The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited

Short review: The central thesis of the book is that the church (and he is talking about the church universal, not just the Evangelical church) has made its focus on salvation not on the gospel. McKnight says that the gospel is about Jesus Christ as King and fulfiller of the story of Israel. The implication and result of Jesus is that we need to be saved, because that is part of the reason that Christ came. But McKnight contends that when we focus first on salvation, whether it is ‘justification by faith' or another salvation summary, we miss the priority of Christ. So we have to focus to create a ‘gospel culture' that is oriented on the Lordship of Christ. There are lots of implications to his reorienting.

I think he is generally right in his thesis. I am not completely bought into his orientation of I Cor 15 as the summary of the gospel, but I think the basic thesis is right.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/king-jesus-gospel/