"The Post-Evangelical"

written by Dave Tomlinson

Reviewed by Murray Brown

British author Dave Tomlinson enters into the area of postmodern speculation and debate with a book that is more theological than practical. His thesis essentially is that evangelicalism is both untenable theologically and culturally, as is its widely regarded alternate, liberalism. He describes post-evangelicalism as a stance that sits between the black and white approach of evangelicalism and the subjective grounds of liberalism.

He begins by painting a picture of the postmodern landscape arguing that the postmodern mindset is quite different from the modernist one and explains why the New Age movement has greater appeal for people today than evangelical Christianity. Post-evangelicalism, he says, is characterised by the acceptance of mystery and imagination as valid ingredients of faith, along with the freedom to ask question and explore answers – all part of a new age mindset.

After describing the postmodern landscape and how it developed, Tomlinson goes on to carve out a definition of post evangelicalism, explaining how it differs from evangelicalism while at the same time devoting a whole chapter to dispel any thoughts that it is simply “liberalism in sheep’s clothing”.

At the heart of the book, as well as the whole debate it has engendered, is how we interpret the Bible. In short, the author sees the Bible as:

• More like poetic than scientific
• More “trustworthy” than “inerrant”
• More symbolic than literal
• More about revealing a Person of truth than a system of truth

There is no doubt that Dave Tomlinson presents an approach to the Bible that will have great appeal to the postmodernist. Whether the perspective he advocates is theologically sound is less convincing, yet his thoughts are challenging and for the large part easy to read.

Bravely he invites a range of people to present comments which are inserted throughout the book – comments that aren’t always supportive of his view (a very postmodern approach!). These comments are frequently helpful and insightful and help the reader draw conclusions of their own.

- Dave Tomlinson is Vicar of St Luke's Anglican in North London