Where to Begin
Theme of the Week: Only One Way?
David Wells
Sunday, March 16, 2008
 1 of 1
Who Said It…David Wells
David Wells was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia), and studied architecture at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He came to faith there and, although he moved on to England to work in his field, soon shifted to studying theology. He now teaches systematic theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. What He Said…Where to Begin
When invited to speak to the opinion leaders of Athens, Paul might have begun with a simple gospel message, but he didn't. Only at the very end of his address did he raise the issues of divine judgment, repentance, and the resurrection of Christ. We're inclined to get our audience to the gospel as soon as possible and in its most stripped-down version.
Why did Paul speak about worldview first? The Jews who heard Paul's gospel were prepared by the Old Testament to understand the nature of God, his relation to the creation, his holiness, the reality and consequences of sin, and the necessity of sacrifice. But the pagans to whom he spoke were at sea in all these matters. The gospel isn't a disembodied message that can be assimilated into just any worldview. If it is absorbed into a false worldview, its uniqueness may be lost. Without an understanding of God as creator and judge, the gospel makes no sense. So Paul took his hearers to the Christian God before he took them to the gospel.
Adapted from Only One Way?, edited by Richard Phillips (Crossway, 2006) by permission.
Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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