Listen to Paul’s conversation with Gavin Ortlund about his just released book, Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future (Crossway, 2019).
On the Monday, November 18th program, Paul spoke with Dr. Gavin Orlund about the allure of ancient traditions whereby some evangelicals have converted to Eastern Orthodoxy or Roman Catholicism. Is this an alarming trend? What can evangelicals learn from the post-apostolic and medieval church which might help our churches to be more focused on the transcendent?
In his just released Theological Retrieval For Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future (Crossway), Gavin Ortlund observes: “Particularly among the younger generation today, there seems to be a deep thirst for historical rootedness that evidently isn’t being met in many evangelical contexts.
“Those of who go by the name “evangelical” should give careful attention to this phenomenon. We have much to learn from the testimonies of those leaving our ranks. Many of their criticisms are valid. All too often, evangelical habits of worship and spirituality have been driven by the latest passing fads, with little concern for the historic practices of the church.
“And what connection we do have to church history is often limited to our own denominational heritage, with little interest in the broader catholicity of the church.”
GUEST: Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a husband, father, pastor, and writer. He serves as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai in Ojai, California. Gavin blogs regularly at Soliloquium. He is the author of Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future (Crossway, 2019) and Finding the Right Hills to Die on: The Case for Theological Triage (Crossway/TGC, forthcoming). You can follow him on Twitter.
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