THE UNIQUENESS OF JESUS
By Chris Wright
Monarch Books. 186 pages. £6.99. ISBN 1 85424 5627 (UK)
ISBN 0 8254 6006 (USA)
Written from a mainstream Christian standpoint, the 'thinking clearly series' aims to help Christians understand their faith better and show how Christian truth can illuminate matters of crucial importance in our society.
Chris Wright, in his opening chapter surveys the scene of multi-faith worship, religion and education and so on. His style is very readable and there is helpful information here. The next three chapters deal with exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism. The fourth chapter will be most useful for those who find delving into larger tomes like Carson's Gagging of God too daunting. In the concluding two chapters he expounds firstly Jesus and the Bible, pointing out the uniqueness of Christ in all the Scriptures and in all of history. Chapter 6 looks into the Bible and human religions, once again provoking reflection on the good and bad in religion but concluding that no religion can save, only Jesus Christ.
This is not a book for the faint-hearted. Matters are argued closely and it is worth the effort to explore the discussions even if in the end one does not wholly agree with the conclusions on the tentative positions suggested.
As the preface of the book brings us into the supermarket of competing religious ideas, so the conclusion brings us to the checkout. None of the variety of goods on offer satisfies. Only the uniqueness of Jesus Christ can do that. We must, therefore, think clearly about the truth, strengthen our contending for the truth and renew our living of the truth. The early Christians lived better lives and demonstrated the truth of the gospel and the uniqueness of Jesus. They had better answers to the great problems of humanity. So do we!
There are 23 pages of useful endnotes and suggestions for further reading with a note on the perspective from which each author writes. A book worth having, to be read by the discerning reader who wants to understand the uniqueness of our gospel in the midst of contemporary religious trends.
