Roger E. Olson - Questions to All Your Answers: The Journey from Folk Religion to Examined Faith

QUESTIONS TO ALL YOUR ANSWERS

To my daughters

Amanda Joy Cox and Sonja Kristen Olson

ZONDERVAN

Questions to All Your Answers

Copyright 2007 by the Roger E. Olson

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ePub Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-54131-8

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

ISBN-13: 978-0-310-28758-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Olson, Roger E.

Questions to all your answers : a journey from folk religion to examined faith/

Roger E. Olson.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Apologetics. I. Title.

BT1103.O47 2006

230 dc22

2006022079

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, TodaysNew International Version. TNIV. Copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society.

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CONTENTS

I have to admit something. When I first received the manuscript and looked quickly at the cover and its title, I thought it said, Answers to All Your Questions. I felt a little disappointed and thought to myself, Oh, no. We really dont need another book that claims to have all the answers. But then I took a second look and realized it didnt say that at all; rather, the title was Questions toAll Your Answers. I smiled because I got the play on words and was then thrilled. I thought to myself, This is great! We need a book like this that will force us to look at what we assume are answers. Within a few seconds, my emotions changed from disappointment to great anticipation.

This title really represents the cry of our hearts. There are plenty of so-called answers out there today in the evangelical world. But deep inside we are instinctively beginning to feel that perhaps some of these traditional answers arent always ones we can actually hold with total honesty and full integrity anymore. Perhaps these neat and tidy answers were initially accepted because they were taught to us with such confidence that it brought us a sense of security. But over time, we have come to realize that we cant accept these answers anymore since they raise even more questions. We are now able to admit more freely that perhaps many of our answers are not quite as clean, final, wrapped up, and packaged as we would like them to be.

What Roger Olson does in this book, then, will help shape the future of the church. He forces us to think and rethink some basic assumptions we have had about some significant and practical life issues. We definitely do need books on worship, leadership, ecclesiology, and the mission of the church. But as we are on this mission, we will no doubt need to face hard questions that we cant hide from or ignore. These are the questions todays culture is asking; we can no longer settle for simplistic answers of folk religion, as Roger puts it. That is why a book like this is so important for the future church. It will help us think about the answers we have received to our questions as well as think about the questions that come from our answers.

What I so admire about Roger Olson being the author of this book is that he isnt afraid to question the folk religion answers. We may not all admit we have thought about these answers and questioned them, but I bet most of us have. Yet Roger isnt doing this with any sense of shallowness but with great heart and depth. He is a scholar who obviously understands people. With this understanding, he is able to guide us through various ways to rethink some of the popular answers that may not be as cut and dried as we originally thought them to be.

What I love about this book is that it will cause us to think about some common Christian clichs clichs so familiar to us that we havent stopped to pay deeper attention to what they are really saying or if they truly make sense. This book is a wonderful mix of being challenged to use our minds and think theologically, but also to grasp how our thinking matters in our basic day-to-day living. Roger challenges us to look at how we have turned complex theological issues into standard Christian responses such as God is in control, Jesus is the answer, and the Bible has all the answers. These may sound nice, but they really are more folk religion than true questions of examined faith.

This book will truly cause your mind to grow. But it isnt just about growth and being stretched in your thinking. Roger has written a book that will help your heart and mind worship more purely and think more clearly. As a result of this, your walk with Jesus will be deeper and richer, which in turn will enable the Spirit of God to use you all the more on the mission he has given to each one of us.

Dan Kimball, author, The Emerging Church (www.vintagefaith.com)

This book is written with a pastoral heart. What I mean is that its purpose is spiritual formation, including correction of bad theology. One of my basic presuppositions is that God cares what we think about him and how we interpret and communicate the faith. God has given us a pretty large book known as the Bible because he wants us to know him, and that implies thinking right thoughts about him.

Can we ever get the faith totally right? I dont think so. We are finite and fallen, so there will always be some element of distortion in our best attempts to understand and articulate the gospel. But that doesnt excuse sloppy Christian thinking, let alone no Christian thinking at all! The pastoral concern driving this little book is that far too many contemporary evangelical Christians have succumbed to what sociologists of religion call folk religion. Ill sometimes refer to it more specifically as folk Christianity. Its a badly distorted version of Christianity that thrives on clichs and slogans and resists reflection and examination. Too often I hear that we are not to question God. Perhaps. But surely we are to question our own and others ideas about God and the messages about God and spirituality that float around in culture (including Christian culture).

CAN we ever get the faith totally
right? I dont think so. Were finite
and fallen so there will always
be some element of distortion in
our best attempts to understand