Being a Christadelphian is a marginalising identity, separated doctrinally from other Christians yet sharing in pressures of atheism and secularism. Those trying to live as a Christadelphian face an array of intellectual challenges. From popular atheism to academic scepticism, the questions are considerable. How timely then is Jonathan Burke’s latest reference work, Living On The Edge, which seeks to address head on many of the challenge to faith in the modern world.
The book has four main sections. The first, “Living on the edge of certainty” (pp8-27), addresses issues about argumentation, skepticism and interpretation. The second, “Living on the edge of credibility” (pp28-143), tackles the New Atheist movement and its main lines of argument. Issues covered here include the rationality of faith, the existence of Jesus and the relationship between science and religion. The third, “Living on the edge of doubt” (pp144-280), addresses a range of questions about the Bible, including the textual criticism, apocryphal gospels, biblical archaeology and the interpretation of Genesis. The final section, “Living on the edge of society” (pp281-487), discusses the relationship of the Bible and Christianity to social issues. The chapters in this section range from chapters about the intellectual credibility of Christadelphian doctrine to chapters about the benefits of conservative Christian moral values.
Whilst the book opens with an introduction for non-Christadelphians, it is Christadelphians who are the intended audience of the book. And the book does not pull punches when the author feels Christadelphians have been unhelpful or misleading. Burke promotes the approach to science advocated by the “pioneers” and criticises those who have abandoned this approach for a more fundamentalist position. He equally criticises those who continue to place the King James Version on a pedestal, despite its known imperfections. Whilst often reminding readers of the views of the pioneers, Burke does not advocate slavish devotion to their writings instead urging that readers recognise their value but also recognise the developments in scholarship.
One of the major themes of the book is respecting scholarly and scientific consensus wherever possible, and not dissenting from this consensus without good reason. Burke rejects anti-intellectualism and particularly anti-science polemic. Such attitudes do a disservice to the gospel, by making believers appear ignorant, and ultimately undermine faith by building on poor foundations. Burke argues that academic research is actually an ally for Christadelphians, as scholarly consensus has shifted towards Christadelphian doctrinal positions and as social scientific research demonstrates the benefits of Christian morality.
This book is not a novel. It is a reference work. Readers should not expect a page-turner, but should approach it as a way of getting answers to interesting and troubling questions. Burke has collected through much research a massive amount of information that rigorously addresses many of the challenges to faith in the modern world. This work will be a great asset to those facing questions about varied aspects of their faith and for that the author is to be commended.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)