Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 13:4 (Fall 2004)
Article: Embracing the Early Church: Reflections on Evangelicals, Patristics, Ecclesiology, and Ecumenism
Author: Phillip Luke Sinitiere

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Embracing the Early Church:
Reflections on Evangelicals, Patristics,
Ecclesiology, and Ecumenism1

Phillip Luke Sinitiere

It is fashionable for cultural historians to write about historical memory—how individuals remember moments in life, how societies remember important events and dates, or how institutions create and maintain collective remembrances. Closely related to historical memory is identity—personal or collective—and what factors contribute to its construction. Or, as historian Stephen Bertman observes: “to be human is to remember.”2 This article is about evangelical memory and the use of ancient Christianity to construct evangelical identity. After noting the work of several leading “ancient-evangelical” scholars, I summarize and categorize the massive body of evangelical literature that engages ancient Christianity. By way of summary I offer three observations about evangelicals who embrace the early church.

It is not a stretch to say that evangelicalism is in the midst of an identity crisis. Memories, boundaries, and identities—doctrinal, ecclesial, and ethnic, for example—are now important topics within evangelical conversations.3 Evangelicalism itself, in fact, is difficult to define though historians have carefully noted some of its distinguishing marks. According to historian David Bebbington, evangelicalism focuses on conversionism, activism, biblicism, and crucicentrism.4 Despite relative consensus about evangelicalism’s distinguishing

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marks, there is less uniformity about how the meaning of these distinguishing marks should shape evangelicalism’s doctrinal and ecclesial boundaries. For instance, the recent controversy over proponents of open theism within the Evangelical Theological Society exemplifies one doctrinal fissure. To cite another example, in Deconstructing Evangelicalism, D. G. Hart suggests that the term evangelicalism is now so porous that it has lost meaning and relevance. Whatever the case, evangelical scholars and observers continue to debate memories, boundaries, and identities and are exploring what it means to live in a post-Christian, postmodern world.5

Some of the most important interlocutors in discussions about memories, boundaries, and identities are the recent evangelical voices that seek to introduce and appropriate various elements of ancient Christianity. Though important conversations took place in the 1970s and 1980sYou must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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