Jackson Wu - One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization

One sign of an excellent book is the number and variety of people with whom one is eager to share it. Again and again as I read One Gospel for All Nations, names of colleagues came to mindpastors, Bible teachers, evangelists, seminary faculty, missionaries, heads of agencies, missions mobilizers, and cross-cultural workers in many different fields. In short, I would commend this book to anyone who wants to understand the Bible more fully or to communicate its message more clearly to others, locally or internationally. For those working in honor/shame cultures in particular, Wus work is essential reading.

The context of missions has changed. The pivot from the Gutenberg galaxy into the digital galaxy has taken place. How do people from different cultural worldviews make sense of the one true Gospel? A deep examination of the Scripture is required. Wus book calls us into a serious reflection in the work of contextualization and meaningful presentation of the Gospel. Wu offers a timeless perspective that is both theological and practical. I highly recommend your attention to One Gospel for All Nations.

Many studies talk about contextualization in theory, but Jackson Wu wants to help equip missionaries and Christian workers to do it well. Wu gives his readers a model for contextualization that seeks to let the whole biblical narrative speak with a specific cultural accent, while at the same time interpreting and critiquing contemporary contexts through the lens of Scripture. But the real strength of this book comes when Wu shows us how his model works out in practice, as he beautifully retells the biblical story for Chinese people. Jackson Wu deserves thanks for a balanced and engaging contribution to our understanding and practice of contextualization.

With honor and grace, Wu tackles the tough question of how the gospel may be understood and communicated to every culture. In this spirited and creative work, Wu begins with a biblical foundation, using the framework from the Scriptures to develop a clear and practical method for understanding the gospel and understanding cultures. He challenges narrow and short-sighted models, encouraging theologians, missionaries, and all Christians to get practical. In One Gospel for All Nations, he forms a clear, relevant, and timely challenge to communicate truth to every people. Throughout, he proposes a model that remains biblical faithful and culturally meaningful, so every nation can hear and understand the gospel.

It is easy to announce that all theology is contextualization or that contextualization is complicated, it is another to do the actual work of contextualizing. In Wus book, we get not only theory about contextualization but a practical model for working out the most significant theme in the Bible: gospel. Entering into this book is to enter into recent biblical discussions about the gospel and missiologys theories about contextualization. Wu even takes us to the heart of the matter when he shows what gospel looks like in the Chinese culture.

A practical book by a practical theologian who takes seriously the integration of biblical theology and missiology in relation to the gospel so that proclamation remains biblically based yet culturally calling.

One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization
Copyright 2015 by Jackson Wu

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except brief quotations used in connection with reviews in magazines or newspapers.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Italics within scripture quotations indicate emphasis added.

Published by William Carey Library
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Melissa Hicks, editor
Brad Koenig, copyeditor
Hugh Pindur, graphic design
Rose Lee-Norman, indexer

William Carey Library is a ministry of
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Digital eBook Release Primalogue 2015
ISBN: 978-0-87808-887-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wu, Jackson.
One gospel for all nations : a practical approach to biblical contextualiz
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 978-0-87808-629-0 -- ISBN 0-87808-629-3 1. Missions. 2. Christianity and culture. 3. Witness bearing (Christianity) 4. Evangelistic work. I. Title.
BV2063.W8 2015
261--dc23

2015001107

Special thanks is given to Enoch Wan who granted permission to use four previously published articles, which have been revised for the sake of this book. Chapter two uses We Compromise the Gospel When We Settle for TruthHow Right Interpretations Lead to Wrong Contextualization, Global Missiology, vol. 2, no. 10 (Jan 2013). Select portions of chapters three and four draw from Contextualizing the One Gospel in Any Culture: A Model from the Biblical Text for a Global Context, Global Missiology, vol 3, no. 10 (April 2013). The main arguments of chapters eight and nine first appeared, respectively, in Biblical Theology from a Chinese Perspective: Interpreting Scripture through the Lens of Honor and Shame, Global Missiology, vol. 4, no. 10 (July 2013) and The Gospel with Chinese Characteristics: A Concrete Example of Cultural Contextualization, Global Missiology, vol. 1, no. 11 (October 2013).