Professor Donald Macleod was interviewed recently on the publication of his new book Compel Them To Come In. He was asked what had been the main theological influences on him through the years, the thinkers who had helped to form his own theological mind. I began to wonder how I would answer that question.
In my late teens when I began to read ‘Christian books’ I was greatly taken by Michael Green, an Anglican minister and academic. He wrote about Christian truths in a way I could understand and with a contemporary touch. He might quote Shakespeare but also appreciated the wisdom of Bob Dylan! You could say that he knew the ‘ancient paths’ but trod a few contemporary ones also. His Jesus Spells Freedom was a big influence on me.
Then there was Os Guiness who was like Michael Green in the sense that he was in touch with a wide range of contemporary thinking but was also eager to engage in debate and show how vital Christian truth was to the destiny of humankind. I still have my copy of The Dust Of Death with my faded signature and the date, 1974. It’s great to think that in his late 70s Os is still contending for the faith at the sharp end of intellectual challenge.
In my first year at university I took a course in General Philosophy and was intrigued to see C.S. Lewis’ The Problem Of Pain on the reading list. That Lewis was recognised as a force to be reckoned with at that level was encouraging - even if my tutor didn’t find him entirely convincing. That began a life-long companionship with Lewis. He has his detractors these days but his appreciation and defence of the core beliefs of the Christian faith has been a great source of inspiration and encouragement.
Around this time I was also discovering writers like John Stott who, like Michael Green, was a committed preacher but who also addressed contemporary issues with confidence in Biblical principles and a sound intellectual integrity. Along with this I was becoming aware of the challenge within the Church. A book by John A.T. Robinson, a controversial Anglican bishop, came my way entitled But That I Can’t Believe which left me wondering what he actually did believe. To say that I was immune to stuff like this would be dishonest but in the end I came to the conviction that what Lewis called ‘Christianity and water’ just would not do for me. Surely there is something called the Gospel and to depart from any aspect of it renders it indistinctive and ultimately irrelevant. I came to see this, riffing on Lewis, as cappuccino Christianity, plenty of froth and little substance.
My theological studies brought me into contact with the early Christian thinkers like Athanasius and the Reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther. The twentieth century giants were in there too, Paul Tillich, Karl Barth, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Hans Kung. But I am most grateful for the teachers who introduced me to all of this. John Zizoulas, a Greek Orthodox theologian and now Bishop of Pergamum, who emphasised that rightly ordered theology was not just an academic pursuit but a devotional exercise. Joe Houston, recently deceased, was once described as ‘a tough minded philosopher with an evangelical heart’. Joe became a friend. His conviction that Christian faith was not just emotional but rational made a big impact on me. And then there was Ian Hazlett, a meticulous historian, who emphasised the importance of ‘sources’ in historical study. If you want to know about Calvin, read Calvin!
This is apart from the thinkers I discovered along the way. Donald Macleod’s writings would feature as a major influence along with Don Carson and Alister McGrath. Men with expansive minds who are able to address contemporary issues from an orthodox Christian position. I’ve also had room for more devotional writers like Henri Nouwen before he took off for the theological stratosphere, Eugene Peterson and Max Lucado.
So why is all of this significant? Paul once warned his readers not to allow the values of this world to shape their thinking but to be ‘transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ (Romans 12: 2). He even spoke about having ‘the mind of Christ’. (1 Corinthians 2: 16). Being part of our development in Christ-likeness this is the work of a lifetime and as in all things we are helped by our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been blessed with the gifts of teaching, preaching and writing which bring the great truths of the faith to bear on our minds. For the purpose of Christian truth is not just to be a player in the arena of academic debate but a dynamic influence leading us to Christ-likeness which is God’s will for us all.
