Hope among the Fragments: The Broken Church and Its Engagement of Scripture

by Ephraim Radner

Recently, national headlines have announced the sexual crimes of Catholic priests and the ordination of an openly gay Episcopal bishop. In our day, the church is fragmented by staggering anxieties involving material stability, personal morality, and doctrinal purity. In Hope among the Fragments, Ephraim Radner reminds us that the church's shared hope is found in Scripture. Only by reading the Scriptures with Christ as the central figure can the church heal its divisions and claim its identity as a revelation of Christ himself, not merely his beleaguered "instrument."

Genres: Theology, Church

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[David Beadle]

Fantastic arguments for a way of being in/as the Church. His style is not easy and sometimes unhelpful, but this book reveals the brilliant theological mind that is Ephraim Radner. This is the single best argument for traditional marriage and the Episcopal fidelity.

[Hunter]

This volume was at once brilliant and frustrating. Radner provides a powerful argument for remaining within church bodies that do not possess the purity one would like, an important reminder for today’s schism-prone church. The theme of Radner’s work here is his insistence on a figural reading of scripture and its relation to divine providence, which he affects with aplomb. The conclusions he reaches are suspect, however. In discussing the current debate over sexual practice within the Christian Church, he, effectively, bows to traditional readings of scripture which provide arguments for the traditional understanding of sexual ethics but not necessarily arguments against their revision in light of developments in the sciences and society. To his credit, Radner recognizes the diversity of sexual practices, even in the Church, prior to the sexual revolution of the 1960s, something conservative thinkers in Christianity often fail to recognize, and he recognizes the importance of conscious in these matters. While I find Radner’s argument for traditional sexual ethics wanting, I do believe that this book provides an excellent model for any Christian who finds themselves disagreeing with the current or evolving doctrine of the body providence has placed them in. Radner advocates for a suffering within said body as an evangelical, in the traditional sense, exercise, that illuminates the gospel of the suffering Christ. Instead of retreating to a foxhole with other “orthodox” or “like-minded” individuals, an approach advocated by Evangelicals and traditionalist Orthodox and Catholics (e.g. Rod Dreher), Radner argues that remaining and submitting to whatever discipline, which, he states is often overblown by conservatives, is the Christ-like response to divergence from “orthodox doctrine.” If one is in search of a robust argument for the retention of traditional sexual ethics within the Christian Church, “Hope…” is not necessarily your best choice, however, this an excellent volume for those who are striving to discern how best to represent Christ in a splintering Church.

[Christopher Good]

Nine out of ten (did you really think I'd give Radner less than five stars?)

This book was an experience. Typical Radnerian density, but also typical Radnerian pastoral emphasis. He argues that the way to produce a true and faithful ecumenism in the church (especially his native Anglicanism) is to go back to the Bible - though not in a way that would excite a lot of fundamentalists. For example, his chapter on gay marriage is somewhat unexpected. But I love his passion and erudition (and his eschatological focus), and he has a way of making himself heard. I do wonder what a twenty-five-year anniversary edition would look like, especially in view of recent developments in global Anglicanism.

Recommend for Christians with patience.

[Phil Gaines]

Radner is much brighter than I, so the three stars is a reflection of my inability to grasp the nuances of some of his arguments throughout—i will be discussing this book with people who understand his thought very soon.

However, chapter 11, on being a fool who remains in a church going astray, was worth the cost of admission for sure. It put language to my decision to belong to TEC in ways I had only vaguely begun to grasp before, and feels implementable and concrete in really helpful ways.

If you want a thoughtful and shockingly clear perspective on staying put, that chapter is well worth your time.