In this clearly written and insightful book, Gerald Schlabach addresses the "Protestant dilemma" in ecclesiology: how to build lasting Christian community in a world of individualism and transience. Schlabach, a former Mennonite who is now Catholic, seeks not to encourage readers to abandon Protestant churches but to relearn some of the virtues that all Christian communities need to sustain their communal lives. He offers a vision for the right and faithful roles of authority, stability, and loyal dissent in Christian communal life. The book deals with issues that transcend denominations and will appeal to all readers, both Catholic and Protestant, interested in sustaining Christian tradition and community over time.
"Well written and perspicaciously framed, Unlearning
Protestantism represents a stimulating contribution to
ecumenical dialogue. Gerald Schlabach lifts up the practice of
stability and the virtue of fidelity for Christian ecclesial
communities with characteristic hospitality and humility. His own
story of becoming a Mennonite Catholic provides a hopeful model for
the sort of virtuous empathy he recommends to Christians as they
plumb the depths of their own traditions while engaging in dialogue
across ecclesial traditions."--Margaret Pfeil, University of
Notre Dame
"Many of us Protestants are not Catholic enough to know what we are
protesting. This book is a unique celebration of the stability of
Catholicism while also recognizing that the church needs a
revolution every few hundred years. A monumental step toward the
unity Jesus dreamed of as he prayed that the church would be one as
God is one."--Shane Claiborne, author and activist,
www.thesimpleway.org
"In this fascinating, scintillating book, Schlabach shows how
absolutely crucial the practice of stability and the virtue of
fidelity are for sustaining Christian communities today. Perhaps
most important is Schlabach's claim that loyal dissent, far from
being a threat to a community and its traditions, is rooted in a
community's traditions and aims to enrich them. Thoughtful,
insightful, and refreshingly challenging, Schlabach's Unlearning
Protestantism is a gift for Christians whose impatience with
imperfect communities tempts them to forget that God is present in
the very ordinary--and often trying--circumstances of our
lives."--Paul J. Wadell, St. Norbert College
"The question before Christians today is not whether the
Reformation is over but, as Schlabach frames it so well, whether
Protestants will be able to sustain faithful Christian communities
over time apart from a serious engagement with the Catholic
tradition. Written in an accessible and winsome style, this book
needs to read by every scholar and layperson interested in the
unity and witness of the church. In particular, Schlabach's
treatment of the relationship between stability and dissent is
nothing short of masterful."--Barry Harvey, Honors College,
Baylor University
Introduction
1. The Protestant Dilemma
The Permanent Principle of Reform
The Nagging Dilemma of Undoing
The Puzzle of Protestant Identity
Hauerwas's Hunch
2. The Matter of Continuity
Mennonites amid the Acids of Modernity
Four Strategies: The Debate That Was "the Goshen School"
Freedom and Discipline: Lessons from an Unruly Synthesis
Continuity Anyway (or, Why Hauerwas Really Is Not Yoder but
Nonetheless Is Right about Mennonite Community)
3. The Practice of Stability
Mobility in Question
Stability in the Rule of St. Benedict
Replies to Objections
Stability beyond Monastic Walls
A Not-So-Innovative Postscript
4. Stability Writ Large
"Participatory Hierarchy"
Toward a Stable Narrative of Vatican II
Stability under the Mantle of Aggiornamento
Authority and Dissent in a Richer Theological Context
Stability Strained but Holding
5. Stability in Hard Times: Loyal Dissent
Obedience and Dissent: Three Archetypal Stories
The Virtue That Catholics Struggle to Name
Five Loyal Dissenters
One More Story
6. Giving the Gift of Stability to a Globalizing World
A Meditation on Globalization and Gaudium et spes
A Long-Deferred Objection--Why Now?
The Rationality of Traditions
Bibliography
Gerald W. Schlabach (PhD, University of Notre Dame) is professor of theology and director of the Justice and Peace Studies program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the founder and director of Bridgefolk, a movement of Mennonites and Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other's traditions, explore each other's practices, and honor each other's contribution to the mission of Christ's church. He is also the author or editor of several books.