PART ONE: POSTMODERNISM, PALEO-ORTHODOXY, AND REFORMED THEOLOGY

Introduction

The goal of
the following pages is to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the classic
Christian faith in what is being called a post-Christian era by engaging
postmodernity with the tenets of the Apostles’ Creed. The reader will also find here an attempt to
discover the nexus of three seemingly different sets of ideas – Postmodernism,
Protestant-Reformed Theology, and Paleo-orthodoxy – and to open up a dialogue
among followers of Jesus. I find myself,
as a Christian, in the following situation: I am Reformed in my theological outlook; I am very attracted to the
paleo-orthodox position; and I am sympathetic towards the concerns of
postmodernism.

Reformed
theologians can be very stubborn people. While this helps us to maintain foundational Christian truths during
cultural change, it also keeps us, at times, from dialoguing properly with
other believers or with the surrounding culture. Paleo-orthodoxy opens the door to this kind
of dialogue by drawing our attention back to the apostles, prophets,
apologists, and martyrs who defined the Christian faith in its first
millennium. Postmodernism is our current
cultural crisis, alerting us to the complex problems of the modern era and
searching for new alternatives. The
church’s voice must be heard in “such a time as this,” and for this reason it
is my belief that our primary task as a church should not be first to develop
scathing critiques of postmodernism, but to stop and look at ourselves.

The church
is so divided, however, that it is hard to even refer to “the church,” and
organizing an effort to “look at ourselves” would certainly end in a gigantic
argument. The quest for common ground is
difficult for such a discussion, but the conversation must happen. For this reason, I propose the Apostles’
Creed as a starting place for conversation. It will not satisfy all, but it is the most succinct and widely accepted
creed in existence.

The Center for Reformed Theology
and Apologetics, a website dedicated to the furthering of Reformed theology,
contains the statement that the Apostles’ Creed is “the basic creed of Reformed
churches.”[1] Not only, of course, is the creed Reformed,
but it has been exceedingly important to all of Christian theology for
centuries, along with the Nicene Creed and Chalcedon Definition. My efforts over the following pages will
reflect the importance of the Apostles’ Creed, and my use of it for the outline
of Part Two will hopefully accomplish a few definite things.

 First, I am
specifically addressing Reformed believers and writing from a Reformed
perspective. By Reformed, I refer
specifically to those who follow in the traditions of the magisterial reformers
and hold to some form of Calvinist soteriology, emphasizing the sovereignty and
monergistic work of God in salvation. Since Reformed churches have traditionally received the Apostles’ Creed
as their own, it is an excellent springboard for addressing the Reformed
community.

 Secondly,
its use outside the Reformed community but within the bounds of orthodox
Christianity provides a symbol for the type of Christian unity for which I will
be advocating in this present work. It
is my sincere belief that, while there are some advantages to the stubbornness
of Reformed theologians, there are some definite setbacks as well, not the
least of which is its frequent disdain for anyone who does not fall in line
with TULIP or the Westminster Confession. 

 Thirdly, I
hope to demonstrate very plainly that the old Christian doctrine, which was
hammered out by the early church fathers, martyrs, and apologists, remains
valid regardless of where culture takes us. We are approaching two thousand years of confessing the old “rule of
faith” in various forms, and the advent of postmodernism will in no way
threaten that. On the contrary, I firmly
hold that the Apostles’ Creed gives us, an almost universally accepted summary
of our faith, solid ground for a starting point in dealing with
postmodernism.