Argumentative, belittling, name-calling, these are only a few words that describe the modern situation in the church between liberals and conservatives. Church councils and sessions are battling alike on issues of human sexuality, Scripture, mission, and the church's posture toward the world. Ken Howard, in his new book entitled Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community Beyond Us and Them has been through the same experience of infighting and frustration. Yet, he seeks to provide a way for both liberal and conservative alike to live under the love of Christ and seek one another's good. What I appreciate about this book is Ken's humble witness that the love of Christ compels us to not only stop our ridiculous behavior towards those who have different opinions than us, but that we might learn a lot from our brothers and sisters on the other side of the fence.
He starts out the book with a discussion of paradigms. "Paradigms are the conceptual models we've developed to explain and predict how reality works. They provide a framework within which we can organize and integrate new experiences and observations" (5). Yet, as Howard goes on to indicate, paradigms are provisional in nature, they are not meant to be wholly unchanging. When new thoughts and truths emerge, we generally either buckle down more tightly to our paradigms or in some cases cast off entirely our old paradigm for an alternative. Yet, in the church as for theology, we need paradigms to help us wade through the waters of doctrine, practice, and the connection between them. Howard goes onto to make the case that three paradigms in particular are being lost in our present day situation: Christendom, Foundationalism, and Religion (9-10).
The next chapter on Christendom is insightful to the degree that it captures the modern day situation of church life in North America. "Christianity is no longer the answer that most people seek, even those who remember the question" (23). Coming out of the dawning of the age of Constatine, Christianity was regarded as a powerful movement that kept uniformity with doctrine and practice as its goal. The mentality of Us v. Them became part of the fixture of people's thoughts that encompassed their views on war, tradition, and certainty of belief. (18). Yet, today we find that not only are people put off by Christianity but they might not have a vague clue as to what Christianity is. This development lead to a knee jerk reaction back to traditionalism (preserving the power through retaining what is old), drawing markers in beliefs (us v. them), seeking rest in certainty. For liberals, it meant a relevance in liturgical language and a focus on making the faith pallatable for the culture.
The next chapter on Foundationalism is based upon the argument that truth cannot be wholly aligned to one side or the other. Conservatives often lead with the idea that right doctrine leads to a full grasp of the nature of truth related to the Bible and faith, whereas liberals say doctrine is important but secondary to the human experience of the divine (34). Part of the application that I took from this chapter was that focusing on doctrinal purity to the detriment of the spiritual experience of faith can lead to a paradigmatic pride and in turn to great sin and danger. Our theology must be in constact interaction with new truth and new experiences that shape our understanding.
One of my favorite parts of the book was Howard's insistence that the early church in the NT Scriptures were not bound by doctrine or practice but by the love of Christ. "Rather, they found unity in the love of Christ they experienced when they gathered for worship and fellowship, and their trust that this love could hold them together..." (88). What bound these believers together was Christ, even in the midst of their great diversity. What could be a better center for relationship than knowing and believing that Christ is the center of all things.
I thought that the format of the book was done wonderfully with regards for church study and small group study. Many of the questions were very good in that they helped you see your own paradigm understanding and what your church thought more clearly.
The only criticisms I had for the book are two fold. Coming from a conservative theological bent, I was hoping for a more broad understanding of doctrine from the conservative side. Doctrines for conservative believers are not mere wooden propositions but provide both subjective and objective factors that propel belief into action. The subjective lens in Christian doctrine stems from the divine activity of revelation. We could not be compelled to love our enemies nor our neighbors were it not first for God sending his Son into the world (including his life, death, resurrection and ascension). Although many conservative still see doctrine as a means of a measuring rod for orthodoxy, a more robust understanding of doctrine should free us up to love those whom we meet because of the initial divine activity and not barricade those from coming into fellowship.
Lastly, I was hoping for a more nuanced discussion of the effects of sin not only on our knowing, but in the way we treat others who have different opinions. In order to allow the love of Christ to pervade our entire lives, we sometimes need to a take a deep look at the way injustice and ungodliness have affected our own hearts. Christian community is a fellowship based upon the radical forgiveness of the love of God in Christ, to fail to show that forgiveness towards our fellow believers is living as if Jesus never came to Earth.
I really enjoyed this book! It defintely opened my eyes towards my own paradigm and the need for humility in relating to others. Thanks to Paraclete Press for the review copy.
He starts out the book with a discussion of paradigms. "Paradigms are the conceptual models we've developed to explain and predict how reality works. They provide a framework within which we can organize and integrate new experiences and observations" (5). Yet, as Howard goes on to indicate, paradigms are provisional in nature, they are not meant to be wholly unchanging. When new thoughts and truths emerge, we generally either buckle down more tightly to our paradigms or in some cases cast off entirely our old paradigm for an alternative. Yet, in the church as for theology, we need paradigms to help us wade through the waters of doctrine, practice, and the connection between them. Howard goes onto to make the case that three paradigms in particular are being lost in our present day situation: Christendom, Foundationalism, and Religion (9-10).
The next chapter on Christendom is insightful to the degree that it captures the modern day situation of church life in North America. "Christianity is no longer the answer that most people seek, even those who remember the question" (23). Coming out of the dawning of the age of Constatine, Christianity was regarded as a powerful movement that kept uniformity with doctrine and practice as its goal. The mentality of Us v. Them became part of the fixture of people's thoughts that encompassed their views on war, tradition, and certainty of belief. (18). Yet, today we find that not only are people put off by Christianity but they might not have a vague clue as to what Christianity is. This development lead to a knee jerk reaction back to traditionalism (preserving the power through retaining what is old), drawing markers in beliefs (us v. them), seeking rest in certainty. For liberals, it meant a relevance in liturgical language and a focus on making the faith pallatable for the culture.
The next chapter on Foundationalism is based upon the argument that truth cannot be wholly aligned to one side or the other. Conservatives often lead with the idea that right doctrine leads to a full grasp of the nature of truth related to the Bible and faith, whereas liberals say doctrine is important but secondary to the human experience of the divine (34). Part of the application that I took from this chapter was that focusing on doctrinal purity to the detriment of the spiritual experience of faith can lead to a paradigmatic pride and in turn to great sin and danger. Our theology must be in constact interaction with new truth and new experiences that shape our understanding.
One of my favorite parts of the book was Howard's insistence that the early church in the NT Scriptures were not bound by doctrine or practice but by the love of Christ. "Rather, they found unity in the love of Christ they experienced when they gathered for worship and fellowship, and their trust that this love could hold them together..." (88). What bound these believers together was Christ, even in the midst of their great diversity. What could be a better center for relationship than knowing and believing that Christ is the center of all things.
I thought that the format of the book was done wonderfully with regards for church study and small group study. Many of the questions were very good in that they helped you see your own paradigm understanding and what your church thought more clearly.
The only criticisms I had for the book are two fold. Coming from a conservative theological bent, I was hoping for a more broad understanding of doctrine from the conservative side. Doctrines for conservative believers are not mere wooden propositions but provide both subjective and objective factors that propel belief into action. The subjective lens in Christian doctrine stems from the divine activity of revelation. We could not be compelled to love our enemies nor our neighbors were it not first for God sending his Son into the world (including his life, death, resurrection and ascension). Although many conservative still see doctrine as a means of a measuring rod for orthodoxy, a more robust understanding of doctrine should free us up to love those whom we meet because of the initial divine activity and not barricade those from coming into fellowship.
Lastly, I was hoping for a more nuanced discussion of the effects of sin not only on our knowing, but in the way we treat others who have different opinions. In order to allow the love of Christ to pervade our entire lives, we sometimes need to a take a deep look at the way injustice and ungodliness have affected our own hearts. Christian community is a fellowship based upon the radical forgiveness of the love of God in Christ, to fail to show that forgiveness towards our fellow believers is living as if Jesus never came to Earth.
I really enjoyed this book! It defintely opened my eyes towards my own paradigm and the need for humility in relating to others. Thanks to Paraclete Press for the review copy.
Dear Dean,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this thoughtful review.
I certainly appreciate your two criticisms.
As I may actually have a more nuanced understanding of the conservative commitment to doctrine as a clarifying and impelling force than you realize. As a person who came to faith in Christ from Judaism, the Truth of Jesus' claims, and the claims that the Truth can make on me, are very important. Belief matters. And my own are well within the bounds of the Ecumenical Creeds. Interestingly, I received similar critiques from liberals wishing for a more nuanced assessment of liberal Christianity. In such undertakings as this, one is forced to identify themes and simplify them to some degree in order compare and contrast them. Oversimplification is an ever-present danger, and not always avoided, even when actual nuance is deeply appreciated.
As to sin, well, let's just say that on the one hand I quite agree your assessment of its pervasive effect on humanity, both individual and corporate. On the other hand, it is one of those loaded words, that carries so much cultural and emotional baggage that I restrain my use of it as a single word in favor of describing the pervasive and degrading influence of humanity's "inability to hit God's target."
Again, I appreciate both your thoughtfulness and your thoroughness of your appraisal of my book. And I look forward to further conversation.
Your brother in the love of Christ.
Ken+