THE FINALITY OF CHRIST

The substance of this slight Volume was delivered as the Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale, in 1966. The Bishop of Madras raises the question whether it is possible, in the latter half of the twentieth century, to use the word ""finality"" with respect to Jesus Christ, Against such usage, he concedes, are such contemporary trends as space exploration, the method of science, particularly the science of history, the study of world religions, and ""the bad conscience of western man"" in using Christianity as justification for his imperialism. Nevertheless, Bishop Newbigin undertakes to show what the idea of the finality of Christ means when approached by Christians who are committed to Him. He examines the meaning of finality when Christianity is compared or Contrasted with other world-religions, with secular experience, and with other interpretations of history. Much of the argument is pursued against the background of the world missionary scene, on which the author has been a notable leader. Its grave weakness, however, would seem to be the unconscious assumption that the history of men on earth still constitutes the central course of cosmic history. The demand that commitment to Christ should precede the discussion of the finality of Christ, also, makes the argument a foregone, but suspect, venture. Consequently, the book never escapes the limitations thus imposed upon it.