An Uncertain Certainty: Snapshots in a Journey from 'Either-Or' to 'Both-And' in Christian Ministry

by Graham Buxton

Many people in Christian ministry are tired of simplistic certainties; what they need is permission to live with uncertainty, with mystery, ambiguity, and paradox. Because we live in a world that is far removed from the modernist version of reality,with its rational, clinical, and superficial presentation of life, we need the courage and wisdom to embrace the presence of uncertainties in the midst of certainty. In this book, the author offers snapshots of a number of central Christian topics-God, the gospel, the church, salvation, ministry-inviting us to treat them as features of a landscape to explore rather than a set of propositional statements to sign up to. Each chapter-short enough to provoke interest and curiosity-will be a catalyst for deeper reflection and enquiry, inviting us to discover a new freedom in ministry as we embrace a more generous both-and perspective in place of a more narrow either-or interpretation of the Christian faith. In the process, we may find ourselves rediscovering the Life we have lost in living as we imaginatively participate in the life, ministry, and mystery of the triune God of grace in our midst.

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 26, 2015

About the author

Rev Dr Graham Buxton is an ordained Anglican with extensive pastoral experience in both the UK and Australia. Prior to ordination, he was a lay pastor in an Anglican church in the north of England, following earlier careers as a marketing executive in the oil industry, and a lecturer in a university business school. He emigrated to Australia in 1991 with his wife and three children to take up a teaching position at Tabor Adelaide, where he was instrumental in developing the postgraduate program at the School of Ministry, Theology and Culture.

At Tabor he was Director of Research Development, and also served as the Director of the Graeme Clark Research Institute, an initiative established at the college to conduct, facilitate and promote research and development in the broad context of Christian service to the community. Now 'retired', he writes and teaches occasionally in the areas of practical theology, pastoral ministry and the science-theology interface. Graham is a Visiting Fellow at St John’s College, Durham University in the UK, a Fellow of ISCAST (Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology) and has taught as a professor in the School of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in California, USA.