Christianity's Surprise: A Sure and Certain Hope

nAt its beginning Christianity was surprising, powerful, creative, world-shaking. nToday in the West it is many times familiar, common, and nexpected, losing its power to surprise and transform. We have developed nsocietal amnesia and ignorance of what Christianity originally was - and nwhat it still can be. We need to recover the surprise of Christianity. We nneed to ask the same fundamental questions as the early Christians, which nwill help us rediscover the surprising power of Christianity in our midst. nFocusing on the surprise of the gospel message takes us into the heart of nwhat it is to understand Christianity at all, and thus what it is to remember nand relearn the life-giving power and witness that went with being Christian nat the beginning. This remembering and relearning can, in turn, surprise us nall over again and chart a course for our witness today. nAt its beginning Christianity was surprising, powerful, creative, world-shaking. Today in the West it is many times familiar, common, and expected, losing its power to surprise and transform. We have developed societal amnesia and ignorance of what Christianity originally was - and what it still can be. We need to recover the surprise of Christianity. We need to ask the same fundamental questions as the early Christians, which will help us rediscover the surprising power of Christianity in our midst. Focusing on the surprise of the gospel message takes us into the heart of what it is to understand Christianity at all, and thus what it is to remember and relearn the life-giving power and witness that went with being Christian at the beginning. This remembering and relearning can, in turn, surprise us all over again and chart a course for our witness today. nAt its beginning Christianity was surprising, powerful, creative, world-shaking. Today in the West it is many times familiar, common, and expected, losing its power to surprise and transform. We have developed societal amnesia and ignorance of what Christianity originally was - and what it still can be. We need to recover the surprise of Christianity. We need to ask the same fundamental questions as the early Christians, which will help us rediscover the surprising power of Christianity in our midst. Focusing on the surprise of the gospel message takes us into the heart of what it is to understand Christianity at all, and thus what it is to remember and relearn the life-giving power and witness that went with be