The Evangelical Left: Encountering Postconservative Evengelical Theology [Paperback]

Millard J. Erickson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

Millard Erickson identifies practioners of a new theological movement in evangelicalism that he contends have adopted a postconservative position and have drifted from the fundamental affirmations of conservative evangelicalism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Baker Book House (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801021405
• ISBN-13: 978-0801021404
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,169,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Millard J. Erickson (B.A., University of Minnesota, B.D., Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, M.A., University of Chicago, Ph.D., Northwestern University) has taught theology at several evangelical seminaries. He has written over twenty-five books and numerous articles. He and his wife, Virginia, have three daughters and live in Mounds View, Minnesota.

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More alertist than alarmist, January 1, 2006

By 

Kathy F. Cannata "Rev. Dr. R. Cannata" (New Orleans, LA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Evangelical Left: Encountering Postconservative Evengelical Theology (Paperback)

George Marsden has devoted a large portion of his career as an historian of American religion to teh task of defining the term "fundamentalist." He has confessed, only half-jokingly, that the best working definition he can come up with is "an evangelical who is angry over something." But then, what exactly is an "evangelical"? Whether one's approach is sociological or theological, historical or structural, "evangelicalism" is a notorious slippery term to define. This greased pig seems to be getting more slickly lubricated by the minute. Any observer of teh contemporary American religious scene will readily note some surprising theological developments within the rising "Evangelical Left." A growing number of "evangelical" theologians are reconsidering the most basic foundations and methods of theology in light of postmodern thought and arriving at some striking conclusions.

As Distinguished Professor of Theology at Baylor's Truett Seminary, and as author of nearly twenty books, including perhaps the most widely-used basic theology textbook among Baptists. Millard Erickson is well-positioned to offer a thoughtful analysis of this movement. More alertist than alarmist, Erickson offers a balanced critique of a trend which concerns him greatly. In the opening chapter Erickson succinctly traces the history of evangelicalism, ably guiding the reader through the usual highlights: Edwards and the Calvinist Great Awakening, Finney and the Arminian Second Great Awakening, the publication of The Fundamentals, the Scopes monkey business, the 1929 reorganization of Princeton Seminary, the founding of Fuller Seminary and the rise of Neo-Evangelicalism. Most recently there has emerged what UVA sociologist James Davison Hunetr describes as "a brand of theology that for generations had been considered 'modernistic' being advocated by theologians who vigorously defend their right to use the name evangelical." Erickson contends that this new brand of 'postconservative evangelicalism" is a movement that had been developing for some time rather silently, but that has only recently emerged publicly.

Prominent evangelical teachers such as Roger Olson, Clark Pinnock, Stanley Grenz, and John Sanders are openly "shedding theological conservativism" (p. 29), while continuing to lead the evangelical movement. Erickson offers a list of brief bullet points in order to idnetify the main characteristics of his subject: an eagerness to engage non-evangelicals to the left (accompanied by a disdain for those to the right), a recognition of the influence of social location on theology and the need to seek out multi-cultural voices, a broadening of teh souurces of theology from Scripture alone to include experinece, an emphasis on narrative over propositions, a process theology-influenced conception of God (as a vulnerable and limited risk-taker rather than sovereign controller), a greater stress on teh concern for nature, a belief in universal salvation, a rejection of classical theories of biblical inspiration, an emphasis in Christology on the humanity of Jesus, and a renewed Arminianism.

In four tightly-fashioned chapters, Erickson proceeds to illustrate these features from the works of prominent contemporary evangelicals. Chapter two examines the task and method of the Evangelical Left via Pinnock, Grenz, Bernard Ramm, and James McClendon. Chapter three examines the doctrines of Scripture from the vantage point of Jack Rogers, Donald McKim, Robert Gundry, Paul Jewett, including the famous "Black Saturday" incident at Fuller Sem. Erickson's chapter on the doctrine of God features the warm endorsements of certain elements of Charles Hartshorne and Process Theology by such evangelicals as Gregory Boyd, Stephen Franklin, and Richard Rice. The doctrine of salvation chapter provides a solid summary of the arguments of the so-called 'open' view of salvation, variants of universalism, and annihilationism, with Pinnock again garnering the most attention. Each of these chapters concludes with Erickson's summary evaluations, concisely listing positive and negative aspects of the teaching in question. Lucid, pointed, and accessible, these chapters would prove exceedingly rewarding reading for any undergraduate or seminary course concered with contemporary evangelicism.

In his final chapter, Erickson attempts to forecast the future of the Evanglical Left, and in the process he is compelled to sacrifice some of his focus. For example, his momentary excursion into psychoanalysis is highly stimulating, but jeopardizes his credibility with some readers. He postulates that for many post-conservatives, having jettisoned nearly all epistemological anchors, sentimental atachments to traditional practices serve as the only deterrent to a much further leftward drift. Erickson ponders what will become of the next generation who "will have not had the experience associated with the older theology" (p. 133). Moving still further afield, Erickson vaguely repeats the tantalizing observation of the Barthian theologian Wm. Hordern that those moving directly from a conservative theology to neo-orthodoxy, without ever having been convinced liberals, "lack something" (p. 135).

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, July 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Evangelical Left: Encountering Postconservative Evengelical Theology (Paperback)

Erickson provides an excellent overview of various trends in neo-evangelical theology. Like all his books, it is well-organized and discusses the pros and cons of the ideas under consideration.

9 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced and Biblical Refutation of Neotheism, July 29, 2000

By 

B.D. (Rancho San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Evangelical Left: Encountering Postconservative Evengelical Theology (Paperback)

A masterful exposure of the main shortcomings of neotheism, namely its unawareness of compensating for the bias of its own presuppositions. Every theological framework, including neotheism, has a historical/philosophical context with all the accompanying premises, stated or unstated, conscious or unconscious. The author irenically but repeatedly points out the failure of neotheists to put their control belief cards on the table for all to see, then honestly evaluate them in the light of Scripture, reason and history/philosophy/logic for consistency, coherence, and authentication. Until this movement and its proponents are able/willing to do this in a reasonably thorough way, it cannot hope to intelligibly or meaningfully engage the historic Biblical position on God's infinite foreknowledge, for example. Assuming that even Almighty God cannot know a future we humans have not created makes the god of neotheism in Phillips' words, "your god is too small", and thereby colors all relevant texts examined in support of their theory. Can't the Bible declare a God Who knows all the future exhausively while simultaneously allowing humans to unfold it making Him aware but them responsible? The presupposition that God knowing the future doesn't force humans to make it so should be just as valid as the opposite premise. Which is more plausible and Biblical is a matter of examining all the relevant Scriptural material,not selective anthropomorphic/anthropopathic verses, to see which presupposition can account for all the Biblical data. This book read in conjunction with D.A.Carson's Exegetical Fallacies is a powerful rebuttal to neotheism. See also Norman Geisler's Creating God in Man's Image.