Friday 17 July 2009

Michael W. Goheen

Michael W. Goheen is one half of the duo that has given us the following two significant works:

Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story (Grand Rapids/London: Baker Academic/SPCK, 2004/2006).

This widely-acclaimed volume, previously and briefly blogged about here, traces the theme of the kingdom of God in six acts through the big story of Scripture, seeking to show the significance of the biblical storyline for developing a distinctively Christian worldview.

Incidentally, the book appears to have had a third release under the title The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama (Grand Rapids: Faith Alive, 2009) – with information and a pdf excerpt available on this page – which is described as a slight revision of the 2006 SPCK edition, which was itself slightly shorter than the 2004 Baker edition, with fewer footnotes, and additional comments on contemporary significance after the discussion of each ‘act’ of the biblical drama, with questions for further reflection. The basic upshot is that most people and study groups will find the 2006 SPCK version (or the 2009 Faith Alive version) more user-friendly.

And, just in case we’ve lost passengers along the way, here’s the second significant work…

Michael W. Goheen and Craig G. Bartholomew, Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview (Grand Rapids/London: Baker Academic/SPCK, 2008).

A sort of follow-up to the above volume, this provides an excellent introduction to Christian worldview thinking based on the scriptural story of creation–sin–restoration, how it relates to the western story’s move from modernity to postmodernity, and how it applies to key areas of life such as education, economics, sport, and politics.

Both books are supplemented by a website (‘Scripture and Worldview’) containing a generous number of useful resources, including several articles in areas related to the material in the books.

A number of Mike’s articles, including his PhD on Lesslie Newbigin’s missionary ecclesiology, are also freely available via a page on the ‘all of life redeemed’ website, which is well worth checking out.

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