foolishness to the greeks

I recently finished reading Foolishness to the Greeks by Lesslie Newbigin. I've really come to appreciate Newbigin's work over the past few years. Reading him is like a bit like sparring with a patient boxer. Newbigin tends to build his case slowly and steadily throughout his books, much like a pugilist delivering body blows to wear down his opponent. In the final round Newbigin winds up and drives home machine gun like applications that are honest and devastating in their assessment and critique, closing with a knockout punch final paragraph.

Here's his conclusion from this work:

The event of the resurrection, the empty tomb, and the risen Lord breaks every mold that would imprison God in the rationalism of a fallen world. But it is the starting point for a new kind of rationality, for the possibility of living hopefully in a world without hope, for the perpetual praise of God who not only creates order out of chaos but also breaks through fixed orders to create ever-new situations of surprise and joy.

The church's witness among the nations is at heart the overflow of a gift. The boldness and the expectancy are marks of those who have been surprised by joy and know that there are still surprises to come, because God is great.

If you want to feel the full knockout effect of that statement you'll have to read the whole book and get the body blows first. Not an easy read but well worth it.