RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten Faith

I recently reviewed Michael Svigel's new book called RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten Faith, published in 2012 by Crossway.

It would be a pretty fair assessment to make that in 2012 we find Evangelicalism completely out of control. RetroChristianity was written to provide some solutions,  namely to follow Jeremiah 6:16 and follow the ancient paths, to return to the roots of Evangelicalism and reclaim the lost treasures of the past while at the same time making the necessary restorations to take the Gospel forward. We must remember that through Christ we are more than conquers.

The layout of RetroChristianity is as follows: 1) The Case for RetroChristianity, 2) RetroChristianity: Preserving the Faith for the Future, 3) RetroClesiology: Beyond the Preference-Driven Church, and 4) RetroSpirtuality: Living the Forgotten Faith Today.

Part 1 -
The author provides some pretty neat timelines of church history including the rise of evangelicalism around the middle of the 1920's and some accompanying narrative in the form of an analogy, a parable, and a metaphor to explain how we got where we are now. I found the background on the relationships between fundamentalism and evangelicalism very interesting as a reaction to the theological liberalism plaguing the mainline denominations at the end of the 19th century. Slivgal states the following reasons to travel back on the ancient path: It will cure our ignorance of the past, it will curb the arrogance of our present, it will conserve the faith for the future, it will connect us to a rich legacy, it will counter the claims of critics, it will cultivate Christian growth, and finally it will clarify our interpretation  of Scripture. Svigel provides an interesting statement in regards to how most Christians view church history, which it seems I also am lumped into this category: "I'm convinced that if the average evangelical were to make a movie based on his or her paltry knowledge of church history, the first act would cover Christ and the apostles. Then, as the camera slowly zoomed in to the apostle John lifting his pen from the last word of the book of Revelation, the scene would suddenly cut to Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door at the church in Wittenberg...Between the first-century apostle and the sixteenth-century Reformers, many Christians picture a dark abyss, a pointless period of time often dismissed as the "dark ages". Thankfully, the author provides some great suggested resources to help properly understand the rich heritage.

 Part 2 -

In this second portion of the book the author basically tries to answer the question: "How can the unchanging truths of orthodoxy allow for diversity of doctrinal opinions as well as development of doctrinal understanding? The answer(s) to this very complex question is answered in three cannons over several chapters. The RetroOrthodoxy cannons are: 1) Some things never change and never should [The Triune God as Creator and Redeemer, The Fall and Resulting Depravity, The Person and Work of Christ, Salvation by Grace through Faith, Inspiration and Authority of Scripture, Redeemed Humanity Incorporated into Christ, and The Restoration of Humanity and Creation], 2) Some things have never been the same and never will be [The doctrinal and practical differences have always characterized the orthodox Christian faith], 3) Some things grow clear through trials and error [Building – on a sure apostolic foundation, Growing – toward maturity in faith and practice, and Adapting – to present circumstances we find in modernity.

Part 3 –

The 3^rd quarter of the RetroChristianity looks at four commons myths regarding the church and four classic distinctions. Additionally, Svigel in this section digs into the essential marks and works of a historical, orthodox church.

Part 4 –

The last portion of the book focuses with more precision on a whole host of biblical, historical, theological, and practical issues related to spiritual growth. The following is a brief list of the core topics discussed: The work of the Spirit leading to sanctification, corporate worship, the sacraments, the priesthood of the believer, need for personal spiritual discipline, and finding the right balance to the spiritual life.

Overall this book was very well written, it is more technical and I struggled a little to keep engaged, but I absolutely recommend this book for mature Christians.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Crossway for my review.