Book Notice: Becoming the Gospel

Last updated on: July 30, 2015 at 2:12 am by Michael F. Bird

Book Notice: Becoming the Gospel 2015-07-23T02:39:28-04:00 Michael F. Bird

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Michael J. Gorman

Becoming the Gospel: Paul, Participation, and Mission
Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015.
Available at Amazon.com

Michael Gorman is a genius at weaving together Pauline theology, cruciformed spirituality, and the Missio Dei. This volume is part three of a “partly deliberate, partly accidental” trilogy beside the prior books Cruciformity and Inhabiting the Cruciform God. Here Gorman tries to show that in the first century the Apostle Paul wanted the communities he addressed to not only believe the gospel, but to become the gospel, and in doing so, participate in the very life and mission of God. Gorman’s thesis – in his own words – is that “theosis – Spirit-enabled transformative participation in the life and character of God revealed in the crucified and resurrected Messiah Jesus – is the starting point of mission and is, in fact, its proper theological framework” (p. 4). To sum it up, again in Gorman’s own words, “the cross of Christ reveals a missional, justifying, justice-making God and creates a missional, justified, justice-making people” (p. 9). The chapters cover the topics of Paul and the Mission of God, missional readings of Paul, and then how it works out in several letters including 1 Thessalonians, Philippians, Ephesians, 1-2 Corinthians, and Romans. The concluding chapter is rich and drips with great wisdom: “A thin lightweight view fo the gospel entails a similar thin, lightweight understanding of salvation and the missio Dei. But a thick, robust understanding of the gospel involves an equally complex and comprehensive perspective on salvation and the missio Dei” (p. 298).

Gorman’s book reminds me of something that John Wesley said: “Go on in the work where to God has called you, and He will do all things well. I hope our preachers preach and live the gospel – I am.” – John Wesley To George Merryweather, 20 Dec 1766.

I really like this book because it dovetails with the notion of evangelical theology as concerned with the science of “gospelizing,” which I’ve argued elsewhere, that is cultivating the spiritual and missional realities that the gospel sows into us. So I can definitely recommend this book to anyone engaging in missional or Pauline studies.

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