ROFTers

Our ROFTers (Readers of First Things) group is having one of its quasi-monthly gatherings this week-end. As the hosts, it is our job to choose an article and provide the wine; any sugar will be provided by the guests (here's hoping they read this...we love chocolate and caramel, especially together. Just a little FYI.)

The article for this gathering is: Evangelicals and Others by Timothy George:

"The evangelical tradition holds at its best the belief that faithful Christian witness involves caring deeply about one’s neighbor—and hence about truth, justice, and love extending beyond the bounds of the meeting house. So, too, the evangelical tradition holds a recognition of God’s sovereignty and providential ordering in the affairs of men and nations, which is an antidote to both despair and utopianism.

Will evangelicalism survive its success? This question is seriously debated by serious scholars and the answer has proved elusive. Some see evangelicalism as a fiction, a grand public-relations ploy held together by powerful personalities for several decades but that has now run out of steam. Others claim this is the 'Evangelical Moment.' Still others call for revisioning, repositioning, and recentering evangelicalism.

But 'center' is the wrong image, I think. Especially when center is defined as the middle point on a spectrum, denoting a middle ground between radicals and liberals on the left and reactionaries and conservatives on the right. I want to suggest another image: core, from the Latin word for heart. 'Evangelical ecumenism' may be an oxymoron, and its theme song might be the country music classic by George Strait, 'Let’s Fall to Pieces Together.' But I suggest that ecumenism is a central portion—a core concern—of the evangelical faith and the evangelical church."

It promises to be a great evening, and a great week of reading and thinking.