Thursday, October 21, 2004

"Reclaiming the Center"

A book I co-edited with Millard Erickson and Paul Kjoss Helseth is set to be published in about a month. The title of this multi-author work is Reclaiming the Center: Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times. It is a critique of postconservative evangelical tehology. Crossway Books, the publisher, has now posted a number of files from the book onto their website:

Contents

Excerpt: An Introduction to Postconservative Evangelicalism and the Rest of This Book (Justin Taylor) - 155K PDF

Excerpt: On Flying in Theological Fog (Millard J. Erickson) - 244K PDF

Index - 131K PDF

Back Cover

And here are the endorsements we've received for the book.

“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

Keep on eye on a new blog which will be devoted to discussing the book:

http://www.reclaimingthecenter.blogspot.com/

Although the book deals only tangentially with the Emergent Church movement, we're hoping that a number of Emergent folks will read, consider, and discuss the book. I look forward to a fruitful dialogue.