Seventeen
years ago Mark Noll came out with his The
Scandal
of the Evangelical Mind.
Noll criticized the lack of cultural and theological engagement
among evangelicals. There was no “mind.”
Now,
Trueman says, the real scandal is that there is no “evangelical.”
Evangelicalism doesn't exist. There is no consensus about
evangelicalism's identity. There is no clear doctrinal definition
within the greater Christian community. Its identity cannot be
determined by shared doctrine or experience.
Trueman
reports that Christian institutions now deemphasize their doctrinal
distinctives to build their size and influence and be more acceptable
to an inclusive culture. Speakers and authors call themselves
evangelicals even though they equivocate on homosexuality or the
authority of Scripture. “If evangelicalism has no boundaries, then
no boundaries have been transgressed...”
Trueman's
analysis to the change of viewpoint on the homosexual issue is alone
worth the price of the book. “With evangelicalism no longer defined
by doctrinal commitments, there can and will be no evangelical
consensus on homosexuality.” He predicts that biblical authority
will continue to be eroded, as will the historical Adam.
I
highly recommend this book for anyone desiring to understand the
current state of Christianity and its possible future. This little
book explains a great deal.
Carl
Trueman is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of
Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological
Seminary (PA). He is also a Council Member of the Alliance of
Confessing Evangelicals and an ordained minister in the Orthodox
Presbyterian Church. He has authored a number of books. You can find
out more about him at his WTS faculty page. You can read articles by him at Reformation 21.
Moody
Publishers, 44 pages.
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