Between Relativism and Fundamentalism: Religious Resources for a Middle Position.
Mattes, Mark
This volume of essays, based on an international consultation
sponsored by Boston University, needs to be read in tandem with In
Praise of Doubt: How to Have Convictions without Becoming a
Fanatic," written by Berger and Anton Zijderveld. This latter book
offers a sustained argument for tolerance of religious and political
diversity whereas the present book under consideration explores the
basis for tolerance from Evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Jews, and
Mainline Protestants. In my judgment, the best essays are the two by
Berger himself, the Introduction and "A Lutheran Approach."
While mainline Protestant claims for tolerance are standard, it is
fascinating to read defenses of tolerance by evangelicals such as James
Davis Hunter, Craig M. Gay, and Os Guinness. Since each of these last
three thinkers eschews strict absolutism in faith matters, it would seem
that we see evangelicalism expanding its fundamental convictions.
Berger notes that while a relativist stance is popular among
Americans, it is bad for civility because it precludes the moral
condemnation of virtually anything at all. Its plausibility is a result
of modernity, especially the fact that unlike most of history people now
live in big cities, side by side with those from whom they significantly
differ. Berger notes that modernity does not necessarily secularize us
(make us less religious) but it does pluralize us. "Pluralism is a
situation in which different ethnic or religious groups co-exist under
conditions of civic peace and interact with each other socially."
(4) In this dynamic, the church increasingly is seen as a voluntary
association. Ironically, fundamentalism is a reaction against such
pluralism and urbanization. "Fundamentalism is the attempt to
restore or create anew a taken-for-granted body of beliefs and
values." (7)
James Davison Hunter shares Berger's identification of
relativism and fundamentalism as a conflicted couple who stay married.
He notes that it is human nature to impose meaning on reality; however,
plausibility structures have been fragmented with the raise of
technology and urbanization. For Hunter, both fundamentalism and
relativism diminish our humanity and the current question is how will we
work to increase decency and justice?
Craig Gay notes that certain sectarian moves in Christianity, such
as Stanley Hauerwas' "Christian exclusivity" and Radical
Orthodoxy's dismissal of anything "secular" fail to
provide constructive political engagement (63). Gay affirms instead the
work of Anglican theologian Oliver O'Donovan who identifies the
church mission as positioned between such extreme stances of
fundamentalism or relativism but, nevertheless, grounded in the
confession of Jesus' resurrection.
Jewish author David Gordis urges us to retrieve ways within each of
our religious traditions that can provide healing. Catholic author
Ingeborg Gabriel affirms the cooperation between different groups
instead of disintegration as the route by which to embrace pluralism.
Berger affirms the Lutheran "two kingdom" approach to the
relation between church and state as a path providing for greater
tolerance in the public realm.
All in all, these are thoughtful essays on a timely topic,
accessible to pastors and college-educated laypeople. This book is
highly recommended.
Between Relativism and Fundamentalism: Religious Resources for a
Middle Position
Edited by Peter L. Berger. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010. ISBN-13:
978-0-8020-6387-4. ix plus 209. $17.00.
Mark Mattes
Grand View University
