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Ancient & Postmodern Christianity: Paleo-Orthodoxy in the 21st Century--Essays In Honor of Thomas C. Oden

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I enjoyed this collection of essays, but I must admit I was dubious at first, since many collections such as this are so scholarly that even I, a scholar, get bored to tears. These essays are actually quite good, and written in honor of one of my favorite scholars and authors, Thomas Oden. Oden has written many books advocating a return to the ancient and historical faith when doing theology and ethics, instead of relying solely on modernist texts and values. This is what makes Oden ancient and Postmodern (i.e. beyond/after modernism) because he rejects many modernist assumptions and returns to ancient theology. However he does not return to a pre-modern worldview, but rather accepts much of modernism's science and progress. So it's not about "going back," but about bringing the ancient and catholic faith to one's own time period. The essays in this book generally all reflect such an outlook.

These essays do a good job of bringing the ancient faith to today's world. Christian postmodernism seems to be much different than cultural postmodernism. In some ways, Christian postmodernism is moving beyond the modernism of the Church with its individualism, hyper-rationalism, etc. In other words, now that modernism is effectively dead, many see a chance for the Church to return to its experience of the Jesus of Nicene orthodoxy and live its radical ethics without worrying about the latest secular scholarly paper on Jesus. Both conservative and liberal modernists will probably be equally outraged at many essays in this book, although the book has a more conservative bent, because the catholic faith consists of certain long-held beliefs.

My favorite essays are the ones about worship, including ones written by Robert Webber, Thomas Howard, and Joel Scandrett. Wolfhart Pannenberg's essay on the Resurrection is quite good, as is David Mills' essay on doctrine, although it sounds a bit too polemical at times for my tastes. Stanley Grenz and John Franke's essay on Tradition is quite enlightening, and is in some ways the most "postmodern" of all essays. Other essays are more scholarly, and while I have skimmed them, they have not intrigued me as much as the ones that relate more to how Christian doctrine affects Christian experience. The authors come from Anglican, Roman Catholic, United Methodist, and other traditions, making the views quite broad. Overall I enjoyed this book. As an Anglican, much of what I read makes sense, but for those in more traditionally evangelical churches the emphasis on Eucharist, sacraments, and Church authority might seem more revolutionary. Either way, this book does a good job of taking the ancient faith and applying it for today's world, although by the very nature of postmodernism, defining what "today's world" is will vary among readers.

Ancient & Postmodern Christianity: Paleo-Orthodoxy in the 21st Century is a collection of writers from various traditions within Christianity who are using Thomas Oden's theological method to rediscover aspects within the history of orthodoxy that have been neglected or over-played.

Postmodernity, in Oden's meaning, is simply that historical formation that will follow the era of modernity which Oden defines as the time span from 1789 to 1989, between the French Revolution and the collapse of communism. Modernity is now a worldview that is now disintegrating and will soon collapse, in Oden's view. Thus Oden states that whatever emerges after modernity can rightly be called postmodernity.

Contextualized in history, countless Christians have thought and reflected upon how the body of Christ may best understand the world in which we live so as to make disciples of Jesus Christ and continue to increasingly expand the kingdom of God upon the face of this planet. It is thought wise to reflect upon what our Christian predecessors had to say if for the only reason that one may see further standing atop the shoulders of another.

Today, amid the backdrop of a secularized cultural climate, there is strength gathering for two different camps within methodological circles. One is made up by so-called traditionalists, the other by "non-traditionalists." Both seek the will of our Lord in heaven. Although the lines often become fluid between the two camps making generalizations difficult, the traditionalists could be described as encompassing those life-long churchmen who adhere to perspectives contained within contemporary Christian traditions, while the non-traditionalists, as encompassing those who are in the process of reassessing those same traditions through the lenses of what Thomas Oden labels Classical Christianity-a movement now referred to as paleo-orthodoxy.

From proponents of both camps there exists a measure of skepticism upon members of the other. One camp rightly sees the danger of reassessing historical presumptions lest the historical tenants of the Christian faith become confused at best, or worse, lost altogether. The other camp, views the danger in not reassessing historical presumptions and allowing differences to continue to divide the body of Christ. One camp believes that it has guarded well the faith once received by the saints of old; the other camp is asking what is that faith? Amid the history of the human condition, the groundwork being lain right now could become a blessing or a curse upon the future of Christianity if this generation is to pass upon the next the faith once received.

This book represents the some of the fruits of the efforts by the "non-traditionalists" (the paleo-orthodox postmodern Christians) who have looked back into history to uncover what the ancient church has to say to us today. Throughout this effort there will be something in this book that everybody will dislike. Yet there will be much in this book that will challenge the reader as well as much the reader will love to hear.

I have begun to notice something of a trend among books on postmodernism by Evangelicals (with the exception of Stanley Grenz): they don't really engage postmodernism. Sure, they talk a little bit about relativism and how that is dangerous; they throw a few jabs at the Englightenment; they note the necessity of humility. However, they never really engage Foucault, Lyotard, Derrida, or Nietzsche.

This is a shame, too, because after reading the essays in this volume, you can tell that the early Church Fathers - and, if this volume is reflective of current Evangelical engagements with early Christianity, the Greek Fathers in particular - have been thoroughly engaged. The Evangelicals in this book have paid a lot of attention to the work of the Greek Fathers, noting the details, the depth and profundity of their work.

The books greatest strength is its essays on the Greek Fathers. From St. Maximus the Confessor to St. John Chrysostom, Evagrius of Ponticus to St. Clement, there are some really deep engagements with the early Church. In addition, there are also several essays on ecumenism which are, in the heart and mind of this reviewer, worth reading.

But, I again find myself wondering what is up with the whole "postmodern" thing that the title proclaims this book is about. I think it is this: there are a few essays in this book that deal with some various aspects of a general cultural shift that is called - fairly or unfairly - "postmodern." So, there is an essay about the Church as a community, and another essay about the importance of Tradition (by Stanley Grenz, which has already appeared in his book Beyond Foundationalism).

Of course, anyone who has studied postmodernism knows that community and tradition are really not a part of the postmodern program; rather, they are attacked by postmodernity. What I am guessing is that these essays were written to help indicate a solution to the problems of fragmentation of hyper-individualism. This does seem to be typical of some trends within Evangelicalism: to see postmodernity as a way of bringing out elements in the faith that have been long forgotten. The essay on the Eucharist being a postmodern "possibility" for Evangelicals is an expression of this trend.

Yet, "possibility" leaves quite a bit to be desired. Do Evangelicals see themselves needing to reinvent their faith to follow the changing of the culture? Or, do they see themselves as having a really solid rock upon which they can engage the culture? The idea of a eucharistic celebration within an Evangelical church is certainly interesting, but in the end it would be a complete overhaul of the faith. Is this overhaul being advocated because it is a turn towards deeper Truth or because it "makes sense" in a postmodern context? The latter option, from a theological perspective, is disturbing if it is the reason for such a suggestion.

This book has some great essays about the Greek Fathers and ecumenism. However, its engagement with postmodernism is weak at best, and on a rather shaky ground at that. If you come to this book thinking that it is going to be about postmodernism, you will be disappointed (assuming you know a thing or two about postmodernism). But, if you want some insights into the Greek Fathers and ecumenism, this is a fine place to start. Indeed, it is almost a gem.

I picked this up a few years ago and read most of it in the mountains of the Mojave Desert over the period of a day. I am not sure if the somewhat hermitic ambiance influenced my reading, but my notes in the margin were rather positive and useful, so it stimulated something in me. Now, reading it again in the `reading room' I feel even more amiable about it. You can use the "search inside" option to get a pretty good idea of what the topics are, so I will comment on just a few of my favorites of this volume, which seeks to show the commonalities that the various Christian traditions confess. While some of the topics seem to be drawn from an MDiv thesis (see Nassif's contribution!), most of it is very relevant (not that his wasn't to some degree) and cohesive to the theme of the editors, namely, essays that reflect Thomas Oden's own full circle in the course of his scholarly career, moving from extreme modernism to reclaiming the Tradition of the Fathers. I very much enjoyed this collection.

Jensen's opening, like everything he sets his mind upon, is very unique and insightful, showing how the somewhat (to westerners) obscure theologian, Maximus the Confessor, has it right concerning the fact that Who God is is inextricably bound to the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. We begin with this reality and work backwards and forwards from that point in the Virgin's womb and the Cross outside of the city wall, not from philosophical propositions.

Chapter six's comparison of Pentecostal and Eastern Orthodox theological anthropology is very useful as a bridge-building theme given the fact that the Pentecostal movement is growing worldwide and will undoubtedly encounter the East sooner than later.

David Mill's defense of dogma is nothing new, but a needed reminder for some modernists who think that they can move away from affirmative absolute statements concerning reality in general and religion in specific.

A few chapters (8-11) that were critical, in a reflective manner, of the "evangelical" movement in terms of worship, ecclesiology and sacramental practice/piety were worth the price of the book, for me. I could go on and on about them, but suffice it to say that the data bears it out that the upcoming evangelical leaders are burned out of the self-centered "praise" and "seeker services" with drums, pop music, an almost complete lack of sacramental power/grace/presence, an anemic theology that doesn't take seriously the incarnation or the reality of the Trinitarian nature of God and our imaging of that reality and a general bubble gum feeling that oozes from everything that evangelicalism touches. A large percentage of evangelicals long to return to, or experience for the first time, Trinitarian, God-centered worship where the Father is the "audience" that goes beyond a creative power point lecture that helps me to be a better spouse/friend/steward/Republican etc and actually proclaims Christ and Him crucified and glorified at the right hand of the Father, with a call to carry my own cross.

The other essays not mentioned here are also very much worth reading, but, besides Fr. Neuhaus' on C .S. Lewis, I didn't have a desire to read more than once. Good, but not what makes the book good.