Carl Raschke: The Next Reformation
Carl Raschke, The Next Reformation: Why Evangelicals Must Embrace Postmodernity (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 235 pages.
Perhaps no other word is feared (or misunderstood) by evangelicals in the current theological vocabulary than postmodernism. Read most any evangelical Christian publication and you will read some article or editorial warning about the dangers of postmodernity. For good measure, the naysayers of postmodernism will throw in names such as “relativists†and “nihilists†when speaking of those who adhere to a postmodern way of thinking. Sadly, though, very few evangelicals have seriously and critically dealt with postmodernism and its consequences for theology and the church. The work of Stanley Grenz, John Franke, and Brian McLaren stand out as examples of evangelicals attempting to deal honestly with what postmodernity means for evangelical Christianity. Carl Raschke is another example, although he is by no means a newcomer to the conversation. His seminal work, The End of Theology, is believed to have started the postmodern debate within evangelicalism.1 In The Next Reformation he continues his intelligent and thought provoking work in postmodern theology.
Raschke’s critique of evangelical theology is at times biting, but one senses a refreshing honesty and concern. The hypothesis of the entire book is that evangelicalism has bound itself too tightly to the modernist “isms,†including foundationalism, presuppositionalism, and common-sense realism. Raschke believes, and rightly so, that modernism is the spawn of the Enlightenment Project and that the idealism and extreme rationalism of that movement have failed and are passing away. On the horizon, or right here and now—depending on varying dates and definitions, postmodernism looms as the intellectual amniotic fluid of our time. Evangelicals, Raschke argues, have been down right resistant to the postmodern metamorphosis in thought, reacting the same way they did to liberalism and secular humanism. Raschke does believe that postmodernism is congenial with evangelicalism and can help the evangelical church stay true to its Reformation roots.
For Raschke, the Reformation triune theology of sola fide, sola scriptura, and the priesthood of all believers (here worshippers) is best understood from the postmodern perspective. Faith is not based on reason or epistemology, as the post Enlightenment movement would have us believe. To the postmodern, faith “Shatters the idols of the age†(114). Faith is not a presupposition or a foundation, but the foundation. Out of this grows the concept of sola scriptura. Raschke is right to point out that evangelicals have too easily equated inerrancy with the Reformation doctrine of “by scripture alone.†A postmodern reading of this doctrine sees that the authority of scripture lies in the fact that it is promissory speech of the Almighty (135). The bible is true and authoritative because it is the word of God, not because it can be verified factually or historically as modernist liberals and fundamentalists like to think. If this is true—and we as Christians, particularly evangelical Christians, really believe it to be true—we will live it out. Postmodernism also provides the church the chance to actually implement the priesthood of all worshippers. Thinkers such as Michael Foucault tell us that modernism structures things hierarchically or vertically, while postmodernism views things relationally or horizontally (149). It is in this setting that all the church ministers to all the church and the world.
It is in chapters 7 and 8 that the Emergent and Charismatic influences on Raschke’s thinking can be most clearly seen. They are also the most biographical. In them the author sketches what he believes postmodern ministry and worship are about. Both are marked by informality, relationships, and the continued presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The one major weakness of Raschke’s book is the chapter (8) on worship. He too easily equates renewal and revival with the contemporary charismatic movement. The traditional and mainline churches with their liturgy and ceremony can just as well be the scene of revival. Let us not take God out of one box only to place him back into a newer, shinier box.
There are at least two reasons why evangelicals should read this book. First, it is not the usual evangelical book on postmodernism because it is written by someone who has embraced postmodernity. Most varieties of books on postmodernism within conservative Christianity are by authors attempting to debunk postmodernity. Whether one agrees with the concepts of postmodernity or not, we owe it to ourselves as responsible thinkers to read both sides of the argument. The Next Reformation is just that, a clear and cogent presentation of what postmodern thought is and what that means for evangelicalism.
Second, this book will challenge or affirm your faith depending on your current mindset. If you are one of those rational thinkers, a child of modern philosophy, who is genuinely concerned about how postmodernism will effect your church, then this book is a must read for you. You will be challenged by the sound and knowledgeable argument of Raschke and see that postmodernism is not the “boogeyman†that many conservative writers make it out to be. If, on the other hand, you are worried about the current intellectual or spiritual climate of evangelical churches, this book will encourage you to see that changes taking place right now are cause for “awe and preparation, and pondering†(207). Postmodern ministry, as Raschke shows, will be a time of great opportunity and challenge, but one that God is able to equip the church to meet.
Reviewed by Robert Cooke
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