An Introduction to the Ancient-Future Movement by Robert Webber
An Ancient-Future Faith calls upon us make three commitments as we seek to bridge this divide between the traditional evangelical church and the emerging church. First, an Ancient-Future Faith calls us to return to our ancient roots in the first centuries of the church. Christianity emerged in a culture somewhat similar to ours - very religious, very secular, very pagan. Early church worship proclaimed and enacted God’s saving work, established the church as community, affirmed and wrote the universal creeds; determined the churches relation to culture; developed forms of evangelism, discipleship, spiritual formation, and laid down Christian ethics of behavior. Their proclamations of absolutes and exclusivity resulted in the rapid and wide spread growth of the church and determined the common roots of the whole church - Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant. It is to these roots that an ancient-future faith will return.
Second, an Ancient-Future Faith is characterized by connection. It is alright to be an Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Fundamentalist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Charismatic or Contemporary Christian. While there are differences, Christians are not to be divided over them, but seek to understand particulars while affirming unity in the common tradition. These divisions and new movements are to be understood in their cultural settings and affirmed. Because there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, we are brothers and sisters connected to the same family. This ecumenical conviction is central to an Ancient-Future vision.
Third, an Ancient-Future Faith seeks to be authentic in a changing world. The truth of the Christian faith does not change because we live and minister in a new cultural era. How faith is communicated and defended, however does change. In today’s postmodern, post-Christian, secular and pagan world, the church must emerge as a counter-cultural movement in its message, its community and its ethics. Yet, authentic Christianity affirms and relates to many cultural changes: The shift in science from a mechanistic view of the world to the world as a web of interconnections; in philosophy from rationalism to mystery; in globalization from mono-culture to multi-culture; in historical consciousness from anti-historical to nostalgia for the past; in language from propositional to performative; in communication from monologue to dialogue; in technology from word to image; in society from individualism to community; and in the rise of terror that moves us from a state of stability to personal vulnerability.
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