Reclaiming the Center: Confronting Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times

by Millard J. Erickson, D.A. Carson (Contributor), Douglas Groothuis (Contributor)

"When evangelicals confuse an improper passion for novelty with a proper pursuit of academic and pastoral relevance, the results can be distressing. I cannot express how grateful I am for the well-formed wisdom with which this book points to the abiding and decisive relevance for future route-finding of the old theological paths."
-J. I. Packer, Professor, Regent College

"For those evangelicals who-like myself-are increasingly troubled by extravagant claims made by various evangelical scholars about the nature of the 'postmodern' challenge, as well as by earnest calls to develop new epistemological and theological perspectives in response to this challenge, the writers of these essays shed much light. This book is must-reading for everyone who wants to promote a clear-thinking evangelicalism for our contemporary context."
-Richard J. Mouw, President and Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Seminary

"Here is a collection of intelligent, provocative, gutsy essays that dare to fly into the eye of the scholarly storm over evangelical identity. Though different perspectives are present even here, the underlying thesis is clear and worth heeding: the eager, and sometimes uncritical, embrace of postmodernist paradigms may be as premature as it has proven to be unproductive for the well-being of the evangelical church. One of the most important books of the new century!"
-Timothy George, Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

"Provocative, timely, and controversial!"
-Donald G. Bloesch, Professor of Theology Emeritus, Dubuque Theological Seminary

"Compromise and confusion stand at the center of evangelicalism's theological crisis, and a clear-headed and convictional analysis of the problem has been desperately needed. Thankfully, Reclaiming the Center has arrived just in time. . . . My fervent hope is that it will open evangelical eyes, humble evangelical hearts, and awaken this generation to the peril of accommodationism."
-R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"The authors of this well-designed volume provide a bold and well-argued response to what is sometimes called 'postconservative evangelicalism.' This important conversation regarding the essence, center, and boundaries of evangelicalism is here explored, interpreted, and assessed from a well-informed theological, philosophical, and historical perspective. . . . I heartily commend this volume and trust it will find a large readership."
-David S. Dockery, President, Union University

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Christian, Philosophy

368 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2004

About the author

Millard J. Erickson (PhD, Northwestern University) has served as a pastor and seminary dean and has taught at several schools, including Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Western Seminary (Portland and San Jose), and Baylor University. He has also held numerous visiting professorships, both in the United States and internationally, and is the author of many books. Erickson lives in Mounds View, Minnesota.

Reviews

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the book is an extended review of Grenz’s Renewing the Center, so there is overlap. But that also allows an easy summary of Grenz’s (and postconservatism’s) theology:

1. Drawing upon Pannenberg, the nature of truth is eschatological, the future time when truth established (Carson 35).
2. A coherentist theory of truth--truth is a web of belief. A belief is true if it coheres with the rest of my beliefs. Corollaries of this are pragmatism and a nonrealist metaphysics.
3. A closed linguistic world.

Several essays are fantastic. Carson’s book review of Grenz is the stuff of legend. Groothuis gives a fine take-down of postmodernism’s pragmatist streak. Drawing upon Russell’s criticism of James, Groothuis notes, “If this idea is to be useful (which is only fitting, given the pragmatist’s view of truth) one must now two things before one knows if a belief is true: (1) what is good; (2) what the effects of this or that belief must be (Groothuis 75).

Here is the problem: “one must measure beliefs by usefulness, yet in many cases we just don’t know ahead of time what the usefulness will be.”

Further, how do ideas “work?” Pragmatists say that the meaning of truth simply is found in its ability to produce desirable states of affairs. But let’s take two statements: (1) Other people exist, and (2) it is useful to believe that other people exist. If James’s is correct, then (1) and (2) are synonymous, yet this is absurd (76).

Moreland and DeWeese

Justification is that which converts beliefs to knowledge (Moreland and DeWeese 82). Beliefs have grounds, which means they depend upon or arise from something else.

Other criticisms of pragmatism: some truths have no pragmatic use (e.g., There is no largest prime number); ii) some truths are unknowable, and iii) some falsehoods have pragmatic value (I did not have sexual relations with that woman) (84).

We have to be careful of confusing sentences with propositions. Propositions are abstract and exist independently of the mind.

Criticisms of Postmodernism

*R. Scott Smith: “If there is not a real, objective problem...then why should anyone outside their (postmodernists’) local communities accept their claims” (Smith 126)?

*They say in light of Pannenberg that the eschaton will establish the Truth. Indeed it will, but one has to ask how we will know that then and not now? In fact, how can we know now that it will establish the Truth then?

*If each religious community is engaged in its own language games, then on exactly what basis can we speak to another religious community?

Those are the biggest criticisms. At first I wondered what relevance this book would have today. I changed my mind midway through the book. Weak-minded thinking, embodied in the form of “Social Justice,” echoes many of these postmodern arguments (though without the intellectual rigor that Grenz brings to the table).

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff.

[Michael Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually ended up selling this book, something I never do, because I found it generally just blah. That being said, the whole read was worth this one quote from Albert Mohler: “A word that can mean anything means nothing. If evangelical identity means drawing no boundaries, then we really have no center, no matter what we claim. The fundamental issue is truth and though the modernist will call us wrong and postmodernist may call us naive, there is nowhere else for us to stand…”