A Clear or Cloudy Gospel? – A review of ‘The Suburban Captivity of the Church’

Posted on August 1, 2015 
Filed under Theology

The Suburban Captivity of the Church“An interesting juxtaposition of events happened to me last week. I found myself reading Tim Foster’s The Suburban Captivity of the Church at the same time as eagerly following the consultation conference of the Australian chapter of The Gospel Coalition.

Tim Foster is the Vice Principal of Ridley Theological College in Melbourne and the book has been shortlisted for the Australian Christian Book of the year award. The Gospel Coalition Australia is a local iteration of The Gospel Coalition originating in the US. Two voices labouring to see Australia won for Christ. Yet, given the difference in descriptions of the gospel were so significant, I felt it prudent to review Foster’s recent book.

The major purpose of Foster’s Suburban Captivity is ‘… to develop a theology of gospel and culture, and then illustrate how contextualisation works.’ (p. 5).  …

It’s not a pedestrian read. Foster strongly denounces conceptions of the Gospel that centre upon the sacrifice at Calvary, and calls for a reconceptualisation of the Gospel around God’s wider purposes. We are told in no uncertain terms that this is the only way to break the shackles of our suburban captivity…”

– An important review by Mark Earngey, an ACL member currently studying Reformation theology and history at the University of Oxford.

Tim Foster has posted this response.