The Gospel in Historical Theology

In the middle of 2015 I was preaching a series on the reign of God in Christ [and we also put on a related story camp]. The over-riding challenge for me in preaching in and around that series was the meaning of “the gospel.” I had become convinced that the "biblical" gospel is the announcement that, in Jesus, God was fulfilling his covenant promises and establishing his reign/the Kingdom of God. I came to this conclusion, as many have, reading books like Scot McKnight, The King Jesus Gospel; N.T. Wright, How God Became King; and, N.T. Wright, Simply Good News: Why the Gospel is New and What Makes it Good. McKnight and Wright both comment on the strong tendency in the "evangelical" movement to make "the gospel" into a formula. I thought their accusations (McKnight uses that term himself) were accurate but I wondered when the "change" took place from the "biblical gospel" to the "gospel" as a method for getting to heaven. I thought that question should be addressed by a historical theologian. The idea wore on me for a couple of years and, in 2017, I had the chance to take a post-doctoral fellowship at the Manchester Wesley Research Centre to research the definition and meaning of the gospel in John Wesley's writings. I will share some of my findings on this blog.

These comments will appear as posts on the home page. They are tagged as "historical theology."

Preach Christ-He is good news when you realize you're deranged

John Wesley didn't like gospel sermons

Preaching Christ-John Wesley's Definition of the Gospel, 1746-51 (Wesley and Methodist Studies 11:2, June 2019)