I am pleased to say that my book has just been published by Paternoster in their ‘Faith in an Emerging Culture’ series. The book builds on the argument of The Coming of the Son of Man but broadens the scope of its historical-realist narrative to embrace an understanding of ‘mission’ that arises out of the summons to Abraham to be the progenitor of a creational microcosm, a world-within-a-world, an authentic humanity.
The green-tinged picture of an escalator on the cover alludes to Jesus’ suggestive remark to Nathanael about the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man. To my mind it is an image that captures marvellously the intersection of the Bible’s two defining narratives: one about the vocation of a people to recover the original blessing as God’s new creation amid the nations and cultures of the world; the other about the rescue of that people through the suffering and vindication of the Son of man and the community that associates itself with him during a period of eschatological crisis. It is out of that clash of stories that we must fashion a sense of identity and purpose for the post-Christendom era.
The book is available from amazon.com for $19.99. It’s only 156 pages and an easier read than The Coming of the Son of Man.
From the back cover:
In this innovative book postmodern mission and New Testament studies collide. Andrew Perriman examines the mission of the earliest church in its historical context and argues that our context is very different and so our mission cannot simply be a matter of doing exactly what the earliest church did. The key question at the heart of the book is, “How do we shape a biblical theology of mission for a post-biblical church?”
“For me, Andrew Perriman’s book, The Coming of the Son of Man, was at once enlightening and disturbing, convincing and unsettling, scary and inspiring. His new book, Re:Mission, shows the same careful research, the same clear writing style, the same willingness to question long-held assumptions on the basis of the biblical text, and the same drive to understand what Jesus and the apostles actually meant. It extends and deepens his previous book and distinguishes Perriman as a scholar who must be reckoned with in this time of rethinking and transition. A great piece of work!”
Brian D. McLaren, author (brianmclaren.net)
“Andrew Perriman has addressed one of the most challenging facets of New Testament teaching and he does so with remarkable insight and creativity. His suggestion that the apocalyptic prophecies of judgment upon the enemies of Christ’s Church have in fact been fulfilled opens up a very intriguing hermeneutical approach. This approach has the potential of pointing the Church in a new and more fruitful direction in its mandate and mission. This fascinating book makes for urgent reading.”
Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College, Canada and author of Jesus and His Contemporaries
“Theology normally deals with timelessness, as in Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Timeless theology, however, neglects its genius: its timeliness. Andrew Perriman thinks the message of the New Testament is timely — for its time and about its time. Timelessness, he contends, can only be discerned once one has lived with the New Testament’s timeliness. This book is daring and sweeping — daring to sweep the timeless theology out the door so the timely message of the New Testament can once again give a voice to a message for all times.”
Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University, USA
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