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Here I am talking ONLY about theology and ways of describing theologies. A recent review of my book \u201cAgainst Liberal Theology: Putting the Brakes on Progressive Christianity\u201d called me \u201cnon-conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dConservative\u201d is an indexical term; it only has meaning within a context. I have said and written that I am not a \u201cconservative evangelical.\u201d The context is \u201cevangelicalism,\u201d especially American evangelicalism. Among American evangelicals I am not \u201cconservative.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, compared with liberal Christians and most of those who call themselves \u201cprogressive Christians,\u201d I am most definitely conservative.<\/p>\n
However, I prefer to be labeled an \u201corthodox Christian\u201d with the small \u201co.\u201d I am not Eastern Orthodox, so I am not \u201cOrthodox\u201d with a capital \u201cO.\u201d<\/p>\n
What does all this mean?<\/p>\n
When I think of \u201cconservative evangelicals,\u201d among theologians, they are mostly opposed to any innovative thinking in theology. They TEND to think that the constructive task of theology is finished, completed. There is no \u201cnew light\u201d to break forth from God\u2019s Word. They TEND to attack fellow evangelicals like N. T. Wright and Greg Boyd who dare to carry forward the constructive task of theology JUST FOR DOING THAT.<\/p>\n
As one conservative evangelical theologian\/biblical scholar said to me \u201cIf it\u2019s true, it can\u2019t be new and if it\u2019s new it can\u2019t be true.\u201d I wonder what Martin Luther would have thought of that? He knew that his doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone apart from works and especially his \u201csimul justus et peccator\u201d was new\u2014in church history. Well, there is some debate about whether, for example, Jan Hus taught the same thing. I\u2019m not convinced especially about the \u201csimul.\u201d That seems new to me with Luther.<\/p>\n
Of course, Luther thought what he taught was straight out of the Bible. But so does N. T. Wright and so does Greg Boyd.<\/p>\n
Back to my main point. In my experience, American \u201cconservative evangelicals\u201d TEND to consider the constructive task of theology as finished. When? Well, for most of them, by Charles Hodge. Or, if they are not Reformed, John Wesley. Conservative evangelicals (in America) are mostly traditionalists, who, like Millard Erickson, elevate the \u201creceived evangelical tradition\u201d to the status of \u201cclosed.\u201d It can be expressed in new ways, but it cannot change.<\/p>\n
I am orthodox because I believe in the classic, ecumenical doctrines of orthodox Christianity\u2014the unique incarnation of God in Jesus Christ (even the hypostatic union!), the Trinity, original sin, total depravity, salvation by grace alone through faith alone, Jesus Christ as the only savior of mankind, the virginal conception and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ and all of his miracles, his return in glory to establish his millennial reign on earth, heaven and hell after judgment, etc., etc.<\/p>\n
But I do not believe in the \u201cinerrancy of the Bible\u201d AS CONSERVATIVES do; I prefer to talk about the \u201cinfallibility of the Bible\u201d meaning that it is \u201cperfect with respect to its purpose.\u201d I believe in the dynamic inspiration of the Bible as opposed to \u201cplenary verbal inspiration.\u201d I believe that the story of Jonah might be a parable, but I believe it doesn\u2019t really matter. I am a theist evolutionist or at least a \u201cprogressive creationist.\u201d (The line between the two seems thin to me.)<\/p>\n
So, I claim the label \u201corthodox evangelical\u201d rather than \u201cconservative evangelical\u201d because of my study of American evangelical theology and theologians. I do not find myself comfortable with the Gospel Coalition crowd; they are clearly the \u201cconservatives\u201d among American evangelical Christians. (Which is not to say they are the only ones.)<\/p>\n
The key difference is this: Is the constructive task of theology finished or still open? But I am different from liberals who also believe the constructive task of theology is open because I do not consider \u201cthe best of modern thoughts\u201d an authority alongside or over holy scripture. I do not consider the Bible simply \u201cour sacred stories.\u201d I think both Jesus Christ and the Bible are different in kind and not only in degree from other prophets and \u201csaviors\u201d and other \u201choly books\u201d of religious and spiritual \u201cwisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, no, I do not consider myself \u201cnon-conservative\u201d except WITHIN the cozy cabal of American conservative evangelical theologians and their disciples. I definitely prefer to be called an \u201corthodox evangelical\u201d and even \u201cprogressive evangelical\u201d where \u201cprogressive\u201d means \u201camong evangelicals in America\u201d (and probably Great Britain and Australia).<\/p>\n
I am open to open theism; I am open to the \u201cnew perspective on Paul,\u201d I am open to \u201cinclusivism\u201d (of salvation). I regard my theological heroes among evangelicals as Bernard Ramm, Donald Bloesch, and Clark Pinnock who were all definitely conservative COMPARED with liberals (in theology), but who were doctrinally orthodox but progressive in that they thought of \u201cfresh and faithful interpretation of scripture\u201d as a positive thing, not a negative thing. They were not driven by culture in their theological reflections and reconstructions; they were driven by scripture itself, but they also sought to develop and teach reasonable interpretations of scripture as opposed to what Ramm called \u201cobscurantist\u201d ones. Too many American conservative theologians and their followers are obscurantists.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why I prefer \u201cOrthodox\u201d to \u201cConservative\u201d *Note: If you choose to submit a comment here, please make sure it is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative), and devoid of links or photos.* Here I am talking ONLY about theology and ways of describing theologies. A recent review […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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