Introduction: The Rule of Faith in an Age of Anxiety; 1. Modernizing the Rule: The Quest for the Essence of Christianity; 2. Recovering the Rule: The Retrieval of 'Historic Christianity'; 3. Inhabiting the Rule: How Christianity Became a Culture; 4. Weaponizing the Rule: Making Christianity (and America) Great Again; 5. Rewriting the Rule: Christianity without Orthodoxy; Conclusion: The Many Rules of Christianity.
Explores why the question of what defines Christianity has become so damagingly vexatious - and how believers might conceive of it differently.
David W. Congdon is a Senior Editor at the University Press of Kansas, where he acquires new titles in political science, and an Instructor at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. He is the author of three books, including The Mission of Demythologizing: Rudolf Bultmann's Dialectical Theology (2015, which won the Rudolf Bultmann Prize in Hermeneutics from the Philipps University of Marburg), and the editor of Varieties of Christian Universalism: Exploring Four Views (2023).
'In Who Is a True Christian, David Congdon tells the story of how
20th-century American Christians have repeatedly sought and failed
to define and defend a pristine 'orthodox' or 'historic' or
'biblical' Christianity. In contrast to such efforts, Congdon
offers his own challenging and inspiring vision of a supple
Christianity consciously constructed around an inclusive norm of
polydoxy.' Matthew Thiessen, McMaster University
'In this work of exceptional erudition, David W. Congdon shows that
Christian apologists from ancient times to the present have failed
to acknowledge the historicity of their own constructions of
Christianity. Although Who Is a True Christian? is
primarily a work of intellectual history, it is also a vigorous
critique of recent and contemporary Protestant and Catholic efforts
to clarify the essence of the faith. Written in the grand tradition
of Harvey Cox, Peter Berger, and Charles Taylor, this capacious and
contentious book promises to enliven and instruct a generation's
debates about the destiny of the Christian faith in the United
States and beyond.' David A. Hollinger, University of California,
Berkeley
'In this ambitious intervention in the contemporary culture wars,
David Congdon situates current debates in the context of a much
longer contestation over the boundaries of orthodoxy. Disruptive
and thought-provoking, Who Is a True Christian? offers an
incisive critique of attempts to define what is true, 'historical,'
and 'traditional' and calls instead for a transgressive
Christianity - a dynamic conception of faith that is compatible
with a commitment to pluralism.' Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author
of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a
Faith and Fractured a Nation
'In this compelling challenge to any final answers, political or
religious, David Congdon breathes life into a transgressive
Christianity: the creativity of his relational, pluralist theology
delivers a tour de force of prophetic polydoxy!' Catherine Keller,
George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew Theological
School, author of Facing Apocalypse: Climate, Democracy and
Other Last Chances
'Congdon's deeply erudite book is far more than merely another
contribution to the debate over the meaning of Christianity that
has raged particularly hot in the United States the last ten years.
Rather than simply more heat, Congdon brings light. Rather than
resolving the debate, Congdon grounds it historically and
philosophically, sorting through prescriptivists and
descriptivists, revealing what is at stake for all sorts of
claimants to the term. And finally, rather than throwing up his
hands at the intractability of the problem, Congdon offers a
solution that both honors the concept of orthodoxy and preserves
the vitality of heterodoxy. I hope it is read, and widely.' Matthew
Bowman, author of Christian: The Politics of a Word in
America
'Combining learned historical insight with thoughtful ethical
critique, Congdon has written a much-needed book for our time, as
contests over the past and struggles for any future of 'real'
Christianity demand careful attention. Congdon offers a necessary
and provocative history that historicizes debates about who gets to
define the essence of 'true' Christianity and reflects on the
stakes involved.' Jill Hicks-Keeton, associate professor of
religious studies, University of Oklahoma
'I welcome David Congdon's thoughtful, historically informed, and
theologically astute reflections on the definition of Christianity.
What the author calls the 'militant nostalgia' of contemporary
evangelicals is a construct devoted not merely to a redefinition of
Christianity but rather to the imposition of a thoroughly modern
vision of the faith. He identifies the myth of immutability and
argues that the real divide in Christianity is not between
liberalism and conservativism but between pluralism and
fascism. Who Is a True Christian? calls, finally, for a
'polydox' Christianity that eschews uniformity, one that 'is
constantly transgressing boundaries precisely as an expression of
its internal norms.' This is a very important and timely book.'
Randall Balmer, author of Saving Faith: How American
Christianity Can Reclaim Its Prophetic Voice
'We are living through a time of historic disaffiliation from
religious institutions and yet the battle to demarcate the
boundaries of Christianity rages on as fiercely as ever. With
characteristic insight and wide-ranging analytical breadth Congdon
tackles the thorny questions of how we got here and how we might
best move forward.' Heath W. Carter, Associate Professor of
American Christianity, Princeton Theological Seminary
'Congdon's Who is a True Christian? is both engaging and
erudite. I applaud Congdon for bringing theology into the history
of ideas in the compelling, historical narrative he spends much of
the book crafting, and I am aware of very few scholars who are so
adept at interdisciplinary work. As a survivor of authoritarian
evangelicalism, I am especially impressed by Congdon's
full-throated rejection of the notion that 'pure' Christianity is
innocent of harm and his well-reasoned argument that orthodoxy is
inherently authoritarian and can only be maintained with the threat
(and sometimes execution) of violence.' Chrissy Stroop, senior
correspondent, Religion Dispatches, and
columnist, openDemocracy
'There was only one true Christian, and he died at the cross. David
Congdon's monumental investigation into American Protestantism and
its inventions and negotiations of Christianity's essence,
identity, and boundaries draws out the indicting edge of
Nietzsche's famous quip with great material force. Uncovering the
anti-modern anxieties, power plays, and polarizing effects that
have motivated historical and contemporary investments in 'true
Christianity,' he also gestures toward the deeper hope Nietzsche's
sentiment might yet reflect, as it opens the door toward the
diversity and pluriformity of a 'normatively transgressive
Christianity'.' Hanna Reichel, Princeton Theological Seminary
'A fascinating theological project about the problem of Christian
demarcation.' James Wetherbee, Library Journal
'Congdon's book is a detailed, erudite, and profound study of the
quest for the essence of Christianity. His proposal is innovative
and original. I highly recommend this thought-provoking book.'
Stephen D. Morrison, sdmorrison.org
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