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Reviewed by Jonathan Marlowe, pastor of Shiloh United Methodist Church in Granite Quarry, North Carolina The Rebirth of Orthodoxy by Thomas C. Oden Thomas Oden’s book The Rebirth of Orthodoxy is a celebration of the continuing vitality and increasing influence of Christian orthodoxy in the church and in the academy. Oden offers us a compelling vision of a healthy church firmly rooted in orthodoxy, which he defines as, “ancient, scriptural, consensual teaching.” This book invites pastors to a deeper appreciation of and commitment to that which has been believed by the faithful “everywhere, always, and by all.” Oden’s work is substantive and complex; it does not allow for easy pigeon-holing. Readers of all theological stripes will find in these pages resources that will challenge their long-established assumptions. Oden’s reputation for criticizing Protestant liberalism is well-known. What is not generally acknowledged is that there is much in Oden’s work that also challenges conservative evangelicals in the church today. For example, Oden goes to great lengths to show how God’s covenant with the church through Christ does not nullify God’s covenant with Israel through Torah. Indeed, one of the most interesting parts of the book is the way it shows the parallels between Christianity and Judaism in their development of orthodox teaching and practice. Oden’s contention that Jews do not need to be converted to Christianity to be a part of God’s covenant may come as a shock to some of his more evangelical friends, but it is a necessary part of Oden’s ongoing attempt to show how God is always faithful to God’s promises. Oden demonstrates that orthodoxy “towers above strictures of Protestant fundamentalism,” as a movement more robust, dynamic, and inclusive than fundamentalists are able to imagine. Protestant liberal theology continues to be seen by Oden as intellectual enslavement to the narrow thought patterns of the European enlightenment. Breaking free from this dogmatic slumber of liberalism so that one can embrace the classic Christianity expressed in the creeds is what this book celebrates and affirms. He includes an extensive list of contemporary authors and scholars in many different fields whose work typifies the rebirth of orthodoxy. He also includes an autobiographical chapter on his own spiritual and theological journey from Protestant liberalism to paleo-orthodoxy. This book calls readers to re-examine their deepest roots in Christian and Jewish orthodoxy. Given Oden’s gracious ecumenical gestures towards his Jewish friends, one wonders why Oden does not mention anything regarding Islamic orthodoxy. He may for theological reasons believe that Christianity’s relationship with Judaism is fundamentally different from its relationship with Islam, so that it is beyond the jurisdiction of a Christian theologian to comment on orthodoxy in Islam. This may be the case, but at least Oden could explain why it is. Given the tensions that continually arise between Christians and Muslims in the post September 11 world, any words that begin to open up the lines of communication in a positive way between Christians and Muslims would be helpful. Finally, the reader is left wanting to hear more about what can prevent healthy, vibrant orthodoxy from degenerating into what John Wesley called “dead orthodoxy.” Wesley would want to ask (as Oden asks at the end of his book), “not whether you are convinced that orthodoxy has been reborn, but whether it has been reborn in you.”
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