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    In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis
    Unavailable
    In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis
    Unavailable
    In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis
    Ebook541 pages8 hours

    In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis

    By Kenneth J. Stewart

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    • 15th Annual Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year - Also Recommended in Theology
    • 2017 The Gospel Coalition Book Award
    • Jesus Creed Book of the Year 2017, Church History

    Protestant evangelicalism is in crisis. Today 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. In Search of Ancient Roots shows that evangelicals need not view their tradition as impoverished or lacking deep roots in the tradition. Christian antiquity is the heritage of all orthodox Christians, and evangelicals have the resources in their history to claim their place at the ecumenical table.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIVP Academic
    Release dateOct 31, 2017
    ISBN9780830892600
    Unavailable
    In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis
    Author

    Kenneth J. Stewart

    Kenneth J. Stewart (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. His books include Ten Myths About Calvinism, Restoring the Reformation, and The Emergence of Evangelicalism. Stewart is a specialist in the history of Christianity from the Reformation to the present with special interest in the development of the evangelical Protestant tradition. He has contributed to reference works such as the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology, The Blackwell Dictionary of Evangelical Biography, and the Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith.

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    Reviews for In Search of Ancient Roots

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    • 4/5
      This book was refreshing. A historically nuanced critique of the evangelicals-fleeing-to-Rome-and-Constantinople narrative. Often, he argues, disaffected evangelicals have a shallow foundation in the historic Protestant tradition, and thus are at a double remove from the Reformers' (and many evangelicals', until relatively recently) own lively engagement with the Fathers. When they do leave, they often have a romanticized/simplified view of the ancient church and its connection to their adoptive tradition. Not all the chapters are equally engaging, and I didn't agree with everything, but there are some interesting (and overdue) challenges thrown down throughout.
    • 3/5
      It would seem like a book exploring the Christian past and the Evangelical identity crisis.The book is actually a member of the Reformed camp engaged in apologetics for the Protestant Reformation and its current standing.Throughout the book the greatest concession is that study in early Christianity was too neglected for about a century until recently. Otherwise the author is attempting to burnish the bonafides of historic Protestantism in an attempt to warn people away from Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.He also would not think much of the Restoration Movement and its impulse, of which I am quite convicted, so there's my bias showing. It's not as if I disagree with him much in substance about concerns regarding any move toward Rome or Constantinople; nevertheless, it's evident throughout that the author's main purpose is to attempt to make much out of a little. He does show the interest maintained in Protestantism regarding early Christianity throughout the years and shows how many attempted to argue the historicity of justification by faith only. But the arguments are quite narrow and not altogether convincing: in terms of justification by faith only, his main beef is that the Catholics overstated their argument. But overstating the argument doesn't justify the opposing argument, and the evidence remains quite little regarding any major emphasis on justification by faith only before Luther. The author has a whole chapter devoted to what seems to be a strong interest of his, John Henry Newman; it tends to be more of a chronicle of all the interpretations on Newman more than anything else. Yes, the answer is not to run to Rome or Constantinople. But running to Geneva or Wittenberg is just as specious. I would encourage everyone to run to Jerusalem.**--galley received as part of early review program