Beyond Born Again: Towards Evangelical Maturity (1993) Robert M. Price Contents Introduction: Testimony Time Price provides a brief overview of his background in the Evangelical Christian scene, as well as an overview of his book's contents. Introduction To The HTML Version (by Robby Berry) Robby Berry explains the history of the HTML version of Beyond Born Again , as well as the conventions employed therein. Notes Section I-- The Born Again Experience: A Brave New World? Chapter 1: A Might Fortress is Our Mentality Chapter 2: The Evangelical Subculture Chapter 3: Devil's Advocates Chapter 4: The Personal Savior Section II-- The Evangelical Apologists: Are They Reliable? Chapter 5: Evidence That Demands a Mistrial Chapter 6: Guarding an Empty Tomb Chapter 7: A False Trilemma Section III-- Can Evangelical Theology Be Born Again? Chapter 8: Biblical Ventriloquism Chapter 9: Theological Rhetoric Chapter 10: Toward Evangelical Maturity Footnote References Appendix-- Getting a New Start 1 See Also: Do the Resurrection Accounts Hopelessly Contradict One Another? (1997) by Glenn Miller (Off Site) Miller argues that the N.T. resurrection accounts do not hopelessly contradict one another. This is relevant to Beyond Born Again , insofar as Price argues just the opposite. Grasping At Greasy Straws (n.d.) by Robert Turkel (Off Site) Turkel's review of Beyond Born Again. Turkel challenges Price on five main points: time needed to build legends, the alleged secrecy of Jesus, Sabbatai Sevi and other messianic pretenders, the reliability of eyewitness testimony, and the reliability of oral transmission. How Does the Memory Research of Elizabeth Loftus on Eyewitness Testimony Affect the Credibility of NT Documents? (1997) by Glenn Miller (Off Site) Miller concludes that most of the material in Loftus's book are "simply inapplicable to the NT situation." Moreover, for the few items that do or might apply to the NT, they support its reliability for accuracy. This is relevant to Beyond Born Again, insofar as Price argues in chapter five , using Loftus as one of his sources, that "Studies have shown that eyewitness testimony is often remarkably unreliable, most especially when it is testimony of a surprising and remarkable event." 2 Beyond Born Again Introduction: Testimony Time "Wishes and hopes can also mature with men. They can lose their infantile form... and their youthful enthusiasm without being given up." -- Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God "I know you better now And I don't fall for all your tricks And you've lost the one advantage of my youth." -- Larry Norman, "The Great American Novel" "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; But when I became a man, I put away childish things." -- The Apostle Paul, I Corinthians 13:11 By now, most people have heard of "Born Again Christians." The recent media prominence of these interesting people was, of course, sparked by Jimmy Carter's "testimony" that he had been "born again." Reactions to the new visibility were of at least two types: one can still spot bumper stickers sporting either "I found it" or "I lost it" slogans. Some applaud the new "Evangelical renaissance." Others are uneasy because of the political repression they fear (cf. Malcolm Boyd's prediction of a "demagogic, chauvinistic national religious movement.... 'Do you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?' would be the inquisitorial question asked.") [1] Still others doubt that there has been any revival at all, only increased visibility, or the faddishness of the phrase "born again." But however one feels about Born Again Christians, one should at least know who they are and what they stand for. In response to this need, we have witnessed a flood of books analyzing Evangelicals and their "old-time religion." Most have been written by Evangelical Christians themselves (e.g., Donald Bloesch, The Evangelical Renaissance ; David Wells and John Woodbridge, The Evangelicals , Richard Quebedeaux, The Young Evangelicals and The Worldly Evangelicals ; Morris Inch, The Evangelical Challenge ), but a few have been written by non- or ex-Evangelicals (e.g., James Barr, Fundamentalism ). Of which kind is the book you now hold in your hands? It's hard to say.... If you are familiar with Tillich's phrase "on the boundary," perhaps you will understand my reticence to jump into a category. But here, what do such categories mean? For even an "ex-Evangelical" is often merely one more kind of Evangelical with one of several available prefixes. For instance, have you ever seen a "Liberal" religion professor give a hard time to fundamentalist students in his class? Often the most militant of such professors were once fundamentalists themselves and are now trying to settle a score. They have in fact become Liberal fundamentalists! Let me share briefly with you my background in the Evangelical Christian scene. Every writer is working from a biographical context, and it's only fair that the reader be told what it is. This is especially true on a subject as ticklish as ours. Well, I was converted as an adolescent in a Conservative Baptist Church. Having Jesus Christ as my personal savior gave me "eternal security" from the flames of hell which I otherwise had to fear. During the next few years I absorbed much biblical teaching through the filter of dispensationalist fundamentalism. I learned to pray and read scripture, and to "witness" to my friends (and to feel pretty guilty if I didn't do these things). An acknowledged "spiritual leader" among the youth membership, I found the 3 peer-acceptance that all teenagers so desperately need. Church activities weren't enough, so I joined a student group called "HiBA" (or "High School Born-Againers") in order to see as many as possible of my classmates "come to the Lord." Eventually, several did. Just think, I was a father (spiritually at least) several times by age seventeen! My Campus Crusade for Christ training in evangelism served me in good stead. Of course, winning others to Christ was only half the problem. After all, I could only help my converts to mature spiritually as much as I myself had. I must be a true man of God. Reading devotional works such as Robert Boyd Munger's My Heart, Christ's Home , Miles Stanford's Principles of Spiritual Growth , and even C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters considerably advanced my progress in piety. But never had I found so much spiritual wisdom as in Bill Gothard's "Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts," a week-long seminar on God's (and Gothard's) unbeatable principles for a successful Christian life. I took this amassed lore with me when I went to college. It did not take me long to become a leader in the campus chapter of Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship. My knowledge of biblical doctrine and evangelistic technique was welcome here. As I encountered new influences (though not too many, sheltered as I was), my Christian life grew in new ways. As I erected new barriers, I began to let down some old ones. One the one hand, there were all of those "unsaved professors." One should avoid religion courses offered by such people. Who knows what disturbing things one might hear? But eventually I was ready for combat on this enemy turf. I had become interested in "apologetics," the science of defending the faith. Mentally, I stocked up on the writings of such knights of the truth as Francis Schaeffer, F. F. Bruce, John Warwick Montgomery, and Os Guiness. Ready to do battle, I'm sure I irritated my professors no little. In a battle like this, one must close ranks with the like-minded. Within the circle of Inter Varsity, I soon encountered new varieties of Evangelical belief and lifestyle. I learned to tolerate and even welcome different ideas on eschatology, worldliness, etc. Wider horizons were a pleasant discovery. Eventually, I had become a convinced and enthusiastic "neo-Evangelical," going to movies (after the long cinematic abstinence of my teenage fundamentalist period), qualifying biblical inerrancy, and teaching the Bible in a Catholic Charismatic prayer group. My commitment to Jesus Christ gave me an exciting and satisfying sense of purpose. The Bible was a thing of constant fascination, and I learned to exult in the love of Jesus, and of my brothers and sisters. During my college years, I read voraciously, becoming familiar with "our" (Evangelical) literature on most subjects. Not satisfied with encountering the writers only through their works, I took several opportunities to visit other cities where I sought out and conversed with various Evangelical leaders. In Wheaton, I met Carl F. H. Henry, Merrill Tenney, C. Peter Wagner, and Billy Melvin, President of the National Association of Evangelicals. At a conference in Ohio, I met my favorite inspirational writer Peter Gillquist. On a trip to Berkeley I stayed with the Christian World Liberation Front (now the Berkeley Christian Coalition), talking with Sharon Gallagher and Jack Sparks (now of the Evangelical Orthodox Church). In Chicago, I met David F. Wells and Donald Dayton. I talked with Dave Jackson of Reba Place Fellowship and Jim Wallis of the Post-American (now Sojourners ). I discussed ministry and theology with these fascinating people and finally decided to go on to seminary. I chose Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, specializing in New Testament. This way, I felt I could prepare for a teaching ministry in my own way by concentrated biblical study. Also, I could continue my apologetical attack on Liberal, unbelieving biblical criticism and theology. Though I didn't have 4 definite plans for the future (being confident of God's eventual guidance), what eventually happened still surprised me.