Neill: the only remedy

Thursday, April 7, 2016
Meditation:
    And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
    —Luke 5:29-32 (ESV)
Quotation:
    This Christian claim [of universal validity] is naturally offensive to the adherents of every other religious system. It is almost as offensive to modern man, brought up in the atmosphere of relativism, in which tolerance is regarded almost as the highest of the virtues. But we must not suppose that this claim to universal validity is something that can quietly be removed from the Gospel without changing it into something entirely different from what it is... Jesus’ life, his methods, and his message do not make sense, unless they are interpreted in the light of his own conviction that he was in fact the final and decisive word of God to men... For the human sickness there is one specific remedy, and this is it. There is no other.
    ... Stephen Neill (1900-1984), Christian Faith and Other Faiths, London: Oxford U.P., 1970, p. 16-17 (see the book)
    See also Luke 5:29-32; John 10:7-9; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 2:23; Rev. 20:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I embrace Your exclusivity. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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