Christ the Cornerstone (John Stott, 2019)
Christ the Cornerstone
Between 1971 and 1981, the Rev. Dr. John R. W. Stott (1921-2011) wrote a regular column in Christianity Today. In it he reflected on the global church, on Christian belief and challenges to it, and what it looks like to be faithful to the gospel in a rapidly changing world. Christ the Cornerstone collects 49 of Stott’s columns, and though they are obviously dated in the details they cover, they are timeless in the way he applies the gospel to whatever he is considering. Because he reflects on things that arose naturally as he traveled in a worldwide teaching ministry the book is an overview of a crucial decade of the modern evangelical movement.
“Hassan Dehqani-Tafti,” Stott writes in “Christians and Muslims,” “himself a convert from Islam and now Anglican Bishop in Iran, has expressed it admirably in his autobiography Design of My World (1959): “Words alone cannot bring the Muslim to the foot of the Cross… Christians must show in their lives how Christianity is in truth the incarnation of the love of God.” Though Stott had a worldwide ministry and worldwide renown, he lived a quiet life, humbly seeking to listen to and lovingly serve those around him.
Book recommended: Christ the Cornerstone: Collected Essays of John Stott (Bellingham, WA, Lexham Press, Best of Christianity Today; 2019) 325 pages + indices.