Humble Confidence

Paul Weston is Director of the Newbigin Centre for Gospel and Western Culture at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, where he is a tutor in Mission Studies and Homiletics. Alongside his position as Director, he also lectures in Mission Studies in the Cambridge Theological Federation. He has written widely on Lesslie Newbigin.

• Foreword by Scot ShermanAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsResourcesNote to ReaderIntroductionPart One: Discovering the Story1 Revelation2 Knowing3 StoryPart Two: Losing the Story4 The Genesis of a Project5 The Critique of Modernity6 The Post-Modern TurnPart Three: Living the Story7 The Church as Sign8 Telling the Story9 The Story in Dialogue10 Jesus and the World's Faiths11 The Gospel as Public Truth12 Engaging TheologyEpilogueBibliographyScripture IndexAuthor IndexSubject Index

'In an age when the 'acids of modernity' and post-modernity have challenged Western Christianity as it has never been challenged before, Lesslie Newbigin's thought offers a powerful, inspiring, cogent, and joyful 'logic' of Christian mission. In this lucid, rich, and deeply engaging book, Newbigin's friend and disciple Paul Weston explains his vision in ways that not only reveal Newbigin's genius but also his faith-filled 'humble confidence' in the revolutionary meaning of Jesus Christ. It is one of the best books I have read in the past year.' - Stephen Bevans, SVD, Catholic Theological Union'Many books skate over the surface of their subject matter. Not this one. It is the fruit of many years of deep engagement with the thought of one of the most significant recent thinkers in missiology, and it is written by someone who doesn't just think about mission but engages with it on the streets as well. This will be an essential guide to the work of Lesslie Newbigin for many years to come.' - Graham Tomlin, Director, Centre for Cultural Witness'Humble Confidence is the fruit of decades of sustained reflection and engagement with the thought of Lesslie Newbigin. Paul Weston writes with the skill of a missiologist and the heart of an evangelist. By exploring the interplay between revelation, knowing, and story, he gets at the inner logic of Newbigin's vision, and finds dynamic insight for what Newbigin called the 'missionary encounter' between the gospel and our culture. This is a must-read book for those who care about that encounter in the twenty-first century.' - Scot Sherman, Executive Director, The Center for Church Innovation'A fine study of the remarkable vision of twentieth-century churchman Lesslie Newbigin, with careful attention to its critical intersection with the era-healing philosophy of scientific discoverer and public intellectual, Michael Polanyi. Essential reading for the rehabilitation of the Christian church in our time.' - Esther Lightcap Meek, author of Contact with Reality: Michael Polanyi's Realism and Why it Matters`Newbigin's orthodox Trinitarian approach, Christocentric in its ecclesiology, Spirit-centred in its missiology, and God-centred in its hope, is characterised by Weston as patristic. His book is not an easy read, any more than Newbigin's was an easy or comfortable missiology. But it was based on a "humble confidence" that "The Church is in God's keeping. We do not have the right to be anxious about it."` - Revd Dr Ian Bradley, Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History at the University of St Andrews, in Church Times, August, 2023.