Gospel for the Outsider

The Gospel of Luke uniquely proclaims that the message of good news was for the outsider in Jewish society, and indeed for any outsider in any society where the sleek, the successful and the slick are often preferred to the loser, the lonely and the lowly.

In this book, Patrick Whitworth explores how this compassion for the outsider is clear from several levels, and should direct our mission to those who, in whatever shape or form, are outsiders today in our communities.

At the end is a study guide, providing an excellent opportunity for groups to study the Gospel from the outsider's perspective, and help us to discern the outsiders in our own communities and go to them with the love of Christ and the hope of the gospel-a gospel for outsiders.

"Mark may challenge you, Matthew reassure you and John inspire you, but it is among the real people of Luke's gospel that you will find yourself. And that, I suggest, is the task of our times-to find ourselves, to discover who we are and how it is that we can play our part in shaping a new world. This is a readable, compelling invitation to walk into the story and find yourself, whoever you may be, within its pages. Indeed the outsider, as Patrick so clearly and beautifully demonstrates, becomes the insider through his or her encounter with Jesus."

- The Revd Dr Alison Morgan,
Author, ReSource

“In post-Christian societies churches need to work much harder to nurture an appreciation of the transformative power of the Bible. These two books, one on Matthew and one on Luke and Acts, by a retired Anglican priest and educator, offer individual Christian learners and local congregations functioning as learning churches fresh insights into how they may be enriched by engagement with Matthew and with Luke. ... The strengths of these two books reside in their accessible style, in the discussion questions set out in the appendices, and in the conversation that is generated between the word of scripture and the life-world of the Christian reader.”

In post-Christian societies churches need to work much harder to nurture an appreciation of the transformative power of the Bible. These two books, one on Matthew and one on Luke and Acts, by a retired Anglican priest and educator, offer individual Christian learners and local congregations functioning as learning churches fresh insights into how they may be enriched by engagement with Matthew and with Luke. … The strengths of these two books reside in their accessible style, in the discussion questions set out in the appendices, and in the conversation that is generated between the word of scripture and the life-world of the Christian reader.

The book is pastoral in tone and very accessible; small congregational groups could use it to expand their knowledge of Luke and begin learning how different gospels depict Jesus in particular ways.

"Mark may challenge you, Matthew reassure you and John inspire you, but it is among the real people of Luke's gospel that you will find yourself. And that, I suggest, is the task of our times-to find ourselves, to discover who we are and how it is that we can play our part in shaping a new world. This is a readable, compelling invitation to walk into the story and find yourself, whoever you may be, within its pages. Indeed the outsider, as Patrick so clearly and beautifully demonstrates, becomes the insider through his or her encounter with Jesus."

Patrick Whitworth read Modern History at Christ Church Oxford, and a Theology MA in Reformation Studies under T. H. L. Parker at Durham. He has spent over 40 years in Anglican Ministry, most recently in Bath, and in retirement facilitates lay and clergy training alongside his writing. He is married to Olivia with four grown up children and three grandchildren.

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