The World-Tilting Gospel: Embracing A Biblical Worldview & Hanging On Tight (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
This book is written to address the way we view the Bible and try to portray the Bible to others, especially those who we want to convince to believe.The book discusses how we soften the message of the gospel by not mentioning the less than friendly topics of the Bible. Things like God's anger towards sin and the negative repercussions of not believing and therefore spending eternity seperated from God. This is understandable in the way we don't want to scare new comers out of church or out of believing God is loving and all knowing. But if we glance over the negative repercussions of the results of sin and not believing that Jesus died for our sins are we not also making the wonderful gift provided for us by Jesus dieing on the cross less wonderful as well? Do you not have to have an understanding of the bad to truly celebrate and enjoy the good? If the good is all you know then it just seems normal.This book uses scripture to discuss the story of the gospel and the great gift it actually is. It discusses the who, what, and the why of the gospel and how you can help tilt the world on it's head when it comes to sharing the gospel. Like many believers, my focus has mostly been on the New Testament. I don’t study the Old Testament nearly as much. But this book encourages the reader to look at the whole Bible to see the true picture of who he/she is as well as who God is. The author is well-qualified to explain his premise, but I found I was not so well-qualified to understand it. His qualifications as a theologian were obvious as he quoted scripture and even gave the original Greek words in many cases. A biblical scholar would appreciate his interpretations. The author tried to make the book accessible to the average reader and overall he succeeded. I got the general premise, but I would’ve preferred a simpler explanation of the details. There were many places where the theology bogged me down and I had to skip ahead. Nevertheless, I found many gems of thought and scripture to grab on to. This is not a light read, but it had light moments. I give the author a lot of credit for trying to impart complicated scriptural truths to the average reader. When he summarized, I felt I understood. When he went into lengthy theological explanations he sometimes lost me. To embrace the entire Bible as the Gospel is kind of revolutionary, but it makes sense. As the author points out, the story of humankind and God starts at Genesis, not at John 3:16.
What do You think about The World-Tilting Gospel: Embracing A Biblical Worldview & Hanging On Tight (2011)?
Wonderful book. Very well-written, refreshing, and packs a punch.
—aleee_em
