John Stott

==Influence==
Stott has had considerable influence in evangelicalism. In a November 2004 editorial on Stott, the ''[[New York Times]]'' columnist [[David Brooks (journalist)|David Brooks]] cited [[Michael Cromartie]] of the [[Ethics and Public Policy Center]] as saying that "if evangelicals could elect a pope, Stott is the person they would likely choose".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/opinion/30brooks.html |url-access=limited |title=Who Is John Stott? |work=The New York Times | access-date=31 January 2013| first=David| last=Brooks| author-link=David Brooks (cultural commentator)| date=30 November 2004}}</ref>

===Writing===
He wrote over 50 books, some of which appear only in Chinese, Korean, or Spanish, as well as many articles and papers.

One of these is ''Basic Christianity'',{{sfn|Stott|1958}} a book which seeks to explain the message of Christianity, and convince its readers of its truth and importance.

''The Preacher's Portrait: Some New Testament Word Studies'', published in 1961,{{sfn|Stott|1961}} it was an important reference for clergy.

He was also the author of ''The Cross of Christ'' ({{ISBN|0-87784-998-6}}), of which [[J. I. Packer]] stated, "No other treatment of this supreme subject says so much so truly and so well."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Justin |title=John R. W. Stott (1921-2011) |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/john-r-w-stott-1921-2011/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=The Gospel Coalition |date=27 July 2011 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Other books he wrote include ''Essentials: A Liberal–Evangelical Dialogue'', a dialogue with the liberal cleric and theologian [[David L. Edwards]],{{sfnm |1a1=Edwards |1a2=Stott |1y=1988 |2a1=Stott |2y=2014 |2p=48}} over whether what evangelicals hold as essential should be seen as such.  In 2005, he produced ''Evangelical Truth'', which summarises what he perceives as being the central claims of Christianity, essential for evangelicalism.

Upon his formal retirement from public engagements, he continued to engage in regular writing until his death. In 2008, he produced ''The Anglican Evangelical Doctrine of Infant Baptism'' with [[J. Alec Motyer]].{{sfn|Stott|Motyer|2008}}

An introduction to his thought can be found in his two final substantial publications, which act as a summation of his thinking. Both were published by the publishing house with which he had a lifelong association, [[Inter-Varsity Press|IVP]].
* In 2007, his reflections on the life of the church: ''The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor''.
* In January 2010, at the age of 88, he saw the launch of what would be his final book: ''The Radical Disciple''.  It concludes with a poignant farewell and appeal for his legacy to be continued through the work of the Langham Partnership International.

===Anglican evangelicalism===
Stott's [[churchmanship]] fell within the [[Conservative evangelicalism in the United Kingdom|conservative evangelical wing of the Church of England]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Andrews |first1=Stephen |title=John Stott and Anglican Evangelicalism |url=https://www.wycliffecollege.ca/blog/john-stott-and-anglican-evangelicalism |website=Wycliffe College |access-date=7 June 2021 |date=24 April 2021 |quote=John Stott's own convictions clearly fell within the compass of conservative evangelicalism, [...] which he claimed was "bible Christianity," and in the mainstream of historic, orthodox, and Reformed belief. He sought to redeem both the perceptions and place of conservative evangelicals in the Church.}}</ref> He played a key role as a leader of evangelicalism within the Church of England, and was regarded as instrumental in persuading evangelicals to play an active role in the Church of England rather than leaving for exclusively evangelical denominations. There were two major events where he played a key role in this regard.

He was chairing the National Assembly of Evangelicals in 1966, a convention organised by the [[Evangelical Alliance]], when [[Martyn Lloyd-Jones]] made an unexpected call for evangelicals to unite as evangelicals and no longer stay within their "mixed" denominations.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=76}} This view was motivated by a belief that true Christian fellowship requires evangelical views on central topics such as the atonement and the inspiration of Scripture. Lloyd-Jones was a key figure to many in the [[free church]]es, and evangelical Anglicans regarded Stott similarly. The two leaders publicly disagreed, as Stott, though not scheduled as a speaker that evening,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Steer |first1=Roger |title=Church on Fire: Story of Anglican Evangelicals |date=21 May 1998 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton Ltd |isbn=978-0340641934 }}</ref> used his role as chairman to refute Lloyd-Jones, saying that his opinion went against history and the Bible.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=76}} The following year saw the first [[National Evangelical Anglican Congress]], which was held at [[Keele University]].{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=76}} At this conference, largely due to Stott's influence, evangelical Anglicans committed themselves to full participation in the Church of England, rejecting the separationist approach proposed by Lloyd-Jones.<ref>
{{cite news
|last = Cook
|first = Paul E.&nbsp;G.
|date = February 2007
|url = http://www.evangelical-times.org/archive/item/2166/Historical/Evangelicalism-in-the-UK/
|title = Evangelicalism in the UK
|work = Evangelical Times
|access-date = 14 January 2018
}}</ref>

These two conferences effectively fixed the direction of a large part of the British evangelical community. Although there is an ongoing debate as to the exact nature of Lloyd-Jones's views, they undoubtedly caused the two groupings to adopt diametrically opposed positions. These positions, and the resulting split, continue largely unchanged to this day.<ref>{{cite news
 |last         = Gibson
 |first        = Alan
 |date         = October 1996
 |url          = http://www.e-n.org.uk/217-Thirty-years-of-hurt.htm
 |title        = Thirty Years of Hurt?
 |work         = Evangelicals Now
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080926082215/http://www.e-n.org.uk/217-Thirty-years-of-hurt.htm
 |archive-date = 26 September 2008
 |access-date  = 14 January 2018
 |url-status     = live
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref>

===Honours===
Stott was appointed a [[Ecclesiastical Household|Chaplain]] to [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] in 1959<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41751|page=4169|date=26 June 1959}}</ref> and, on his retirement in 1991, an Extra Chaplain.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=52532|page=7437|date=14 May 1991}}</ref> He was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[New Year Honours 2006]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=57855 |supp=y |page=9|date=31 December 2005}}</ref>  He received a [[Lambeth degrees|Lambeth]] [[Doctor of Divinity|Doctorate of Divinity]] in 1983,{{sfn|Greenman|2007|p=246}}<ref name="The Times">{{cite news |date=29 July 2011 |title=The Rev John Stott |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-rev-john-stott-23j3mkjdfr3 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Times |location=London |access-date=20 January 2018}}</ref> as well as five honorary degrees, including doctorates from [[Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]] (1971), [[Wycliffe College, Toronto]] (1993), and [[Brunel University]] (1997).<ref name="The Times"/>

===Annihilationism===
Stott tentatively held to [[annihilationism]], which is the view that the final state of the unsaved, known as hell, is death and destruction,{{sfn|Edwards|Stott|1988}} rather than everlasting conscious torment.<ref>{{citation |title=Third Anglican Homily: On the Salvation of Mankind by only Christ our Savior from sin and death everlasting.| url= http://anglicanlibrary.org/homilies/bk1hom03.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229001002/http://www.anglicanlibrary.org/homilies/bk1hom03.htm |url-status=live|archive-date= 29 December 2018}}</ref>  Stott said that: "the ultimate annihilation of the wicked should at least be accepted as a legitimate, biblically founded alternative to their eternal conscious torment."<ref>{{cite book |year=1987 |title=The Proceedings of the Conference on Biblical Inerrancy 1987 |location=Nashville, Tennessee |publisher=Broadman |page=106}} Quoted in {{harvnb|Pinnock|1996|p=162}}.</ref> This led to a heated debate within mainstream evangelical Christianity: some writers criticised Stott in very strong terms while others supported his views.{{sfn|Dudley-Smith|2001|p=353}}

===Anti-Zionism===
{{further|Anti-Zionism}} Stott stated his firm opposition to [[Zionism]]: "[[Political Zionism]] and [[Christian Zionism]] are anathema to Christian faith ... The true Israel today is neither Jews nor Israelis, but believers in the Messiah, even if they are Gentiles ..."{{sfn|Wagner|1995|pp=80–84}}