What It Means to Be Protestant
The Case for an Always-Reforming Church
Ratings2
Average rating4
15
The Case for an Always-Reforming Church
Ratings2
Average rating4
These days many evangelicals are exploring the more sacramental, liturgical, and historically-conscious church traditions, including Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. This hunger for historical rootedness is a welcome phenomenon--but unfortunately, many assume that this need can only be met outside of Protestant contexts.?? In What it Means to Be Protestant, Gavin Ortlund draws from both his scholarly work in church history and his personal experience in ecumenical engagement to offer a powerful defense of the Protestant tradition. Retrieving classical Protestant texts and arguments, he exposes how many of the contemporary objections leveled against Protestants are rooted in caricature. Ultimately, he shows that historic Protestantism offers the best pathway to catholicity and historical rootedness for Christians today.?? In his characteristically charitable and irenic style, Ortlund demonstrates that the 16th century Reformation represented a genuine renewal of the gospel. This does not entail that Protestantism is without faults. But because it is built upon the principle of semper reformanda (always reforming), Protestantism is capable of reforming itself according to Scripture as the ultimate authority. This scholarly and yet accessible book breaks new ground in ecumenical theology and will be a staple text in the field for many years to come.
Reviews with the most likes.
I initially clicked on the fifth star, that's how good this book is. It's thoroughly researched (almost a fifth of the pages are references), and the author cites diverse believers of Protestantism, Western, and Eastern Christian traditions. I've been exploring Orthodoxy a lot these last few months, and my biggest complaint about this book is that Gavin doesn't sufficiently address the things that make Orthodoxy distinct from Catholicism. That's where he loses the fifth star. He makes a compelling case for iconoclasty/aniconicty, but even icons aren't uniquely Orthodox. Anyways, read this book if you want evidence for why even the so-called “Catholic/Orthodox Church Fathers” held much more so-called “Protestant” beliefs.
