Michael Green (theologian)

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Anglican cleric and theologian
Notable workEvangelism in the Early Church
SpouseRosemary
Children4
Ecclesiastical career
ChurchChurch of England
Academic work
InstitutionsSt Aldate’s, Oxford; Regent College, Vancouver; Holy Trinity, Raleigh, NC; Wycliffe Hall, Oxford;
Main interestsApologetics and evangelism

Edward Michael Bankes Green (20 August 1930

Anglican priest, Christian apologist and author of more than 50 books.[3]

Early life, education and ministry

Green's mother was Australian and his father was Welsh. He became a committed Christian through the

Ridley Hall. He was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Archbishop of Canterbury (1996) and the University of Toronto (1992). He was ordained deacon in 1957 and priest
in 1958.

Green was an

honorary canon of Coventry Cathedral from 1970 to 1978. He then moved to Canada where he was Professor of Evangelism at Regent College, Vancouver from 1987 to 1992. He returned to England to take up the position of advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York for the Springboard Decade of Evangelism. In 1993 he was appointed the Six Preacher of Canterbury Cathedral. Despite having officially retired in 1996, he became a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Evangelism and Apologetics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford in 1997. He lived in the town of Abingdon near Oxford
.

Green was married to Rosemary for 61 years, and they had four children: Tim, Sarah, Jenny, and Jonathan.[6]

Apologetics and evangelism

Green was a prolific writer, with much of his work written for a popular reading audience, although he also contributed to academic studies. Many of his best known books discuss the twin topics of evangelism and apologetics.

One of Green's objectives was to equip lay Christian believers in their grasp of the gospel message and to then have confidence to converse with others about faith matters. These practical objectives are clear in books such as Evangelism, Now and Then and Sharing Your Faith With Friends and Family. At a technical level Green contributed an academic study of the praxis and theory of evangelism in Evangelism in the Early Church. This work explores the development of evangelism through the New Testament texts and from the early Church Fathers. He built on those foundational studies in his advocacy of evangelism at a parish church level, both through his personal ministry and in his book Evangelism Through the Local Church.

Green's apologetic work generally focussed on popular misconceptions and objections held by non-Christians. In books such as You Must Be Joking, World on the Run and Why Bother With Jesus, he dealt with attitudes of religious indifference and scepticism. He also addressed a variety of objections concerning religious hypocrisy and

resurrection of Christ
in Man Alive and again in the revision of that book, The Day Death Died.

Green also explored academic challenges to faith, such as in the collection of essays he prepared as a reply to Don Cupitt's work on The Myth of God Incarnate, which were published less than six months later under the title The Truth of God Incarnate. In that analysis Green and his colleagues addressed the problems of myth and history as propounded in modern biblical scholarship, especially concerning the relationship between the events of Jesus' ministry and teaching and the doctrine of the Incarnation.

One of Green's more recent works, The Books the Church Suppressed: Fiction and Truth in The Da Vinci Code, is an argument for orthodox Christianity against Gnosticism as presented in The Da Vinci Code. Green here linked Gnosticism with a decline in society. He also claimed that Gnosticism leads to a decline in morality, so that by ordaining a homosexual bishop the Episcopal Church of the United States has itself shown Gnostic tendencies.[citation needed] He considered aspects of apologetic methodology and strategy in his co-authored work with Alister McGrath.

Aside from his apologetic writings, Green also addressed issues of discipleship in the Christian life, ministry and leadership in the church, the doctrine of baptism, pneumatology (study of the Holy Spirit) and demonology. He also wrote non-technical commentaries on certain books of the New Testament. In 2 Peter Reconsidered he provided a solid exegesis and defended the authenticity of the book; through his interpretation he also showed his Arminianism.[7]

Adventure of Faith is his spiritual autobiography.

Works

Books

Edited by

Chapters

Autobiography

References

Citations

  1. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4
    .
  2. ^ "Obituary: Canon Michael Green". Church Times online. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. ^ "News - Michael Green 1930-2019". Wycliffe Hall. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  4. ^ Randle Manwaring From Controversy to Co-Existence: Evangelicals in the Church of England 1914–1980 (Cambridge: CUP, 2002) 58
  5. ^ "Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p522: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948
  6. ^ Fearon, Matthew (7 February 2019). "Michael Green (1930-2019): Remembering the infectious joy of this exceptional evangelist". Premier Christianity. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  7. ^ Evans 2016, p. 553.

Sources

Evans, John F. (2016). A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works: 10th Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

External links

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