Conservatives, Liberals, Evangelicals, Emergent, Progressives—it can be difficult to keep track of who’s who in Christian circles! When I had an opportunity to snag a book edited by John B. Cobb Jr.—described by Tripp Fuller as “the greatest living interpreter of Alfred North Whitehead”—I grabbed it. This isn’t a book on Process Theology, but it shows how the implications of an open theism perspective can inform daily life.

For Cobb, Progressives are the theological descendants of Liberals in that they take historical criticism seriously, respect the natural sciences, and are heirs to the North American Social Gospel. More fully, Progressive Christians “are those who stand in the liberal, social gospel tradition as it was later transformed through the influence of Niebuhrian criticism and also by liberation theologies, especially those developed in black, Latin American, and feminist circles” (ix). Progressives have jettisoned the myth of progress and recognize that the major crises of our time such as wealth inequality, global warming, and American imperialism, demand a theological response: Resistance.

Although this book was published in 2008, it already feels dated. Discussions about US President George Bush’s policies actually seem quaint in the Trump era! Twelve-year old discussions about environmentalism bear the weight of our worsening situation.

My criticism of this volume lies in two areas. First, in defining Progressive Christianity, Cobb Jr. makes a straw man out of Evangelicals. To be sure, there is much to criticize in evangelicalism, but few in my circles would identify with the caricature in this book. As a Canadian Pentecostal, I take the issues argued in the various essays seriously! This bring me to my second point.

There is a recurring trend in these essays—a lack of Christianity. That sounds harsh, but it’s apt. The authors of the various essays repeatedly investigate the problems of this world and argue that Christians are called to resist such destructive dehumanizing practices. Yes! But how? I would argue that we need the prophetic tradition not only to name the evil in the world, but to imagine what life may look like on the other side. What hope do we have, unless Jesus has truly been seated at the right hand of the Father in a place of authority over the powers of the world?

This one-sided book emphasizes the need for Christians of all stripes to come together to explore these big issues. Progressives need to be grounded by Evangelical perspectives, and Evangelicals certainly need to hear Progressive voices. Yes, that might sound naive, but surely God has done stranger things!

Cobb, John B., Jr., ed. Resistance: The New Role of Progressive Christians. Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.