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The Abolition of Man

By on in Literary

C.S. Lewis’s “The Abolition of Man” is a defense of objective values against the encroachments of subjectivism and relativism. While Lewis’s arguments are informed by various sources, the classical Greek philosophies of Plato and Aristotle can be seen as offering foundational support to many of the principles Lewis defends. The following review is an interpretive understanding of the subject matter.

Introduction

This written work by C.S. Lewis is a profound philosophical and moral critique of modern subjectivism and naturalistic reductionism. It is a short book, consisting of three interconnected essays, which aim to defend the idea of objective values and natural law against modern relativistic trends.

Christian Worldview

While the book isn’t written from a Christian perspective, it refers to biblical and Judeo-Christian principles and values in various locations throughout the text. The book consists of three interconnected essays, which aim to defend the idea of objective values and natural law against modern relativistic trends.

Men Without Chests

Lewis starts with a critique of an English textbook for students, which he feels promotes subjectivism, the idea that values and meanings are purely the product of personal feelings and have no objective basis. This subjective approach, Lewis argues, produces “men without chests” – individuals without a moral compass or appreciation for objective value and beauty. He contends that the “chest,” symbolizing the heart or moral sentiment, should be educated to resonate with universal truths and values. Such education should shape character and virtue rather than just intellect.

The Way

In the second essay, Lewis dives deeper into the philosophy underpinning his critique. He discusses the Tao, an Eastern concept, which he uses to describe the universal moral law or Natural Law that many cultures and religions have recognized throughout history. This Tao represents objective values that are inherent to human nature. These values aren’t arbitrary but grounded in a moral order, which Christianity would recognize as being rooted in the nature of God. He suggests that all major religions and ethical systems share a core understanding of these basic principles, which provide the framework for human flourishing and moral behavior.

The Abolition of Man

In the concluding essay, Lewis presents a vision of the future if society continues down the path of rejecting objective values. He warns that the “Conditioners,” those who reject traditional values in favor of constructing their own, will have the power to reshape humanity according to their whims. This could be through psychological conditioning or even biological manipulation. By rejecting the Tao and believing that they can define and create their own values, these individuals ironically become slaves to their own base instincts and desires. Lewis argues that this trajectory could lead to the “abolition” of genuine humanity. From a Christian perspective, this can be seen as the consequence of humanity turning away from God and the inherent design and purpose He established.

Throughout the book, Lewis, a Christian apologist, underscores the dangers of a world divorced from God-given objective moral standards. He argues for the timeless relevance of natural law, suggesting that humanity’s well-being is rooted in aligning with these eternal truths. The rejection of this moral framework doesn’t lead to greater freedom, as some might believe, but to the potential dehumanization of mankind.

In essence, “The Abolition of Man” is not just a critique of educational trends or philosophical shifts, but an urgent call for a return to understanding and valuing the objective moral order that Lewis, from a Christian worldview, believes is woven into the very fabric of the universe by its Creator.

Humanist Worldview

C.S. Lewis further provides a philosophical critique of subjectivism and the growing trend in the mid-20th century to view human values as mere social constructs or personal feelings, devoid of any objective foundation. From a humanist perspective, the book can be seen as a defense of universal values and the importance of cultivating moral sentiment in human beings, even if one might not necessarily agree with all the religious implications Lewis brings in.

Men Without Chests

Lewis starts by examining an English school textbook, which he believes encourages students to see values and aesthetic judgments as merely subjective. He argues that this approach risks producing individuals (“men without chests”) who lack a strong moral compass and an appreciation for things of objective value. For humanists who believe in the importance of ethics and moral cultivation, this critique underscores the necessity of education that nurtures not just intellect but also character.

The Way

Lewis delves deeper into the philosophy underpinning his arguments, introducing the concept of the Tao. While he borrows this term from Eastern philosophy, he uses it to represent what he sees as a shared, universal moral law or Natural Law recognized across various cultures and times. While humanists may not ascribe these shared values to a divine origin, many would agree with Lewis on the importance of recognizing a set of core ethical principles shared by humanity, principles that form the basis for human rights, justice, and moral reasoning.

The Abolition of Man

In this final essay, Lewis offers a cautionary vision of the future, suggesting that if society drifts away from these shared values, it might end up in the hands of “Conditioners” who, freed from any moral constraints, could manipulate humanity according to their own desires and ideologies, potentially through psychological or even biological means. For Lewis, this could lead to the “abolition” of true humanity. From a humanist viewpoint, this is a reminder of the potential dangers of unchecked scientific and technological progress without a guiding ethical framework.

Throughout “The Abolition of Man,” Lewis’s central contention is the importance of recognizing and upholding objective values that he believes are inherent to human nature. While his defense is rooted in a Christian worldview, humanists, who emphasize the importance of ethics, reason, and shared human values, can find much to appreciate in Lewis’s critique of moral relativism. The book underscores the dangers of a world that loses touch with shared human values and the importance of moral and ethical education.

To a humanist, “The Abolition of Man” might serve as a reminder of the inherent worth of every individual, the universality of certain moral principles, and the necessity of grounding advancements, be they in education, science, or technology, in a framework that prioritizes human well-being and ethical considerations.

Philosophical Alignment

Objective Reality and Forms (Plato)

Plato: Plato believed in the existence of the Forms (or Ideas), which are eternal, unchanging, and objective realities or ideals of which things in the material world are but imperfect copies. For instance, there’s an objective Form of Beauty, and individual beautiful things partake in this Form.

Lewis: This aligns with Lewis’s defense of objective values. When Lewis speaks of the universal moral law or Tao, he references a kind of objective standard beyond individual or cultural opinion, much like Plato’s Forms.

Moral Virtue and Reason (Aristotle)

Aristotle: Aristotle’s ethical theory, as presented in his “Nicomachean Ethics,” is centered on the idea of virtue and the role of reason in achieving eudaimonia (often translated as “flourishing” or “well-being”). For Aristotle, virtues are objective qualities of character that individuals should cultivate to live by reason and achieve the good life.

Lewis: Lewis’s critique of “men without chests” can be seen in light of Aristotle’s emphasis on virtue. Lewis laments an education system that fails to cultivate the “chest” or moral sentiment, leaving individuals with raw emotion (the belly) and cold reason (the head) but no guiding moral sentiment (the chest). This aligns with Aristotle’s emphasis on moral virtues as guiding principles.

Moral Universals (Both Plato and Aristotle)

Plato and Aristotle: While they had different approaches to ethics, both Plato and Aristotle believed there are objective truths about morality. For Plato, these were grounded in the Forms, while for Aristotle, they were derived from understanding human nature and purpose.

Lewis: His concept of the Tao aligns with this idea of moral universals. For Lewis, the Tao represents the universal moral truths acknowledged by various cultures across history, which he sees as evidence of their objective reality.

Rational Souls and the Hierarchical Nature of Reality

Plato and Aristotle believed in the soul’s rational aspect, distinguishing humans from other creatures. They also viewed the universe as having a hierarchical structure, with different levels of beings possessing different levels of reality or actuality.

Lewis: This aligns with Lewis’s view of human nature and his concerns about “conditioners” reshaping it. For Lewis, attempts to redefine or “condition” human nature without referencing its true, objective essence (as understood through the Tao or traditional morality) are doomed to fail and lead to dehumanization.

In summary, while C.S. Lewis doesn’t exclusively rely on Platonic or Aristotelian thought in “The Abolition of Man,” the principles of objective moral values, the cultivation of virtue, and the rational nature of humanity advocated by these ancient philosophers offer strong support to Lewis’s arguments against modern subjectivism and in favor of universal moral standards.

CHAPTER 1

Men Without Chests

“Men Without Chests” is the opening chapter of C.S. Lewis’s philosophical book, “The Abolition of Man.” “Men Without Chests” begins with Lewis critically examining an English textbook for students, which he pseudonymously names “The Green Book” and its authors as “Gaius and Titius.” This textbook, he says, embodies and promotes a certain kind of subjective relativism, which he believes is dangerous. Lewis uses the book as a starting point to delve into deeper philosophical issues.

One particular excerpt from “The Green Book” that draws Lewis’s attention involves a story about a tourist who calls a waterfall “sublime.” The authors correct the tourist, stating that he isn’t actually commenting on the waterfall itself but rather on his own feelings about it. They argue that he’s merely saying he has “sublime feelings.” Lewis takes issue with this interpretation. He believes it represents a broader educational trend, which teaches students to dismiss objective value in favor of mere subjective feelings. By doing so, Lewis argues, we create “men without chests” – that is, individuals who lack the heart, the moral compass, to discern objective value and beauty in the world.

For Lewis, the “chest” represents the seat of sentiments or moral feelings that should be cultivated and educated to align with objective virtues. It serves as a mediator between rational thought (the head) and basic, instinctual desires (the stomach). If the chest, or moral sentiment, is removed from the equation, then it’s just pure reason trying to control base desires, and this, Lewis claims, is bound to fail. We are left with either sheer egoistic pursuit or cold, detached reasoning, both of which neglect true humanity.

Lewis further criticizes modern educators for producing analytical and skeptical minds at the cost of cultivating virtue. He argues that such an education doesn’t liberate the student but instead enslaves them, for they are left without the guiding star of moral objective values. He touches upon the role of tradition, claiming that the time-tested values and sentiments that were passed down through generations were not arbitrary but grounded in something real. Modernity’s rejection of these sentiments, Lewis warns, could lead to the abolition of genuine humanity, setting the stage for the arguments he’ll develop in the subsequent chapters.

In essence, “Men Without Chests” is a critique of modern relativism and a defense of objective values. Lewis argues that we are stripping humanity of its ability to recognize and appreciate objective beauty, virtue, and morality by relegating them to mere subjective feelings. This, he believes, is a deeply dehumanizing trend.

CHAPTER 2

The Way

This chapter delves deeper into the philosophical underpinnings of his argument against moral subjectivism and his defense of objective values. Here is a summary of this chapter:

The Concept of the Tao

Lewis introduces the idea of the Tao, a term borrowed from Chinese philosophy, to represent the overarching moral and philosophical tradition that spans across various cultures and times. In this context, the Tao is akin to what many might call Natural Law or Universal Morality. It’s the collection of moral principles recognized as true and valid across diverse civilizations, regardless of their cultural, historical, or geographical differences.

The Universality of Moral Principles

Lewis argues that when we look across different cultures and civilizations, from ancient to contemporary, from East to West, we find a remarkable agreement on core moral principles. Whether it’s the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Hindus, Greeks, or Chinese, certain values like courage, justice, and honor are universally esteemed, while treachery, cowardice, and injustice are universally condemned.

Implications of Rejecting the Tao

If one tries to establish a system of values outside of the Tao, Lewis argues, it becomes either arbitrary or self-contradictory. One cannot justify any value or moral stance without implicitly appealing to some aspect of the Tao. For instance, any argument for a “new” morality based on the welfare of the majority ultimately relies on the pre-existing Tao principle that human welfare is good. This means that every attempt to define a morality apart from the Tao either collapses into incoherence or merely modifies the Tao, rather than replacing it.

The Limitations of Instinct

Lewis counters the argument that our moral behaviors are merely a product of instinct. While humans have various instincts (like the instinct to protect one’s young or the instinct to compete), these instincts in themselves do not tell us what we ought to do. Often, instincts conflict, and choosing between them requires some higher moral framework. This framework, which helps us judge between competing instincts, is what Lewis identifies with the Tao.

The Danger of Modern Innovations

The “innovators” of morality, those who advocate for moralities outside of the Tao, often do so believing that they’re advancing human welfare. However, Lewis warns that their innovations can often lead to disastrous consequences because they are unmoored by the tried-and-true moral realities in the Tao. Detached from this foundational moral code, they might justify all sorts of actions that, in the long run, could be detrimental to humanity.

Lewis concludes “The Way” by reemphasizing the importance of the Tao as the only solid foundation for morality. Without this grounding, any attempt at moral philosophy becomes untethered and risks leading society astray. For Lewis, the Tao isn’t just a relic of the past but is essential for humanity’s moral and philosophical health. Moreover, Lewis presents a powerful defense of traditional morality, asserting that objective moral values exist and are recognized universally across different cultures and times. In doing so, he challenges modern trends that dismiss or seek to replace these foundational principles.

CHAPTER 3

The Abolition of Man

In the third and final essay of his book, C.S. Lewis extrapolates from the philosophical and educational trends he critically traverses in the earlier essays to present a cautionary vision of the future.

Conditioning the Conditioners

Lewis begins by contemplating a future where those in power, whom he terms “Conditioners,” utilize science and technology to modify humanity’s basic nature, thus effectively controlling and reshaping the fabric of human thought and feeling. This future, for Lewis, becomes possible once the objective values and traditional morality (represented by the Tao in the previous essay) are rejected.

Moral Relativity and Power

When objective values are discarded, the Conditioners don’t have any external moral compass to guide their actions. Instead, they operate based on their own whims, desires, or what they believe is best for humanity. But, as Lewis argues, without an objective standard, notions of what’s “best” are rendered meaningless. Hence, the Conditioners’ actions become solely about power and control.

Man’s Conquest of Nature

One of Lewis’s key arguments is that, in seeking to conquer nature, man ultimately conquers himself. With advancements in science and technology, especially those that allow for the manipulation of human biology and psychology, humanity attempts to gain power over its own nature. However, this “power” is always held by some humans over others. It’s not humanity mastering nature in general, but rather some people mastering their fellow humans.

Loss of True Humanity

With the rise of the Conditioners and their unchecked power, humanity risks losing its essence. The modifications made by the Conditioners, whether biological, psychological, or societal, could strip away the very qualities that make humans unique, leading to the “abolition” of man in a metaphysical sense. Humanity might continue, but it would be a version shaped and defined by the Conditioners, detached from the traditional moral and philosophical heritage (the Tao) that, according to Lewis, has underpinned human civilizations for millennia.

The End of Progress

Lewis sets fire to the notion of “progress” as understood by the innovators and Conditioners. True progress, for him, would be moving closer to a deeper understanding and embodiment of the Tao—the universal moral law. By contrast, what the Conditioners see as progress is mere change, chaotic or dangerous change at that. By detaching from the Tao, they lead humanity into an abyss of relativism and certain destruction from impulses of the moment that result in accumulated evil and corrupted power. To more fully grasp Lewis’s point about the outcome of Conditioners’ detachment from Tao, he articulates the dire and inevitable specifics about the destruction sought along the way. More specifically, as Conditioners who self-detach from Tao pursue “progress” (which is really just arbitrary change by visceral impulses), they seek the use of magic (that does not work)and applied science to subdue reality to the wishes of men – efforts of the Conditioners accordingly described by the fitting metaphor of Man in futility digging up and mutilating the dead.

Summary

In “The Abolition of Man,” Lewis pronounces a warning that spans decades concerning the consequences of abandoning belief in objective values, and the dangers of technological and scientific power sought for the purpose of subduing natural law and reality. He argues that true human dignity, freedom, and virtue lie in alignment with the Tao—the traditional moral law—and that deviations from it, especially those driven by a desire for power and control, threaten the very essence and existence of humanity.

Throughout this essay, Lewis combines philosophical rigor with a deep concern for the trajectory of human civilization, presenting a compelling case for the timeless relevance of objective morality and the utmost necessity for humanity to reject people of influence or in positions of power who actively seek to reshape people and what they believe to serve their own impulses and evil desires.

The Kerygma of Desideratum

By on in Theology

The legacy of modernity and its challenges toward historical theology has brought a sense of relief and clarity as to the developments that have come about as a result. The pernicious and corrosive effect of subjective liberal thought that developed into a flawed intellectual ethos proved chaotic. It yielded no meaningful substance as it concerned significant themes about the essence of Christianity in the 19th-century.

Increasingly, by the impetus of Kant’s call for “autonomy,” individual reason and conscience became the arbiters of religious truth. Romans rejected but shifted to religious experience (pg. 2). Tradition emerged from the working of the “Divine Spirit” or religious experience of the Christian community. Others relied upon authority from antiquity (i.e., the early Church fathers) as they regarded the doctrine of apostolic succession as the guarantor of tradition of the ancient and undivided Church. Roman Catholicism fell back to Papal infallibility (1870) to secure the Church against modern rationalism, subjectivism, ecclesial chaos, and schism (as supported by John Henry Newman).

Albert Ritschl (Protestant scholar) rejected Schleiermacher’s appeal to the authority of religious feeling and experience and the orthodox rationalists’ appeal to reason and rational “proofs” as mediated through the Christian community (i.e., “consensus fidelium” or the collective mind of the people of God). Where authority is concentrated correlates to power and the source of it. Therefore, it is of interest to people and spiritual principalities who do not want the authority of the biblical authors (i.e., revelation by Scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit) over their preferences around tradition or social feelings and imaginations.

Church Doctrine was a point of unification for the Church and, more broadly, Christianity. Eventually, the spectacle of doctrinal pluralism became an issue due to differences or disagreements about interpreting, understanding, and applying Scripture. As immutable truths were sought that theists could agree upon, a search for commonality was diluted to such an extent that orthodox unity around doctrine could be achieved. As matters grew worse, particularly during the unstable time of Zeitgeist, some began to insist that there were no immutable, unchanging, or normative doctrines. An inability to arrive at a consensus about the authority of doctrinal beliefs was a source of significant attention in the Church during the 19th-century.

Over the span of decades, Friedrich Schleiermacher (Protestant) and John Henry Newman (Catholic), among other Catholics, separately sought to find common ground about doctrinal belief in the face of significant differentiation and a plurality of traditions or faith practices. Schleiermacher drew his attention toward the affections and doctrines of expression to support a common interest as illuminated in the life of the Church. Livingston points out that the same “illumination” was present upon the early Church as given by the exegetical analysis of the New Testament. However, Livingston does not refer to the social or communal leanings of Schleiermacher concerning authority that rests upon the subjective nature of people and their interests (i.e., rather than Scripture). Conversely, with Newman, the Catholic Church places significant attention on the historical development of dogma in an effort to understand and define the essence of the Church. The rationale between both the Protestants and Catholics was that God’s truth could not be divided against itself (Livingston, 4) even when Protestants and Catholics remain separate within the body of Christendom (notwithstanding Eastern Orthodoxy).

Both Liberal Protestants and Catholics refused to return to the Bible as the source of authority to understand Christian essence. It was Newman’s view that “the essential Christian idea” was formative over the centuries and Scripture was a corruption of the apostolic witness from the first century Church. The opposition of immutable dogma from Liberal Protestants and Catholics focused on the rejection of Scripture. In contrast, Scripture held primacy, but not sole authority, to define the essence of Christianity and its expression within the Church. As propagated through centuries, preeminent tradition itself came in the form of Scripture testimony, Church doctrines, liturgy, worship, and the priestly organization. To John Henry Newman and Johann Adam Mohler, Christianity tradition carried equal distributed weight to define Christian essence.

Later in the 19th-century, further efforts were made to consolidate human reason and philosophical rationale around Christianity’s historical development. From pervasively errant understanding about the corruption of early canonical writings, it was of the utmost interest to spread the notion that authority was in revelation of Scripture, historical traditions, and Christian philosophy attending to human feeling and action. It was the role of the will and conscience to cultivate a knowledge of God.

Human intuition, experience, and feeling were prominent features of Liberal theology. These were the primary route to God as recorded by Schleiermacher and poets of the time. Natural expression through people and creation were in witness to God, and human understanding about Him was revealed primarily through those means. Kant and Albrecht Ritschl highlighted another route to belief in God to involve the demands of moral obligation, reason human freedom, and the world of Spirit. From “the will to power” (Nietzsche) to “will to believe” (William James), the philosophical views of Kant, Bergson (vitalism), and Blondel’s (L’Action), there was inevitable push-back against idealism and subjectivism. Princeton Theology (Protestant) and Neo-Thomism (Catholic) directed their counterarguments against agnostic, fideistic, and pragmatic thought as they both traced the chaotic intellectual ethos to Immanuel Kant and his influence. Both Protestants and Catholics drew much attention to both faith and reason, where each was complimentary and not in contradiction. Both schools of theology made substantial inroads with the support of Aristotle’s inductive and scientific realism and Scottish empiricist philosophy. Today, debates concerning faith and reason about the existence and authority of God and His revelatory work continues.

As the search for historical Christianity developed over the last two centuries, numerous challenges and competing interests were at the forefront of theological debate within the modern context of scientific and historical disciplines. From first-century A.D. Christianity, there was substantial and eternal value among the claims of testimony, early witness, tradition, and Scripture. Those claims were contested because of the anthropomorphic language of Scripture and the miracles espoused by historical accounts among theologians and philosophical leaders. Even simply, the historicity of the life of Christ and the Christian life were countered as probative questions were posed about modern Christianity while adapted to the Enlightenment period. It was questioned, as it is now, whether Christianity today is the same as the religion founded by Jesus and the apostles.

D.F. Strauss’s book, Life of Jesus in 1835, explored the historicity of Jesus against the theological presuppositions of early Jewish messianic traditions and preconceptions of the later and more modern interest in His life. The historical Jesus of the New Testament is distinguished from records of the antiquity of Him as early Jews looked back upon his identity as a legendary figure within Hebrew literature. Krauss also demonstrated that our view of Jesus is from a modern consciousness that the earliest Christians did not have. Their recognition and interest in Jesus were from a pre-scientific point of view as they interpreted Jesus from a mythopoetic standpoint. As a further interest to validate the historicity of Christianity developed, a new standard pursuit emerged where The historical Jesus must withstand the theological Jesus who produced signs and miracles. The same was true, vice versa. Strauss found that the historical Jesus was left untouched by harsh criticism and inquiry, especially concerning the supernatural Christ of Scripture.

In a further effort to find authority and validate New Testament claims about Jesus, later advancements were made by research through Form criticism. As this led to new doubts about the use of the Gospel records and getting a historical understanding of Jesus’s inner life, there remained a highly desirable understanding of Jesus’s personality and inner psychological life. This was the desideratum of the Life of Christ at about the turn of the 19th century. The life of Jesus from a historical context to recover details about His character, personality, and life from outside the New Testament was the desideratum for theologians of later years of the 19th-century and well into the 20th.

There were four pronounced efforts to pursue the historical Jesus and challenge theological and religious claims. Each effort was distinct in its way as they all had different objectives.

Comparative Religions (Religionswissenschaft)

“History of Religions” is a science to explore religion’s origin, growth, and commonalities to include Christianity. Exhaustive development of methods and materials to understand what themes or similarities existed to explain the historical value and merit of faith and follower claims of any given religion.

Eschatological Interpretation

The notion that Jesus could be properly understood within the apocalyptic framework of ancient Jewish traditions and expectations. As Jesus recognized an imminent catastrophic end to the present age, He gave Himself up to death in desperation to usher in the new supernatural Kingdom of God to which He would more immediately return.

History of Religions School (Religionsgeschichtliche Schule)

As a new generation of Jesus critics arose to explore the historicity of Christianity, a new crop of historians sought to interpret Jesus through its beliefs, Judaism, and Hellenism. As new scientific tools (e.g., textual criticism) were applied to historical research of Jesus, derived observations and comparisons were made to the social and cultural conditions of His time. Namely, a complex mixture of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology, Hellenistic Judaism, Greek and Eastern Mysticism, Stoicism, Gnosticism was formulated to arrive at a Jesus beyond the reach of meaningful historical analysis about His inner person. Instead, He was viewed as Jesus the Kyrios, or Christ the divine Lord and Savior.

Form Criticism (Formgeschichtliche Schule)

While prior pursuits of organized research came up empty to understand and recognize the historical Jesus, further work was undertaken to develop a critical method around a Framework of the Story of Jesus (K.L. Schmidt (1891-1956), Der Rahmen der Geschichte Jesu). Schmidt concluded that the traditions of Christianity were arbitrary and artificial while there was considerable geographical detail within the gospel of Mark. Time and place weren’t so much of a synchronized historical account of the life of Jesus but more of a story to support tradition.

Another approach to Form criticism involved the work of Martin Dibelius (1883-1947) entitled From Tradition to Gospel (Die Formgeschichte des Evangeliums, 1934). Here Dibelius traced the different forms of oral traditions to include paradigm, novelle (tales), legend, parenthesis, and myth. From among the five forms, Dibelius found that paradigms to illuminate the sayings of Jesus were the clearest way to understand the historical Jesus.

Form criticism further advanced through the efforts of Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1966), who wrote History of the Synoptic Tradition (Die Geschichte der Synoptischen Tradition, 1921). This was a radical approach to Form criticism. Bultmann observed that there were traditions in the Gospels written to meet the needs of the early Church. This meant that the written synoptic text wasn’t a collection of historical documents as such, but a compilation of writings to satisfy a spiritual need as confessions and instructions for life and worship. It was clear that Jesus to know was through the apostolic witness, proclamations, and traditions given in the Gospels of the New Testament. This was the kerygmatic theology that neutralized pursuits of the historical Jesus that was out of reach. The kerygma was unquestionable, and it served as the bedrock for Dialectical theology in the years to follow.

When it comes to Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923), during this era of historicism, and research, about historical Jesus, the essence of Christianity, the absoluteness of Christianity (among other religions), Christology, and theological rationale, his pursuits and ideas appeared detached from Scripture. As he relentlessly pursued the historical Jesus, it doesn’t appear that he placed authoritative weight on Scripture. He did not concern himself with the historicity of Jesus much farther than comparisons among other religions, sociopsychological influences, traditions, and other means outside of the revelatory discourse of Scripture. Karl Barth was right; Troeltsch’s efforts were a “dead-end street” in the absence of what facts were revealed in Scripture to attain clarity about the identity of Jesus. Through various methods of Christological understanding from Scripture, there is much to explore as it concerns Jewish ideas of messianic rule, kingly accession, ceremonial customs, familial relationships, economic status, refugee trials, and other hardships in Scripture to develop a portrait of Jesus. History is simply the backdrop or canvas by which events occurred across time. In contrast, the social, geographical, and historical conditions were subordinate and in service of the theological intent and meaning of Christ’s work. Christ’s identity and historical significance are best placed upon the kerygmatic interpretation of divine revelation.

Circus of the Centuries

By on in Theology

The developments of evangelicalism from its fundamentalist roots in contrast to liberal and Catholic forms of religious tradition read as contentious and challenging. By denominational identity of historical, traditional, and theological commitments, it appears that individuals and groups situated themselves as counter positional to the preferences or convictions of people and entities who did not share a common interest or unity in Protestantism. The propagation of evangelical thought appeared in a continuous search for stability and coherence with fragmented organizations of influence and stature.

Through the historical development of evangelical theology or evangelicalism, the formation of the Kingdom to involve discipleship, the gospel, missions do not appear to elevate these as imperative matters of course from Christ across generations and cultures. The history of evangelical theology suggests such pursuits were merely incidental or adjacent to defense against liberalism and anti-intellectualism. The ever-present pressures of modernism and liberalism have taken a toll on the growth and development of Protestant interests. To such an extent that they had a leavening effect upon the Church. Especially from early institutions such as Princeton Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary, among others (Union, Vanderbilt, etc.).

Reactions from the Presbyterian General Assembly sought to establish pillars of unity around essential beliefs to include five fundamentals that countered theological Liberalism and Modernism. These convictions were centered and interrelated around the gospel, but their stated purpose read like an abbreviated form of confession to stave off theological dilution. It opened the door to a type of Walmart Christianity that brought about stigma and derision among unbelievers within Western culture. While fundamentalists sought to defend against Liberal Christianity, they instead achieved forms of isolation and separation of culture from society at large. The efforts of fundamentalists had an insulative effect as it withered in decline until it took on a new identity by the use of the respectable term “evangelical.”

Evangelicalism represented the transformation of fundamentalism as it valued academic scholarship, reformed tradition, confessional loyalty, and intellectual theologians to build a rightful and necessary stature around doctrine and revealed truth. Notably to gain its footing upon grounded theology as a formidable defense that took shape in the form of apologetic and eristic disciplines while making use of the sciences, philosophy, logic, and human reason to support its cause. Evangelicalism served as a reset from earlier fundamentalism that was repugnant to Western society. That is, it wasn’t an accommodation or capitulation to Liberal theological thought but a growing answer to its growth, influences, and pressures within the Church and academic institutions.

Conservative theologians of a Reformed heritage became further engaged within the Protestant Church and academic institutions to again bring scholarship as a grounded set of disciplines around doctrines, dogmatics, and a coherent repudiation of anti-intellectualism. Moreover, some had ecumenical aspirations to build limited solidarity around meaningful theological thought against Liberalism and Socialist Theology. As cases on point, Emil Brunner (1889-1966) regularly reached out to Catholic and Interdenominational organizations, while Carl F.H. Henry (1913-2003) founded the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies. Notably, while various other enterprises stood against earlier fundamentalist perspectives, further advancements were made in Europe with the growth of Neo-Orthodoxy from leaders Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, and Emil Brunner.

There were tensions between rationalist reformed theologians like Carl Henry and formative leaders of neo-orthodoxy. Adherents to traditional confessional heritage were at odds with the Enlightenment’s challenges to theological methodologies. While more developed Protestant orthodoxy from the theology of Karl Barth and others was at odds also, it was best able to come to terms with the Enlightenment and more effectively assert Christian rationale and doctrines. The direction of theological discourse took a turn for the better. New and innovative methodologies emerged from the Bible and proper interpretation as supported by divine revelation with more meaningful presuppositional criteria, historicity, and compelling traditions.

The new theological trajectory of the 20th century was cast forward from fundamentalism by key influential figures. While Cornelius Van Til, E.J. Carnell, and Carl Henry stood in opposition to a new modern theology of Barth and other Neo-Orthodox theologians, it was C.G. Berkouwer and Bernard Ramm who called attention to the need for an answer to the Enlightenment (i.e., Immanuel Kant, Francis Bacon, and others). Consequently, the appeal of Barth’s neo-orthodox theology gained strength to adapt to changing social conditions brought about by more advanced philosophical thought.

Clark Pinnock (1937–2010), a Canadian theologian, sought to define the essence and identity of Christianity through narrative theology that involved community traditions like creeds, liturgies, hymns, prayers, and various actions unique to the faith. His efforts appealed to human interest in Christianity as a whole, where no single individual had the right to change its traditions. His perspective focused upon human benefit, the practice of worship, and the use of Scripture for the betterment and consumption of people. The idea of narrative theology to Pinnock was primarily a “Christian story” and secondarily a God-centered form of understanding through revelation. Pinnock emphasized the humanness of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit within it as he questioned the doctrine of inerrancy and aligned with the Pentecostal tradition of the Church. He sought to dissuade against the inspiration and illumination of Scripture but directed attention to the work of the Holy Spirit within people.

According to Livingston, some additional postmodern thinkers centered themselves on social and individualistic interest around tradition for religious meaning and truth within the greater evangelical sphere. They centered themselves around a contextual view of doctrine due to historical and cultural conditions that prevailed over time. Clark Pinnock and Stanley Grenz gave more weight to social interests concerning theological truth than to what divine revelation specifies about new covenant obligations, the life of faith, discipleship, and the gospel. It is highly suspect that this form of evangelical theology contributed to the rise of the social gospel and the enormous growth of “exvangelicals” in recent years. The expected course of liberal theology empties the use of divine revelation and its historical presence. It de-values the meaning and weight of redemptive intervention with the necessary truth claims made through Scripture. It helps explain trends toward individuals deconstructed from their faith where apostasy is on the increase, church attendance is significantly reduced, and evangelical theology is set on a trajectory of dissolution. Until Protestant interests return to the principles of Christ-centered theology, rather than the Wesleyan “quadrilateral” (i.e., Scripture, tradition, experience, reason), it has nowhere to go but inward while fraught by contradiction and confusion.