“The Finality of Christ” is a book written by Lesslie Newbigin in 1969. It was published by SCM in England, and John Knox in the United States. The author is actually listed as Lesslie Newbigin: Bishop of Madras, pointing to his role as an Anglican bishop in India at the time.

In a sense, the book is timeless, addressing many questions that are in some sense inherent to the Christian faith. What is the relationship of the Christian faith to other faiths? What does it mean to say that one is “converted” to the Christian faith? What is the relationship between Christ, Christianity, and the Church?

In other ways, however, it was a book very much of its time. It addresses concerns of Hendryk Kraemer, A.G. Hogg, Raimon Pannikkar, and others of that time regarding the relationship of missions to other faiths, especially within the context of India. It was also focused within the ecumenical missions conferences of the early and mid-20th century, as well as the secular sciences.

Within these contexts he wrestles with the question, Does “Finality of Christ” have meaning, and if so, in what ways Christ or the acts of Christ providing finality. This sounds a bit obscure, but in an era where many believe that Jesus is merely one way to salvation (Pluralism) , or that God ultimately saves everyone (Universalism) . On the other extreme are those who seem, to Newbigin at least, to believe that the gates of Hell are wide, and the vast majority will be driven in. Newbigin holds a moderate view between the extremes while still holding to a high view of Christ.

The short book (115 pages) is a drawn from a lecture series held by Newbigin. Perhaps that is why in some ways the book seems more compelling in its parts over the whole. By that I mean that various sections are very strong, and I ended up highlighting many parts of the book, but each section seems to work better in itself rather than moving the whole topic forward. Perhaps that is just me.

Still, there is much to commend the book. Lesslie Newbigin what one of the great missional theologians of the 1900s. Sometimes I think of him as the British equivalent of the American missiologist Donald McGavran (who also had his missionary experience in India). However, while McGavran’s pragmatic views tended to lead to overlooking important theological concerns. Reading this book makes it clear that Newbigin wrestled with so many aspects of the Christian faith, especially within the context of missional interaction with people of other faiths.

I do recommend the book for those interested in interreligious dialogue, as well as historical missiology. Additionally, there are so many important nuggets of wisdom in the book, that it is worthwhile to read and meditate on it.

With that in mind, here is a quote to dwell on:

To claim finality for Christ means in some sense to claim a decisive role in history for the church. …. The original apostolic witness remains permanently at the centre of the life of the Church in order to provide the norm by which all subsequent development is judged and by which aberrations are corrected. There must be development. It is impossible simply to go on repeating the original words. They have — in the first place — to be translated and all translation changes meaning. They have, then, to be re-interpreted to meet new situations. It is precisely by the vigour and courage with which the work of re-interpretation is done that the claim to finality is made good in the actual course of human history. Only when the Church has the boldness to re-interpret the original testimony in the face of new human situations is it able to make plain and effective the claim to finality. Re-interpretation always carries risks, but to evade risks means to court disaster. Syncretism is not the only danger against which the Church has to be alert. The New Testament is equally clear in its warnings against the opposite danger — the danger of timidity, of trying to avoid risks by tying up the talent in a napkin to be preserved in useless safety until the Lord’s return. (pages 77-78)

I should also note that Newbigin mentioned in the Preface that he wished he had read Moltmann’s Theology of Hope before he had written the lectures. He saw great value in that book and felt it supported and strengthened the poitns he was seeking to make.