Product Description

In a world marked by relativism, individualism, pluralism, and the transition from a modern to a postmodern worldview, evangelical Christians must find ways to re-present the historic faith. In his provocative new work, Ancient-Future Faith, Robert E. Webber contends that present-day evangelicalism is a product of modernity. Allegiance to modernity, he argues, must be relinquished to free evangelicals to become more consistently historic. Empowerment to function in our changing culture will be found by adapting the classical tradition to our postmodern time. Webber demonstrates the implications in the key areas of church, worship, spirituality, evangelism, nurture, and mission. Webber writes, "The fundamental concern of Ancient-Future Faith is to find points of contact between classical Christianity and postmodern thought. Classical Christianity was shaped in a pagan and relativistic society much like our own. Classical Christianity was not an accommodation to paganism but an alternative practice of life. Christians in a postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a counter cultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus." A substantial appendix explores the development of authority in the early church, an important issue for evangelicals in a society that shares many features with the Roman world of early Christians. Students, professors, pastors, and laypeople concerned with the church's effective response to a postmodern world will benefit from this paradigmatic volume. Informative tables and extensive bibliographies enhance the book's educational value.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #422471 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Robert E. Webber is Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary, president of the Institute for Worship Studies, and emeritus professor of theology at Wheaton College. He is the author or editor of more than twenty works, a columnist for Worship Leader magazine, and an editorial consultant for Reformed Worship. Webber lives in Wheaton, Illinois.

Customer Reviews

Modern or Postmodern?
This book was written for American evangelicals; I found it rather disappointing. Webber argues that of the five 'paradigms' of church history (ancient, medieval, reformation, modern, postmodern) the ancient is of most relevance to the postmodern, though his argument for this doesn't convince me.
He then offers a primer on Christ (focusing on Christus Victor), church, worship, spirituality & authority. It's a good summary for anyone who is interested in a reable introduction to some of the key areas of systematic theology but despite Webber's constant references to postmodernity, I found the approach to be disappointingly modernist in many ways (his emphasis on a knowable metanarrative, for instance).
I suspect that the book has much to say to Webber's constituency but it doesn't add a great deal to 'emerging evangelism and apologetics' - Brian McLaren ("The Story We Find Ourselves In") is much better here.
Richard Seel.

Rethinking the "isms" would be better.
I really hope that a lot of people read this book. The author makes that enlightened connection between the people who follow Jesus and those that don't (yet)follow Jesus Christ, which smacks of spiritual inspiration. What he says for asll Christians living in the 21st Century is really the same as Billy Grahams reply when he was told that he had put the church back 100 years. Graham replied that it was his intentionm to put the church back 2000 years!

Ancient-Future faith connects those 2 title words, bringing the future of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ back to its roots so that it becomes thta attractive , living entity that God intended it to be. It has not always been so attractive, and this nbook makes no claim to lie and cover up what post-modern thinkers have relentlessly attacked, ie the failure of the church to practise what it preached! Strangely, the author doesn't make much concession towards those who tried to revise history in the name of post-modern thought. I guess what he does is a better thing, top avaid those arguments as they are futile when truth has been twisted to suit a post-modern framework of thought. Rather, he shows that the failures of the church in history and into the present are as a result of leaving the ancient faith of the New Testament. this is explained as a faith that held all the aspects of Christs work together in one unity, a unity that has been broken in history. Those aspects are not only the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit and individual faith in Jesus as saviour and Lord, but also the redeemed aspects of creation through Christs work on the cross. Yes, even creation is being redeemed, and now post-modern people have become concerned about those things that an authoritarian church left unsaid (eg environmental issues and the theology of God healing the environment through Christs work too) we need , as Christians, to rediscover it. Happily , it is shown here that it ios not so hard, as the ancient fore-fathers of the church had all this in their understanding. It was when church structuires resembled those of the governments of the world that things went pear shaped, and people were put off the church because they thought that God had nothing to say about the environment for example. Those people were attracted to Buddhism, it seems, as they thought that Jesus was a terrible environmentalist!

The Creation is only one of the ancient faith issues that the author wants to rediscover, others would be community and healing. All very exciting stuff, hitting the nail on the head and potentially earth-shattering! My only niggle is the language he uses which suggests he is not a "post-modern insider". Post modern thought says their are no "isms", so why id the (meaningless) word "evangelicalism" in the sub-title?!