Generous (evangelical) orthodoxy: catholic

Wonderful, Scot - thank you.I am reading Alan Jacobs's "A Theology of Reading: The Hermeneutics of Love" and he quotes Milbanks as calling Christianity's eschatalogical vision "something like the peaceful transmission of difference, or differences in continuous harmony." Jacobs goes on to suggest that they key is to find difference that is purified of the "violence of exclusion" and quotes Miroslav Volf at length:"A judgment that names exclusion as an evil and differentiation as a positive good, then, is itself not an act of exclusion. To the contrary, such judgment is the beginning of the struggle against exclusion...The remedy for exclusionary judgements is certainly not 'ironic stances.' Instead, we need more adequate judgments based on a distinction between legitimate 'differentiation' and illegitimate 'exclusion' and made with humility."-Aly

Dr. McKnight,I appreciate this: in this knowledge we have to work to be more than tolerant: we need to appreciate the differences. It speaks to more than "does that mean we have to accept those who believe ________? (insert heresy here)" It goes to loving the traditions of others. I was raised Roman Catholic, became disaffected, "became" non-denominational Christian. But now I am coming to appreciate the concentrated power of the Catholic mass, its climax at communion, its appreciation of saints (as those who have gone before). I don't think I'll be a practicing RC again but I can definitely worship with them. I think McClaren covers this quite well.

Scot, it's amazing that our evangelical (even more fundamentalist) background confused human generosity with the "C" word--compromise. Again, I believe if you start with Platonic "perfection" in Theology Proper, you produce a species of Christians who *must* get it right, purely, absolutely right, even in the things that don't matter to the core things. If we start with Jesus on the Cross and work both backwards and forwards in thinking about God, then there's the grand ability to express a deep and wide generosity. Does this approach "water down" historic orthodoxy? I don't think so. I think it gives us a capacity to both embrace historic orthodoxy and the world as it is now. As someone blogged in recently and commented that they were told that if you don't believe in the (pre-trib) rapture, you're not a Christian. I feel deep grief over that kind of stuff.Thanks for leading toward a Jesus-kind-of-orthodoxy-and-orthopraxy.

As I have been reading your series, I have appreciated the insight about a "generous orthodoxy." A narrow and cramped orthodoxy is very satisfying to our flesh. However, I doubt it has any effect on the work of the Holy Spirit in others, only in us. In the "Screwtape Letters," CS Lewis writes that the church is "spread out through time and space and 'terrible as an army with banners.'" I have liked the image this presents. And now I can also enjoy its generosity.

Jamie,Coming soon.