A Resurrected Church: Christianity after the Death of Christendom

A Resurrected Church: Christianity after the Death of Christendom. By Charles H. Bayer. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2001. 181 pages.

Charles Bayer defines Christendom as "a cultural ethos dominated by the church; its language, ethic, political alliances, artistic expressions, philosophic constructs, and social contracts" (2). Though Christianity is still a major player in the world's power elite, Bayer suggests that its power is fading as culture moves on. But, if indeed this is the case, the church should celebrate, not mourn as it embraces the new reality and rediscovers its mission. In other words, after the death of Christendom, Christianity can become the "leaven" again rather than the "lump."

In A Resurrected Church, Bayer proposes ways of understanding the changing ethos of the world - postmodernism, globalization, contextualization of religious truths, new scientific understandings, environmental devastation - and of understanding the role that the church might play in the world. To preface the new possibilities, he cites examples of times that the church has been a "curse" and a "blessing." Apartheid South Africa, cultural imperialism associated with missions, the Holocaust, and the Inquisition demonstrate that Christendom has, at times, been a curse. However, the civil rights movement, abolition, and liberation theology reveal the capacity for Christianity to be a blessing. In all of these, Bayer reminds the reader that religion and culture can never be fully divorced from each other - they are mutually forming.

he continues by asking the question, "What makes the difference?" he posits that if and when the church engages in dialogue, rather than adopting an exclusivistic stance, it has been and can continue to be a blessing - particularly in a post-Christendom world. Bayer then outlines what he perceives to be marks of a resurrected church, including: leadership by those of every rank and status, new forms of ecclesial life in which the marginalized become mentors, and theology as orthopraxis rather than orthodoxy (chap. 9).

One potentially problematic area of the analysis is Bayer's definition and critique of "syncretism." Many historians of religion suggest that one of Christianity's strengths is its tendency towards syncretism, something it has embodied since its emergence in the Mediterranean world two millennia ago. One need only look at the major religious holy days of Christianity to witness syncretism in action. While syncretism can function as a form of cultural imperialism, it can also lead to a rich and healthy bricolage; to the incorporation of diverse religious beliefs into evolving systems. Bayer uses the term "contextualization" in a similar way. As a matter of fact, this is one of the strongest points in the book as he examines radical displacement, indigenization, and contextualization as different stances of Christianity moving among myriad cultures. But he may reconsider the blanket critique that he levels at the function of syncretism.

A Resurrected Church provides a refreshing look at possibilities for the church in an ever-changing world. It could be useful for any number of audiences, from seminary students to congregational study groups (each chapter ends with a list of questions for discussion that are quite effective). Bayer's analysis is to be commended, it has the potential to help the church develop a new sense of itself in the present and a new vision for its future.

Laura Hobgood-Oster

Southwestern University

Copyright Christian Theological Seminary Autumn 2003
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