Michael Green

Early life, education and ministry

Green's mother was Australian and his father was Welsh. He became a committed Christian through the Iwerne camps ministry of E. J. H. Nash (known as "Bash"). He was educated at Clifton College and Exeter College, Oxford (Bachelor of Arts 1953, Master of Arts 1956) and subsequently at Queens' College, Cambridge (Bachelor of Arts 1957, Master of Arts 1961, Bachelor of Divinity 1966) while preparing for ordained ministry at Ridley Hall. He was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Archbishop of Canterbury (1996) and the University of Toronto (1992). He was ordained deacon in 1957 and priest in 1958.

Green was an assistant curate of Holy Trinity, Eastbourne (1957–60), a tutor at the London College of Divinity (1960–69), Principal of St John's College, Nottingham (1969–75) and Rector of St Aldate's Church, Oxford and chaplain of the Oxford Pastorate (1975–86). He had additionally been an honorary canon of Coventry Cathedral from 1970 to 1978. He then moved to Canada where he was Professor of Evangelism at Regent College, Vancouver from 1987 to 1992. He returned to England to take up the position of advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York for the Springboard Decade of Evangelism. In 1993 he was appointed one of the Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral. Despite having officially retired in 1996, he became a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Evangelism and Apologetics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford in 1997. He lived in the town of Abingdon near Oxford.

Green was married to Rosemary for 61 years, and they had four children: Tim, Sarah, Jenny, and Jonathan.

Apologetics and evangelism

Green was a prolific writer, with much of his work written for a popular reading audience, although he also contributed to academic studies. Many of his best known books discuss the twin topics of evangelism and apologetics.

One of Green's objectives was to equip lay Christian believers in their grasp of the gospel message and to then have confidence to converse with others about faith matters. These practical objectives are clear in books such as Evangelism, Now and Then and Sharing Your Faith With Friends and Family. At a technical level Green contributed an academic study of the praxis and theory of evangelism in Evangelism in the Early Church. This work explores the development of evangelism through the New Testament texts and from the early Church Fathers. He built on those foundational studies in his advocacy of evangelism at a parish church level, both through his personal ministry and in his book Evangelism Through the Local Church.

Green's apologetic work generally focussed on popular misconceptions and objections held by non-Christians. In books such as You Must Be Joking, World on the Run and Why Bother With Jesus, he dealt with attitudes of religious indifference and scepticism. He also addressed a variety of objections concerning religious hypocrisy and religious pluralism as well as popular questions of doubt and unbelief. He also examined the evidences for the life, death and resurrection of Christ in Man Alive and again in the revision of that book, The Day Death Died.

Green also explored academic challenges to faith, such as in the collection of essays he prepared as a reply to Don Cupitt's work on The Myth of God Incarnate, which were published less than six months later under the title The Truth of God Incarnate. In that analysis Green and his colleagues addressed the problems of myth and history as propounded in modern biblical scholarship, especially concerning the relationship between the events of Jesus' ministry and teaching and the doctrine of the Incarnation.

One of Green's more recent works, The Books the Church Suppressed: Fiction and Truth in The Da Vinci Code, is an argument for orthodox Christianity against Gnosticism as presented in The Da Vinci Code. Green here linked Gnosticism with a decline in society. He also claimed that Gnosticism leads to a decline in morality, so that by ordaining a homosexual bishop the Episcopal Church of the United States has itself shown Gnostic tendencies. He considered aspects of apologetic methodology and strategy in his co-authored work with Alister McGrath.

Works

Books

Green, Michael (1964). Called to Serve: ministry and ministers in the church. Christian Foundations. Vol. 4. London: Hodder & Stoughton. OCLC 560313475.

——— (1967). Man Alive. Pocket books. Leicester: Inter-Varsity. ISBN 9780851103396. OCLC 12173522.

——— (1968). Runaway World. London: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 9780877846888. OCLC 560313524.

——— (1968). 2 Peter Reconsidered. The Tyndale New Testament Lecture, 1960. London: Tyndale Press. ISBN 0851110207.

——— (1970). Evangelism in the Early Church. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340107072. OCLC 103058.

——— (1973). New Life, New Lifestyle. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340355121. OCLC 779105434.

——— (1975). I Believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe ... Vol. 1. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340177679. OCLC 2830638.

——— (1976). You Must Be Joking: Popular Excuses for Avoiding Jesus Christ. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340211267. OCLC 3984467.

——— (1979). Evangelism, now and then. London: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 9780851104096. OCLC 16498844.

——— (1979). Why Bother With Jesus?. Hodder Christian paperbacks. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340240083. OCLC 8099124.

———; Holloway, David; Watson, David C. K. (1980). Church and Homosexuality: a positive answer to current questions. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340254837. OCLC 59143579.

——— (1981). I Believe in Satan's Downfall. I believe ... London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340265680. OCLC 16562413.

Edited by

———, ed. (1977). The Truth of God Incarnate. Hodder Christian paperbacks. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340225752. OCLC 925338799. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1977 ISBN 9780802817266 OLCC 3292512

Chapters

——— (1977). "Jesus in the New Testament". In ——— (ed.). The Truth of God Incarnate. Hodder Christian paperbacks. London: Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 36–42. ISBN 9780340225752. OCLC 925338799.

——— (1977). "Jesus and historical scepticism". In ——— (ed.). The Truth of God Incarnate. Hodder Christian paperbacks. London: Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 115–. ISBN 9780340225752. OCLC 925338799.

Autobiography

Adventure of Faith: Reflections on 50 Years of Christian Service, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2001 ISBN 0-00-710542-8