Abstract

The modern dichotomy between the public world of fact and the private world of value has meant that evangelicalism has preached a reduced form of the gospel, which is only relevant for the private world of value. This reduced form of the gospel emphasizes the salvation of the individual and hides the true claims of Christ from the world. To preach this gospel as public truth, evangelicals need to show that fundamental assumptions of the dichotomy between the public and private world are illusory. Then the dichotomy between private faith and public fact dissolves and evangelicals can boldly proclaim the gospel as public truth. This essay describes what is involved in preaching the gospel as public truth with regard to the writings of Lesslie Newbigin who describes the Church’s task as finding a way to offer the gospel as a plausibility structure to the world and to proclaim the finality of Christ. Newbigin provides a critique of modernity and a view of the gospel as an alternate plausibility structure by which to view the world. In this context the ‘finality of Christ’ does not imply the ‘the finality of Christianity’ nor a purely personal salvation. Jesus Christ is the final clue to human history.