The Gospel reloaded

From Jeff

ok, so to start off with, after becoming a christian at 14, what I was always taught and generally assumed for the next decade was that the "gospel" was some variation on the riff "Jesus died on the cross for you sins so that you could go to heaven." While it wasn't always articulated that simply, that was essentially what I assumed (or at least what I was "hearing" from people)

In University, that definition began to feel "flat". However, despite my struggles to uncover a more biblical and broader, "well-rounded" definition, it eluded me. If push came to shove, I probably would have reverted to the definition above.

Within the last 5-7 years I experienced a growing fascination with the idea that the Bible is obsessed with THIS life, not life after death, and in some ways (usually some ones), I began to take my first steps towards the paradigm I hold now.The icing on the cake for me was when I ultimately began studying writers who were well versed in first-century Judaism (especially NT Wright, Ray Vanderlaan, Brad Young, David Flusser and Paul Zanker). What all of these authors offered was a definition of Gospel which made much more sense both biblically and experientially speaking.Basically the idea is that Gospel is not a "Christian" or even "Jewish" word. It's a Roman word that is a "good news announcement" used in empire processionals/games/events to celebrate and announce the reign of Caesar (the god-king) over the (Roman) world.This context, married with the knowledge of first-century understandings of the following terms:"Salvation" = God's rescue from death, destruction."Eternal Life" = life lived in alignment with God's will and created norms"Kingdom of Heaven/God" = life under in the rule and reign of GodLeads me to a broader, more biblical, more hermeneutically sound and personally (and coporately) inspiring understanding of Gospel that I hold to today.

Gospel (rough paraphrase) = the good news that God has entroned Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of the Cosmos, and that I am invited to live under His reign, and turn from hollow imposters (the "Caesars" of this world).

What I offer to others, within this gospel at least, is of secondary significance (to say the least). This is a "Gospel of the kingdom" (Matt. 28), a good news announcement that invites me to experience salvation (ie. freedom/rescue from that which destroys my life) and eternal life (ie. life as God intends--full of goodness, beauty, justice, etc.) as I learn to live by and submit to God's reign in my life ("Kingdom of Heaven").


Kurt McClannan
Today at 1:14pm
Really good work! I'm sure I have read some of these ideas before but it is like I just couldn't understand the significance of what, at the time, seemed like pointless literary gymnastics. Until I truely felt the emptiness of the "old" definitions and the holpelessness that they led me too, I couldn't appreciate the significance that these "new" definitions held. I wish I didn't have to learn that way, but I always seem to have to get caught in the whirlpool to understand the importance of the rope being lowered to me.