More Than One Way: How to Talk About Jesus in a Pluralistic Culture

by Paul Louis Metzger

What does Christian witness look like in a post-Christian society? It is more important than ever to preach the Word, but it is also important that we learn to dialogue with people from diverse perspectives. This book is intended to equip evangelical Christians for meaningful discussions with people of other beliefs. 
 
Drawing from his many interactions with those from other religious traditions--including regular talks at a Buddhist temple in Portland and addresses before groups like the Unitarian Universalists--author Paul Louis Metzger guides readers into winsome and thoughtful conversations engaging the various kinds of people they cross paths with every day. Yet this book is not meant simply to equip, but also to challenge. Metzger believes Christian witness has tended toward monologue or a desire to win arguments rather than seek after true engagement. Amid a culture increasingly perplexed by or hostile to the faith, Christians have too often made God look common rather than like the uncommon God revealed in Jesus Christ--the God who often discomfited religious people while extending fellowship to the broken, the marginalized, and outsiders. Through chapters on various spiritual traditions (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, etc.) and on how to handle "hot topics" that often come up when talking with people of different traditions (hell, religious pluralism, physicalism,  etc.) Metzger calls Christians to reevaluate what it means to be a witness of Jesus in light of the Bible and how the first century church lived for Jesus in a similarly hostile setting.

240 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2011

About the author

Integrating theology and spirituality with cultural sensitivity is at the center of Dr. Metzger's vision and vocation. Dr. Metzger is Professor of Christian Theology and Theology of Culture at Multnomah Biblical Seminary of Multnomah University where he also directs The Institute for the Theology of Culture: New Wine, New Wineskins. He has been active in intercultural work in the States, Japan, and England.

Dr. Metzger is the author of Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths (Thomas Nelson, 2012); New Wine Tastings: Theological Essays of Cultural Engagement (Cascade, 2011); The Gospel of John: When Love Comes to Town (InterVarsity Press, 2010); Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction (co-authored with Brad Harper; Brazos, 2009); Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church (Eerdmans, 2007); and The Word of Christ and the World of Culture: Sacred and Secular through the Theology of Karl Barth (Eerdmans, 2003). He is co-editor of A World for All?: Global Civil Society in Political Theory and Trinitarian Theology (co-edited with William F. Storrar and Peter J. Casarella; Eerdmans, 2011); editor of Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology (T&T Clark International, 2005), and editor of Cultural Encounters: a Journal for the Theology of Culture. Dr. Metzger is a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey, and has developed a strategic ministry partnership with Dr. John M. Perkins titled, "Drum Majors for Love, Truth and Justice.". He is married with two children. Dr. Metzger has a keen interest in the art of Katsushika Hokusai and Georges Rouault and in the writings of John Steinbeck.