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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rethinking the "isms" would be better.,
By
This review is from: Ancient-future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Paperback)
I really hope that a lot of people read this book. The author makes that enlightened connection between the people who follow Jesus and those that don't (yet)follow Jesus Christ, which smacks of spiritual inspiration. What he says for asll Christians living in the 21st Century is really the same as Billy Grahams reply when he was told that he had put the church back 100 years. Graham replied that it was his intentionm to put the church back 2000 years!Ancient-Future faith connects those 2 title words, bringing the future of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ back to its roots so that it becomes thta attractive , living entity that God intended it to be. It has not always been so attractive, and this nbook makes no claim to lie and cover up what post-modern thinkers have relentlessly attacked, ie the failure of the church to practise what it preached! Strangely, the author doesn't make much concession towards those who tried to revise history in the name of post-modern thought. I guess what he does is a better thing, top avaid those arguments as they are futile when truth has been twisted to suit a post-modern framework of thought. Rather, he shows that the failures of the church in history and into the present are as a result of leaving the ancient faith of the New Testament. this is explained as a faith that held all the aspects of Christs work together in one unity, a unity that has been broken in history. Those aspects are not only the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit and individual faith in Jesus as saviour and Lord, but also the redeemed aspects of creation through Christs work on the cross. Yes, even creation is being redeemed, and now post-modern people have become concerned about those things that an authoritarian church left unsaid (eg environmental issues and the theology of God healing the environment through Christs work too) we need , as Christians, to rediscover it. Happily , it is shown here that it ios not so hard, as the ancient fore-fathers of the church had all this in their understanding. It was when church structuires resembled those of the governments of the world that things went pear shaped, and people were put off the church because they thought that God had nothing to say about the environment for example. Those people were attracted to Buddhism, it seems, as they thought that Jesus was a terrible environmentalist! The Creation is only one of the ancient faith issues that the author wants to rediscover, others would be community and healing. All very exciting stuff, hitting the nail on the head and potentially earth-shattering! My only niggle is the language he uses which suggests he is not a "post-modern insider". Post modern thought says their are no "isms", so why id the (meaningless) word "evangelicalism" in the sub-title?!
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Modern or Postmodern?,
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This review is from: Ancient-future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Paperback)
This book was written for American evangelicals; I found it rather disappointing. Webber argues that of the five 'paradigms' of church history (ancient, medieval, reformation, modern, postmodern) the ancient is of most relevance to the postmodern, though his argument for this doesn't convince me.He then offers a primer on Christ (focusing on Christus Victor), church, worship, spirituality & authority. It's a good summary for anyone who is interested in a reable introduction to some of the key areas of systematic theology but despite Webber's constant references to postmodernity, I found the approach to be disappointingly modernist in many ways (his emphasis on a knowable metanarrative, for instance). I suspect that the book has much to say to Webber's constituency but it doesn't add a great deal to 'emerging evangelism and apologetics' - Brian McLaren ("The Story We Find Ourselves In") is much better here. Richard Seel.
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4.2 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews) 41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly relevant and insightful,
By David Bennett - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ancient-future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Paperback)
I found this book exciting and easy to read. The reason is that Webber connects the ethic and doctrine of the ancient Church to the postmodern world. The situations are quite similar. Webber, a conservative Baptist turned evangelical Episcopalian, argues that the history of the Church consists of different paradigms. Each paradigm is a different expression of the faith, relevant for the time, but inadequate for later generations. Thus, while reformation theology of Sola Scriptura was necessary to counteract the excesses of the later Middle Ages, for the postmodern (and for the early) Church it doesn't work very well (it has led to 1000s of denominations). Webber has some very helpful tables comparing beliefs of different paradigms.Webber correctly observes that postmodern people are more diverse, less concerned about minor doctrinal differences, and more symbolic. This coincides with new scientific theories that posit a dynamic, non-Newtonian universe. So how can we find authority and meaning? The answer is classical Christianity. Enlightenment rationalism doesn't work anymore, as relativity destroys any idea of objectivity, so theology must be done in the context of the Christian community, the Church, as it was in early Christianity. The Church provides the interpretive authority of the Bible through the creeds. However, this authority is broad, and is something that Catholics, Orthodox, and (most) Protestants share in common (see Vincent of Lerins' canon). As in the early Church, Jesus is the ultimate focal point of the Church, and apostolic tradition and the Bible point to him. Webber makes use of the "Christus Victor" model of the Atonement. This is the predominant theory of the Atonement expounded by the early Church. This theory says that Jesus, in his Incarnation, death, resurrection, and teachings, conquered evil. It is holistic, rather than narrowing down "when" Christ saved us, such as at the Crucifixion. Thus there is room for unity and mystery in the doctrine, just as in the early Church. Ultimately, as Modernity dies, Webber advocates a return to the early church of the Fathers. Thus the Church needs to be less individualistic, unified by the creeds, symbolic, sacramental, and arts oriented. However, Webber doesn't want postmodern values to *shape* the Church (e.g. when the Church is a business or side-show), but rather that the Church must be able to convey its basic truth in the postmodern world. Webber is simply advocating what many are already doing: rediscovering the riches of ancient Christianity, dismissed by many enlightenment-era Christians as "outdated" (liberals), or "irrelevant to faith" (fundamentalists). The era of Classical Christianity, when major doctrines were shaped, ethics were worked out, and the canon closed, is neither outdated nor irrelevant. 22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book was a just what I needed,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ancient-future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Paperback)
This book provided for me an important Schaefferian Hayloft experience. I have been doing some heavy rethinking about my beloved evangelicalism and it has proved, in its contemporary manifestation, to be quite insufficient in answering some of my deeper questions and longings about the nature of God, His creation and our humanity. This book has helped answer these bigger questions and shown me that in thinking about them, I am not moving away from orthodoxy, but in fact, toward it in a grand way. That has given me a significant sense of hope and encouragement. Many thanks to the author for a wonderful book. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well Done Book, yet...,
By J. Ruehs - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ancient-future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Paperback)
I enjoyed Robert Webber's book and have enjoyed hearing him speak as well. At a recent speaking engagement he echoed my own concern over the "fate" of the church in America. So much "commodification" has happened in the church that one wonders if anyone knows what it truly means to be "ecclesia"? Although I agree with much of what he says and am part of a liturgical church (The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod which utilizes the church calendar and has had a strong emphasis on liturgy - - - the church body which Webber received his doctorate from), my question is are we truly called to "change" the church in order to meet the people where they are at?I agree with his assessments yet I question the reasonings behind doing it. Do we begin to emphasize certain things to the demise of others, just because the culture would be more "prone" to come to the church? Or does the church remain faithful to its calling despite the changing tides of culture? Our self-centered culture always asks the question "What does this mean for me?", and this has been a active question in the church for sometime. I believe the question that we should be asking is how does God give meaning to me, or what do I mean to God? Our focus needs to be off of ourselves and onto the Lord of the cosmos. |
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