John Stott to Retire in July

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All Souls Church recently announced that John Stott will be retiring from public ministry after a final speaking engagement at the Keswick Convention this coming July. Stott was featured in the “2005 Time 100”. In 2004, New York Times columnist David Brooks (author of, among other things, Bobos in Paradise, a book that I highly recommend) wrote that if evangelicals were to chose a ‘pope’, Stott would be the likely choice. Christianity Today has a nice write-up about this.

I have always held a very high opinion of Stott, and it is a testimony to the high regard in which the whole of the evangelical world holds him that he could declare himself in favor of annihilationism and not be summarily ostracized. Stott’s many years of faithful churchmanship are a stark reminder of how seldom such a thing is seen these days. Stott goes into retirement with my best wishes and my deep respect.

If you would like to dip into Stott’s thought, try his Christian Basics. It is a very useful tool for educating new Christians or teenagers in what it means to live life as a follower of Jesus Christ.

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