Reclaiming the Center: Confronting Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times

369 Pages·2004·1.18 MB·English

by  Millard J. Erickson

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 abid-
ing and decisive relevance for future route-finding of the old theological paths.
—J. I. PACKER,Professor, Regent College
These insightful essays explore issues of extreme importance for evangelical thought.
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 evan-
gelicalism for our contemporary context.
—RICHARDJ. 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!
—TIMOTHYGEORGE,Dean,
Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
Provocative, timely, and controversial!
—DONALDG. BLOESCH,Professor of Theology Emeritus,
Dubuque Theological Seminary
Evangelicalism is in big trouble, and the root problem is theological accommodation.
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. Editors Erickson,
Helseth, and Taylor have assembled a team of outstanding scholars, and each chap-
ter is must reading for all concerned evangelicals. My fervent hope is that Reclaiming
the Centerwill open evangelical eyes, humble evangelical hearts, and awaken this
generation to the peril of accommodationism.
—R. ALBERTMOHLER, JR.,President,
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Reclaiming the Center offers a coherent and challenging engagement with recent
attempts to redefine the center of evangelicalism. The authors of this well-designed
volume provide a bold and well-argued response to what is sometimes called “post-
conservative 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.
Though readers will quibble over some aspects of the essays, I am confident that
this valuable and impressive collection will help advance this important conversa-
tion in a constructive way. I heartily commend this volume and trust it will find a
large readership.
—DAVIDS. DOCKERY,President, Union University

CROSSWAY B OOKS
A DIVISION OF
GOOD NEWS PUBLISHERS
WHEATON, ILLINOIS
Reclaiming the Center: Confronting Evangelical Accommodation
in Postmodern Times
Copyright © 2004 by Millard J. Erickson, Paul Kjoss Helseth, and Justin Taylor
Published by Crossway Books
a division of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher,
except as provided by USA copyright law.
Cover design: Josh Dennis
Cover illustration: Photonica
First printing 2004
Printed in the United States of America
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version,™ copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture references marked NIVare from the Holy Bible: New International
Version.®Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by
permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the
United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of
either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
In memory of three theologians
who were instrumental in the resurgence of evangelical theology
in the twentieth century:
Edward John Carnell
(1919–1967)
Carl F. H. Henry
(1913–2003)
Bernard L. Ramm
(1916–1992)

C
ONTENTS
LISTOFCONTRIBUTORS 11
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 13
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1 ANINTRODUCTIONTOPOSTCONSERVATIVEEVANGELICALISMAND 17
THERESTOFTHISBOOK
Justin Taylor
2 DOMESTICATINGTHEGOSPEL: A REVIEWOFGRENZ’S 33
RENEWINGTHECENTER
D. A. Carson
PART 2: TRUTH, FOUNDATIONALISM,
AND LANGUAGE
3 TRUTHDEFINEDANDDEFENDED 59
Douglas Groothuis
4 THEPREMATUREREPORTOFFOUNDATIONALISM’SDEMISE 81
J. P. Moreland and Garrett DeWeese
5 LANGUAGE, THEOLOGICALKNOWLEDGE,ANDTHE 109
POSTMODERNPARADIGM
R. Scott Smith
PART 3: THEOLOGICAL METHOD
6 ISTHEOLOGICALTRUTHFUNCTIONALORPROPOSITIONAL? 137
POSTCONSERVATISM’SUSEOFLANGUAGEGAMES
ANDSPEECH-ACTTHEORY
A. B. Caneday
7 POSTCONSERVATISM, BIBLICALAUTHORITY,ANDRECENT 161
PROPOSALSFORRE-DOINGEVANGELICALTHEOLOGY:
A CRITICALANALYSIS
Stephen J. Wellum
8 POSTCONSERVATISM: A THIRDWORLDPERSPECTIVE 199
Kwabena Donkor