Carr, Mark F.

English

Andrews University

volume is at heart an argument for a basic way or approach to church planting. The clear implication is that unless one is willing to actually enter into and listen and love these societies, no lasting church can be planted. That is incarnational. Here's wishing all would-be church planters believed and practiced that. As we have come to expect from Paul Hiebert, the book contains numerous diagrams and illustrations which visually convey the basic concepts presented. Most readers will find these helpful and be tempted to borrow them for their own use. The bibliographies at the end of the book are excellent. Following a general bibliography are classified bibliographies on each of the four types of societies and on church planting in them. Scattered through the book are five readings taken from different authors. Although potentially helpful, one wonders why there is no discussion of their purpose. Exactly why are they presented? If they are meant to illustrate firsthand the various societies, why doesn't each society definition have one? Church planters looking for a specific plan and step-by-step approach to church planting will be disappointed by this volume. On the other hand, thoughtful missionaries and evangelists will find much here to get them started on the right path. They will understand society better (even in North America) and will be encouraged to listen deeply to people around them before they launch their specific project. The introduction and first chapter should not only be read by all prospective missionaries, but reflected on and practiced as well. Andrews University JON L. DYBDAHL Hughes, Richard T., ed. The Primitive Church in the Modern World. Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1995. 229 pp. Cloth, $34.95. Despite a very clear introduction by Richard Hughes, the foremost scholar of Primitivism today, in which he lays out definitions of Restorationism and Primitivism, I get the sense--throughout this collection of essays-that the study of Primitivism is struggling for definition and recognition. Indeed, in the final essay, a case study of Restorationism in the American Mennonite community, author Theron Schlabach confesses to finding "definitions at three confusing levels" (199). With the exception of three essays which Hughes calls "primary documents," each of the authors takes the effort to describe for the reader what Primitivism is. These definitions weave their way around and between Fundamentalism, Restorationism, Biblicism, and Modernism. Emerging from the 199 1 conference at Pepperdine University entitled "Christian Primitivism and Modernization: Coming to Terms with Our Age," these essays are offered from an elite group of scholars including Martin Marty, A. Scott Appleby, Franklin Littell, John Howard Yoder, James McClendon Jr., and George Marsden. Hughes and Marty set the stage for the reader with the introductory essays. Argurng against detractors, some of whose essays appear in this text, Hughes uses Restorationism and Primitivism synonymously. At its core, Restorationists "place supreme value on the founding age [whatever that age may be] and seek to recover specific dimensions of that age in their own time" (xii). Hughes notes three types of Primitivism which he details in others of his works; "experiential" Primitivists exemplified by Mormons and Pentecostals, "ethical" Primitivists exemplified by sixteenth-century Anabaptists and Holiness movements, and "ecclesiastical" Primitivists such as the Churches of Christ whose concern is to reproduce the forms and structures of the ancient church. Martin Marty's helpful visualization notes that Primitivists seek to make a clearing in the woods in which one's religious community may stake out its existence. The effort to regain primitive Christianity by such groups as the Campbellites and Stoneites in America was in part an effort to defy modernity or modernism. If the clearing in the woods is primitive, historyless, apostolic Christianity, then modernity is the woods surrounding the faithful today. If one has not taken the effort to tackle Marty and Appleby's Fundamentalisms Observed, one would do oneself a favor by reading Appleby's essay here. In his effort to argue that Fundamentalists are not necessarily Primitivists and vice versa, Appleby gives his readers a fair measure of definitional work focused on Fundamentalism. In his words, the pristine world Primitivists seek "does not sit well with the ambition of modern world conquerors" (3 1). I find George Marsden's essay most challenging for the concept of Restorationism. While he allows that there are truly Primitivist movements among most "low-church Protestants" in America that seek a "primordial spirit of a normative epoch," he charges that most of what is referred to as Primitivism today is not authentic. Rather he asserts that "what passes for Primitivism is virtually synonymous with a simple Biblicism" (38). I find his argument persuasive, especially when coupled with Marty's assertion that church leaders often use the theme of Primitivism as a "rhetorical device or strategy" (5). A Biblicism that finds scripture to be the "only rule of faith and practice" indeed calls believers back to an early, seemingly less corrupt, time. But precious few religious communities have been able to truly enter into a time long past. Adoption of certain portions of modernity is widespread through so-called Primitivist communities. See Grant Wacker's essay "Searching for Eden with a Satellite Dish: Primitivism, Pragmatism, and the Pentecostal Character." For those communities with Primitivist leanings yet somehow engaged in the modern age, McClendon's essay is most helpful. Drawing on the King James Version of the story of the day of Pentecost in Aas  2:16, McClendon draws a narrative interpretation of the "this is that" ~hrase. "This is that" was how those on the day of Pentecost understood what God was doing among them. As McClendon says, the "'that' is required in order to make sense of a present 'this"' (102). But the present is not the final truth for Christians. McClendon details a "prophetic-baptist vision" which upholds a view of the future that enables us to live meaningfully in the present. This awareness of our past, ability to live meaningfully engaged with the present, and realization that we are a part of God's story which will be fulfilled in the future, form the prophetic- baptist vision. Following these "primary" essays is a series of "case study" essays that explore particular Primitivist communities in America. The most illustrative is the examination of Wesleyan/Holiness movements by Susie Stanley, in which she employs a dancing metaphor. Primitivists of this strain, she says, have been "bumping into modernity" from day one. In fact, those educated people among these Wesleyan/Holiness movements find themselves in a "tension with two dance partners." Some choose to dance with their primitive heritage, others leave the church and dance with modernity. Yet a third dance partner has joined the party according to Stanley. This option involves questioning the assumptions of modernity from a postmodern communitarian perspective. Despite the difficulty and confusion that still surrounds the conceptual viability of "Primitivism," this collection of essays will be very important for historians of religion in America. The pervasive presence of the spirit of Restoration, whether it be simply rhetorical or not, flows through American Protestant history. Whether we call it Fundamentalism, Primitivism, or Biblicism, we must recognize its force. The authors and their essays collected here do bring a clarity to these concepts. But in the face of such Restorationist tendencies, McClendon reminds us we must not be in the present as "sleepwalkers." Rather as Stanley asserts we must like dancers hold closely the truths of God's past, our past, as we flow into the future fulfillment of His plan. 2590 Village Dr. Waynesboro, VA 22980 Jones, Scott J. John Wesley's Conception and Use of Scripture. Nashville, T N :  Abingdon Press, Kingswood Books, 1995. 268 pp. Paper, $16.95. Scott Jones has provided the first detailed study of Wesley's views of and actual use of Scripture. He has immersed himself in the major primary documents, allowed his immersion to mature over time, and produced a first-rate contribution to Wesleyan studies. Furthermore, the scholarly matrix of the book is impressive: it is a revision of Jones' Ph.D. dissertation done at Southern Methodist University under the direction of John Deschner (a major contemporary Wesleyan scholar). In addition to Deschner's direction, the original idea for the research came from the late Albert Outler, the acknowledged doktomater of modern Wesleyan Studies. The title of the book truly reflects the two major issues that Jones addresses. Initially he sifts through the Wesleyah corpus to identify his "conception" of Scripture's inspiration, authority, and use (especially his principles of interpretation). Then he seeks to test Wesley's "conception(s)" of Scripture against the way in which he actually uses and interprets Scripture. In addition to the book's value to Wesleyan Studies in general, the research of Jones does shed some further light on the current debate over the conception and use of the "Quadrilateral" of authorities alleged to inhere in Wesley's theological method. While it is true that the term "Quadrilateral" is somewhat anachronistic when applied to Wesley (the term was coined by Albert Outler and Wesley never used it), it should be noted that all participants in the current discussion admit that Outler did quite correctly identify four major components of Wesley's theological authorities: Scripture, Reason, Tradition, and Christian Experience. What has seemed to cause some unease among a number of Wesleyan scholars (and evangelicals) is the seeming implication that Scripture is only one of four authorities and that its primacy has been compromised. The debate over Outler's "Quadrilateral" was sparked by Ted Campbell, who has drawn prominent support from William J. Abraham and strongly recommends 

The Primitive Church in the Modern World [review] / edited by Richard T. Hughes.

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2442&amp;context=auss

The Primitive Church in the Modern World [review] / edited by Richard T. Hughes.

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