"Introduction" (Chapter 1), Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity

"Introduction" (Chapter 1), Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity

 

* The author, Justo L. Gonzalez:

The book, "The Story of Christianity"

 

 

 

 

* "From its beginning, the Christian message was grateful onto human history. The Good News

Christians have proclaimed through the ages is that in Jesus Christ, and for our salvation, God has

entered human history in a unique way. History is crucial for understanding not only the life of

Jesus, but also the entire biblical message." (xv)

 

 

* "It is the story of the deeds of the Spirit in and through the men and women who have gone

before the faith." (xvi)

 

 

* "There are episodes in the course of that history where it is difficult to see the action of the

Holy Spirit.... While this narrative is the story of the deeds of the Spirit, it is the history of those

deeds through sinners like us.... It has been through those sinners and that church--only through

them-- that the biblical message has come to us." (xvi) ... "Like it or not, we are heirs of this

host of diverse and even contradictory witnesses. Some of their actions we may find revolting, and

other inspiring. But all of them form part of our history. All of the, those whom we admire as

well as those whom we despise, brought us to where we are now." (xvii)

 

 

* "Without understanding that past, we are unable to understand ourselves, for in a sense the past

still lives in us and influences who we are and how we understand Christian message." (xvii)

 

 

* "It is at this point that the doing of history converges with the making of it. when we study the

life and work of past generations, and when we interpret it, we are doing history. But we must

remember that future generations will read about our times as past history. In that sense, like it or

not, both by our action and by our inaction, we are making history. This is both an exhilarating

opportunity and an awesome responsibility, and it demands that we do history in order to be able

to make it more faithfully." (xvii-xviii)