NAVIGATING A WORLD OF GRACE:
The Promise of Generous Orthodoxy
By Graham Tomlin
SPCK. 192 pages. £12.00
ISBN 978 0 281 082 858
In my less generous moments I struggle to get excited about the term ‘generous orthodoxy.’
First used by the American Biblical scholar Hans Frei, who wanted to combine something of the liberal and something of the evangelical, then taken up by Brian McLaren of the emerging church movement, the term has been adopted by St Miletus College.
One helpful but rather obvious reminder is that we do not want to be either mean or heretical. We can imagine or perhaps think of examples of a less than kind doctrinal rigour. We know that truth and love belong together. The folk from St Miletus, rightly in my view, want to be open to the treasures of every stream of Christianity whilst also being secure in their own traditions. But Tomlin also emphasises a further point, which is well made. Generosity is of the essence of Christian orthodoxy because it is the character of God our creator and redeemer. Evangelicals know that grace and gift are at the heart of salvation and therefore it follows that we, above all people, ought to be shaped by generous orthodoxy.
This stimulating book expounds orthodoxy mainly in terms of the Nicene Creed with the help of a number of the Fathers of the church, but always with a contemporary orientation. It then discusses some issues arising from this, such as the nature of heresy, the bonds and boundaries of unity, and the generous communities that orthodoxy ought to bring about. Like the Nicene Creed itself, the book does not discuss the atonement or the doctrine of Scripture at great length, though they are perhaps the areas where orthodoxy has been most fiercely contended in the last couple of hundred years.
Bishop Graham Tomlin, a Luther scholar and theologian, is a lively and reliable guide. There is much of interest and use here. Likely you will be keen to keep reading and feel rewarded for having done so.
A couple of times Dr Tomlin says that space does not permit further discussion. It would have been interesting, for example, to hear more about the contributions liberalism might make alongside the evangelical, Catholic and charismatic traditions. Some readers (perhaps especially non-Anglicans) might have some quibbles, for example over the necessity of bishops (or perhaps their equivalents) as a personal means of maintaining the unity of the church. And whilst there are some helpful principles set out here, there is no detailed discussion of women’s ministry, homosexuality or issues of gender which some would regard as challenges to generosity and/or orthodoxy.
It would be fascinating to hear such a thoughtful and skilled leader as Tomlin, who cares about mission and church unity, closely cross-examined on some of these themes. We can pray that he might write many similarly valuable books in the future.
Readers may also wish to consult the companion volume of essays, upon which Tomlin sometimes draws: Graham Tomlin and Nathan Eddy (ed.s) The Bonds of Peace: Exploring Generous Orthodoxy (SPCK).
