The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity by Andreas J. Kostenberger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A powerful modern message is that Christianity is not what it seems. It’s ‘corrupted’. Or perhaps the apparent consistency of the message of Jesus is a result of oppression of alternate views.
This is a powerful message in a world where all power is to be mistrusted.
It’s a convenient message too, for it provides an easy way to ignore the claim that Jesus who died is now alive and offers forgiveness before he returns as judge of all.
The Heresy of Orthodoxy attacks this modern message. It is a systematic deconstruction of the primary scholarly arguments for primitive Christian pluralism. If you like, this book addresses the academic version of The Da Vinci Code. It’s relentless,dealing with specific arguments point by point. As such, not always stirring in style (and I wish the authors used fewer questions). Yet the content clearly makes its important argument stick. Recommended.
