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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
In Defense Of Christ Sep 22, 2007
'Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible - to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory, forever and ever, amen.' 1 Timothy 1:17
It is astonishing how many Christians claim to be saved, yet faith today is a mix of syncretism that shames the Cross! As guilty as the Corinthians were of cross-pollinating their belief system with idolatry, so the modern generation of churchgoers declare their worldview to be. We declare to have godliness, but deny its power. We deny Christ thereby the glory and honor, that lives committed to His cause should bring Him.
Edwards offers a much needed book and an uncompromising stand: he is only interested in showing the error of their ways, and the biblical soundness of his. He articulates what so many sense is wrong with the post-modern generation. Fables and endless genealogies all become minuscule in the light of Christ and the faithfulness of God.
This book seeks to reclaim the ground lost to pluralism by acknowledging that Christ is the one true Savior, and that all other religions fall short of the mark. Any who espouse this solid view, will find this critique to be unquestionably vital to a robust Christian faith presented to a fallen world. The uniqueness of the Son of God has saving power.
Added to this, Edwards has genuine writing flair and I appreciated his ability to inform, as this turned out to be a very stimulating read.
'What was unique in the NT drama of salvation was not that Jesus was God, but that in Jesus of Nazareth, God had become a human being. It was the humbleness of God, and not the exaltation of God, that was and is the crowning glory of the Christian gospel.' pg 115
'Thus the divine characteristics of Jesus are often muted in order to give full weight to His humanness. The answer seems to be that His divinity is simply assumed, whereas His humanity is being demonstrated.' pg 115
'The Incarnation means that henceforth knowledge of God is communicated through a human being, from a human perspective, literally. We know and love God not by denying or escaping humanity, but by receiving God's human appearance in Jesus Christ.' pg 115
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
No other name upon which humankind may be saved Aug 04, 2007
It used to be typical for the majority of Evangelical Christians to insist that the true Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4) was the only way to God, as all other ways fell short. John 14:6 used to have meaning to the church. However, in recent years, the meaning about the exclusivity of Jesus have blurred, as many have turned to pluralism or, at best, inclusivisim (Jesus can be found innately in other faiths).
In this book, James Edwards deals with the issue head on. Indeed, he holds to the conservative position that a true relationship with Christ is vital to one's standing before God. In the last chapters, he hits Postmodernism head on and also talks about what to do with other monotheistic faiths such as Judaism. His conclusion? We should continue to preach the gospel to everyone who does not have a personal relationship with Christ. I, for one, am glad to see this scholar hold such a view, and think the book is worth a look.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Timely and Necessary Dec 17, 2006
James Edwards has written a timely and necessary book that deserves a great deal of attention from a broad Christian community. At issue is the drift in our culture toward a type of multiculturalism which causes Christian and non-Christian alike to question whether Christ can or should be spoken of as the "only" savior.
Edwards looks, in the early chapters, on the various forms of the "quest for the historical Jesus" up to and including the historically recent conclusions of the "Jesus Seminar". As is common in many fields, some theological excursions into the quest for the Jesus of history were fully indebted to naturalism, the view that all things can and should be explained in purely natural terms. Edwards calmly and clearly asks whether such assumptions are warranted and finds the resulting conclusions wanting.
He takes the question further showing that there is a great deal of reason to trust the historical reliability of the New Testament with easy to read, cogent arguments and a judicious choice of compelling evidence. Having established the reasonableness of trusting the New Testament, he tackles the central issue - did Jesus believe himself to be God.
What is unique about the book is that it is not a mere apologetic for the historicity of the Christian faith. Edwards, having established the reasonable foundation, moves from the key questions of the 20th century in the first half of the book to the key questions of the 21st century in the second half. Postmodern theories and multicultural sentiments lead many to believe that the exclusive claims of Christianity are unwarranted, arrogant, and perhaps even a threat to world peace. Without disparaging anyone in the process, Edwards carefully deals with questions about postmodernism and exclusive truth claims, relativism and its relation to human sin, the clash of cultures and its relation to the tendency of many Christians today to embrace universalism rather than the historic view of the uniqueness of Christ.
This book hits all the critical issues at an important time. It is sholarly enough to have credibility, but readable enough for lay study. It would be a great gift for college bound kids at graduation. Highly recommended.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Defending the Uniqueness of Jesus Nov 07, 2006
These are difficult days to be a biblical Christian. In affirming the uniqueness of the Christian truth claims, we run up against a host of obstacles, such as the denial of truth, as is postmodernism; disdain of ethical absolutes, as in moral relativism; spiritual eclecticism, as in the New Age Movement; religious pluralism, as in interfaith dialogue; and theological relativism, as in liberal Christianity.
Because biblical Christianity insists that Jesus is the unique and only way to God, and the only true saviour, such claims are met with hostility and disdain in today's pluralistic climate. Yet they must be insisted upon, if we are to retain the very heart of the Christian faith.
Can a good case be put forward that Jesus is indeed who he claimed to be? Is it possible to affirm the uniqueness of Christianity in the face of other world religions and their claims? Are the New Testament documents indeed reliable? Can a case for universal truth still be made in a postmodern world? And does the insistence on Jesus being the one true way make Christianity intolerant and bigoted?
These and other important questions are more than adequately addressed in James Edward's new volume. He takes on all the challengers - be they from without the faith, such as postmodernism, or from within, such as the Jesus Seminar.
Christian particularity and uniqueness can be cogently defended, as Edwards demonstrates. Consider just one issue, that of the Jesus Seminar. This is an effort to reconstruct Jesus in the image of contemporary liberal theologians. By voting with colored ballots, they determine whether a saying attributed to Jesus is indeed authentic. In the end, they have decided that 82 per cent are not.
Of course such scepticism about Jesus and his words and deeds is not new. But what is different is the way the Jesus Seminar has marketed their results since coming together in 1985. They have managed to get a lot of free publicity, and have been able to widely disseminate their radical claims. But they have "turned the wine of myth into the cold water of reality" says Edwards.
He argues that these scholars come to the New Testament with minds already made up, with a predetermined agenda. Instead of letting the gospels speak, and recognising the high level of reliability and authority of the canonical gospels, they simply read their own assumptions into the debate. The question is, does their reconstruction best fit the evidence? Edwards thinks not.
Other meaty chapters deal with other attacks on the Christian truth claims. By the end of the book, the reader is left with the strong impression that these various attacks have not been effective, and the traditional understanding of biblical Christianity still stands.
Edwards deserves credit for nicely bringing together in one volume the various recent assaults on the Christ of Christianity, and performing a credible job of debunking those challenges.
6 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Logic, truth, faith Oct 13, 2006
James Edwards is this age's C.S. Lewis, welcoming with warm, comfortable truths and steely images of wisdom. He coalesces deduction, induction and truth to make the case that encourages the doubter, invites the hostile and fortifies the believer. As a minor historian, I was stunned by the unprecedented validation of Jesus' life. As a former prosecutor, I marveled at the impeccable precision of Edwards' reasoning. As a struggling Christian, I was moved by the unconditional gift of Jesus' life to our own. Edwards respectfully invites a response by the Monty Pythonic-postmodern Jesus Seminar, which might be better served by hiding from the bright light of this book. This is a resounding hurrah for a courageously brilliant recall to logic, truth and faith.
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