Ray S. Anderson (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh) is senior professor of theology and ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he has taught since 1976. Anderson has written many books, including Judas and Jesus: Amazing Grace for the Wounded Soul (2004), Dancing with Wolves While Feeding the Sheep (2002), Living the Spiritually Balanced Life (1998), and The Soul of Ministry: Forming Leaders for God’s People (1997). Anderson’s articles have also been published in a number of scholarly and popular periodicals. Thus, this book is written by a seasoned and well-respected evangelical theologian.
Reaching back in time, Ray Anderson offers clear and relevant theological guidance for emergent theology (which he also refers to as “vintage theology”) in this timely book, rooting it in what happened at Antioch of Syria. Readers will remember that it was at Antioch that Paul and Barnabas were set apart for a mission to the Gentiles (i.e., to churches outside of Jerusalem). Anderson explains that an emergent theology is necessarily messianic, missional, and revelational (i.e., based upon the Bible). Moreover, according to Anderson, emergent theology is focused upon the kingdom-coming, and not the present order. In view of such an eschatological orientation, emerging churches should focus their practical teaching upon kingdom-living, according to Anderson. So then, emerging churches are also necessarily incarnational in that they deal with the world, and not exclusively with the end of times.
I especially appreciate the overwhelming focus of Anderson within this book upon the life, ministry, and theology of Paul the apostle. If one were to study intently the situation that Paul was in at Antioch, one would see that the postmodern environment in the Western world today has many similarities to it. Anderson therefore posits that Paul possessed, by the infilling of the Spirit of God and the subsequent direct revelation that he received during the two-three year period after his conversion, the vintage theology that was (and is) authentic and true because it was the foundation of the Christian church and has the potentiality of genuine flexibility to guide the way into the future. Anderson cautions emerging churches not to become watered-down spiritually, but to remain true instead to the task of ushering in the kingdom of God.
This book by Anderson addresses many of the concerns of people looking for a contemporary church that is nevertheless true to the gospel. Anderson emphasizes the vital, ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit, arguing thereby that emerging churches must rely entirely on the Spirit’s guidance and direction. If you wrestle with the challenges that face the church in these “postmodern” days, you will benefit from this book. Anderson engages the current discussion regarding emerging churches by dialoging with Brian McLaren (A New Kind of Christian, 2001) and Dan Kimball (The Emerging Church, 2003). Moreover, this particular book by Anderson critically engages with the various roads that this emerging church movement could take in the future. All in all, this is a solid, though not especially original, book that challenges the entire church to go deeper into the Gospel, so it can live-out the Gospel more fully in today’s world.
Bradford McCall
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA