Hospitality, Service, Proclamation

Author Tom Wilson
Publisher SCM £19.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780334057994

This is a good book to put into the hands of someone training for the ministry, or who missed out on interfaith ministry in their training. Coming from the evangelical end of the spectrum, Wilson, the director of an interfaith centre, explores how to balance hospitality, service and proclamation. There is a helpful overview of twelve different theologians, whom he classifies as exclusivist, inclusivist or pluralist and he discusses the attraction of each category. He then looks at ten passages from the Old and New Testaments, including Abram’s visitors, Ruth, Naaman, the good Samaritan, John 14.6, Paul in Athens and concludes there are ‘plenty of passages that reinforce the importance of proclamation of the Christian faith, but also a number that suggest the importance of offering hospitality to people of other faiths or none and of acts of selfless service.’ The book also has a helpful appendix suggesting books about seven of the faiths Christians in Britain might wish to engage with.

CLAIRE DISBREY

Interfaith, Mission