“The Courage to be Protestant” by David Wells

I have always appreciated David Wells; he is a skilled theologian and an insightful observer of the society and church. His acumen is most clearly revealed in his four volume work, beginning with "No Place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology," chronicling the changing face of American evangelicalism. These books are insightful and one could argue that they have even proven to be prophetic. His newest book, “The Courage to be Protestant” lives up to his previous works and ought to be required reading for every Christian. He explains that it started as a summary of his previous four volumes, but took on a life of its own. It does indeed stand alone as a book that must be read.

The opening chapters are a survey of the historic development of the modern evangelical church. He begins by demonstrating how “classical evangelicalism” has faltered due to “two inherent weaknesses.” The first weakness he identifies is the church’s shrinking doctrine. He argues that the church is no longer defined by what it believes but by what it does. He states that Christianity has been “reduced simply to private, internal, therapeutic experience.” He also identifies a number of reasons for this, they include a desire for relevance, an adaptation to culture and finally simple pragmatism. He believes that this loss of doctrine has lead to a second weakness in classical evangelicalism, the loss of knowledge concerning what it means to be the church. The church, he insists, has been replaced by various para-church organizations that are targeted to reach the needs of religious customers.

He goes on to explain how the decline of classical evangelicalism has resulted in two divergent strands within evangelicalism: the marketers and the emergents. He believes these two groups are a consequence of and a reaction to declining evangelicalism. Both groups are seeking to fill the void left by classical evangelicalism. He does not believe that these represent good developments. Both groups only serve to further drive the evangelical church away from its biblical and historical roots.

The majority of the book is an analysis of these three divergent groups in light of five doctrinal themes: truth, God, self, Christ and the church. Wells seeks to explain how each of these streams of evangelicalism understands these five doctrinal themes. It would be far too difficult to summarize all of his arguments so instead I will close by highly recommending this book. It is not written as a lament but as a call for the church to strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble (Hebrews 12:12). I strongly encourage everyone to read this book. It will change the way you understand your calling as a member of the body of Christ.