The Evangelical Left: Encountering Postconservative Evangelical Theology

In this balanced and breezy survey, Erickson explores important and intriguing debates currently dividing evangelicals. ""Some of the commonplace doctrinal distinctives of the previous generation of evangelicalism are being redefined,"" writes Erickson, professor of theology at Baylor's Truett Seminary and Western Seminary in Portland. In a tone that he calls ""alertist,"" Erickson offers critiques of the views of scripture, God and salvation in the works of thinkers he considers major postconservative evangelicals. These include Bernard Ramm, Clark Pinnock, Stanley Grenz and James McClendon. While praising this new generation of thinkers for raising doctrinal questions, taking a fresh look at the Bible and exposing the historically conditioned character of earlier theology, Erickson fears they have been seduced by the postmodernist spirit of the age, which encourages a slide away from absolutism into relativism. These postconservatives' historical distance from earlier fundamentalist-modernist battles and their disdain for ""card-carrying evangelicals' excessive concern with correct doctrine"" yields few solid theological propositions, according to Erickson. Without such theological confidence, he believes, evangelicals are likely to see a dwindling of their ranks similar to the decline that has affected mainline churches. Though Erickson wonders ""whether this movement should continue to be called evangelical,"" his book is an evenhanded, fair and useful survey. (July)