THE CHRISTIAN PAST and the EVANGELICAL IDENTITY CRISIS
KENNETH J. STEWART
An imprint of InterVarsity Press
Downers Grove, Illinois
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
©2017 by Kenneth J. Stewart
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
While any stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information may have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
Appendix A, “The Colloquy of Regensburg (1541) on Justification” is reprinted with permission from A. N. S. Lane, Justification by Faith in Catholic-Protestant Dialogue: An Evangelical Assessment (London: T&T Clark, 2006).
Cover design: David Fassett
Images: © Quentin Bargate / Getty Images
ISBN 978-0-8308-9260-0 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-5172-0 (print)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Stewart, Kenneth J., author.
Title: In search of ancient roots : the Christian past and the Evangelical identity crisis / Kenneth J. Stewart.
Description: Downers Grove : InterVarsity Press, 2017. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017038108 (print) | LCCN 2017033994 (ebook) | ISBN 9780830892600 (eBook) | ISBN 9780830851720 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Evangelicalism—History. | Church history.
Classification: LCC BR1640 (print) | LCC BR1640 .S687 2017 (ebook) | DDC 270.8/3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017038108
Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church,
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee,
who by their shared concern for this subject and
by personal encouragement have helped
move this book toward completion.
Introduction: The Situation from Which We Begin
PART I: SETTING THE STAGE: OUR EVANGELICAL IDENTITY CRISIS
1 Only a Latecomer in Christian History? The Evangelical Identity Crisis
2 Evangelical Movements as a Perennial and Recurring Feature of Christian History
3 Needed for Appraising the Christian Past: A Principle of Authority
4 Needed for Appraising the Christian Past A Concept of Development in Doctrine
PART II: EVANGELICAL ENGAGEMENTS WITH ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY: ...
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About In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity CrisisToday it is increasingly difficult for Protestants to identify what counts as distinctively Protestant, much less what counts as evangelical. As evangelicals increasingly lose contact with the churches and traditions descending from the Reformation, and as relations with Roman Catholicism continue to thaw, it becomes harder to explain why one should remain committed to the Reformation in the face of perceived deficits and theological challenges with the Protestant tradition. A common complaint about Protestant evangelicalism is its apparent disconnect from ancient Christianity. The antiquity and catholicity of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy seem to outshine the relative novelty of the Reformation. Some evangelical churches appear to be uninterested in the ancient historical roots of their faith as well as being liturgically and doctrinally unstable. Many within evangelicalism seem to have accepted at face value the suggestion that the evangelical faith is no more than a threadbare descendant of ancient Christianity. The result is that a number of younger Protestants in recent years have abandoned evangelicalism, turning instead to practices and traditions that appear more rooted in the early church. In Search of Ancient Roots examines this phenomenon and places it within a wider historical context. Ken Stewart argues that the evangelical tradition in fact has a much healthier track record of interacting with Christian antiquity than it is usually given credit for. He surveys five centuries of Protestant engagement with the ancient church, showing that Christians belonging to the evangelical churches of the Reformation have consistently seen their faith as connected to early Christianity. Stewart explores areas of positive engagement, such as the Lord’s Supper and biblical interpretation, as well as areas that raise concerns, such as monasticism. |
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