these truths. I shall argue that we must understand that the Gospel of Christ is a multi-faceted gem whose truth lies deep within its complex beauty.