The Incomparable Christ Stott, John R. W.

Who is Jesus Christ? No human question is more pivotal. No thoughtful answer fails to stretch our language, our categories or our aspirations.

In recent years numerous books have been written on Jesus, books that are shaped by faith or skepticism or follow the Western academic quest for the historical Jesus. The result has been a kaleidoscope of Jesuses, a thicket of viewpoints, some troubling to faith, some puzzling to the intellect, and a few that enrich our vision as they explore familiar terrain from new and promising angles.

Here is a book written by one who for a lifetime has followed Christ with heart, mind, soul and strength. John Stott offers us a vision of Christ whose portrait is discerned in the mosaic pattern of Scripture, whose influence is traced in the great currents of history, and whose compelling call has shaped the story line of ordinary humans who have been charged with extraordinary faith and courage.

The minimalist criteria for weighing the authenticity of Jesus' sayings and deeds yield only a thin outline of Jesus, the barely discernible image of a Jewish sage or prophet. But the criteria of Scripture's testimony and the effective power of Jesus in lives and history point to a multidimensional, incomparable Christ who defies measurement. Jesus is the one figure who, like no other, has changed lives, shaped culture and offers one sure hope for the future. He is the center of history, the focus of Scripture, the heart of mission. He is the incomparable Christ.

John Stott is known worldwide as a preacher, evangelist and communicator of Scripture. For many years he served as rector of All Souls Church in London. An outstanding leader among evangelicals in Britain, the United States and around the world, Stott was the principal framer of the landmark Lausanne Covenant. His books have sold millions of copies around the globe in dozens of languages, two of his best-known being Basic Christianity and The Cross of Christ. His life is the subject of a two-volume biography by Timothy Dudley-Smith entitled John Stott: The Making of a Leader and John Stott: A Global Ministry (IVP).