The Gospel in the Dock
Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ Good for the Church, Humanity, and the World?
Imprint: Resource Publications
C. S. Lewis famously penned the phrase "God in the Dock" and proposed that there was a "great divide" between ancient and modern humans, in that our ancestors would have rightly seen themselves "in the dock" before God, while we moderns have placed God there before us. But what if what God's love most desires for us, the gospel or "good news" of the only way of life for humanity, has been "in the dock" before us from the time of Adam and Eve? And what if it is also the case that the gospel is often "in the dock" as though it is not good--even for the church?
This book builds upon and expands the "life and death" stakes Lewis proposed by demonstrating that the gospel way of faith itself has been placed in the dock by us and in many ways ruined our relationships with God, with our own selves, with one another, and even with the natural world itself which we are meant to "steward" for its good. In these pages the reader will discover why the gospel that requires faith is good news, but why we so tragically default to our divisive and self-destructive ways.
Bryan M. Christman has been happily married for many years and is a blessed father of four and grandfather to a growing number of lively grandchildren. He is a lifelong landscaper, avid reader, aspiring writer, and with his wife Debbi a lover of God’s creations both old and new. He has undergraduate degrees from Alfred State College and the Northeast Branch of the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary.
“Is there any Christian concept as basic or as baffling as ‘the Gospel’? Bryan Christman knows that to adequately understand what the gospel is, one must also consider how it relates to virtually everything else of importance. So it is that he puts the good news in the dock, cross-examining a who’s who of classic thinkers and theologians and taking in love, power, violence, peace, good, evil, life, and death along the way. A spirited examination of our most important idea.”
—Stephen Backhouse, author of Kierkegaard’s Critique of Christian Nationalism
“Very few books contain the wisdom herein! Christman has not only detailed hundreds of accurate and penetrating cultural insights, but he’s testified to the raw power of the gospel: the good news of our radical encounter with God through Jesus Christ. Avoiding the twin mistakes of fuzzy sentimentalism and cold skepticism, The Gospel in the Dock forges a brilliant and creative path toward radical orthodoxy.”
—David Mau, Admissions, Colorado Christian University
“The questions that people are asking today are not so much whether the gospel is true, but is the good news actually good? Bryan Christman tackles these questions, putting the gospel on trial in the spirit of C. S. Lewis. Whether or not you agree with all of Christman’s conclusions, he asks all of the right questions. The Gospel in the Dock is a helpful guide on our journey to rediscover the goodness of the gospel.”
—Stephen J. Bedard, Disability Theologian and Pastor of Queen Street Baptist Church
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