In the Ruins of the Church: Sustaining Faith in an Age of Diminished Christianity
Combining previously published essays and lectures, Reno explores the effects of modernity and its attendant distrust of organized religion on Christianity and, in particular, on Episcopalianism. He then provides hope for Christians in this modern age. Reno, who developed this theological inquiry while a fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, NJ, believes that the church's current difficulties stem from traditional methods of teaching the Gospel as an absolute, which creates anxiety and offends modern sensibilities. The church has thus moved away from the archaic Gospel in order to address society's anxiety regarding social disorder, terrorism, and fundamentalism. When the church attempts to return to the moral teachings of the Gospel truth, it is criticized for repressing individual personal change and driving people away from organized religion. Reno offers hope for this intraecclesial dysfunction by pointing to the philosophy of Nehemiah and the ancient liturgies in the church's dogmatic and disciplinary traditions. Scripture, he argues, should not be an element in the political arena but should lead us to spiritual virtue. The ideas are clearly presented but are not new, as evidenced by Reno's references to John Nelson Darby's writings on theology of the disunity of the church. This scholarly text is recommended for Christian leaders and theologians. Leo Kriz, West Des MoinesCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.