The End of Protestantism: Pursuing Unity in a Fragmented Church by Peter J. Leithart (review)

In his newest work, Peter Leithart laments that despite Jesus's high priestly prayer (John 17), the church is divided. While this book has implications for Christians across the theological spectrum, he addresses conservative evangelical Protestants primarily—especially those in the United States—and calls them to more fully participate in ecumenical activity. Despite the disunity present in the church, Leithart argues, ''We are what we will be, and what we will be is one body united by the Spirit to the Son in communion with the heavenly Father. That is the essence of the church'' (5). He also sees the ways in which the church has rearranged itself—such as in the shift of the church's centre of gravity to the Global South and the rise of Pentecostal and charismatic movements that transcend denominational boundaries—as opportunities for the church to repent of its divisions, die to itself, and reunify. This unity must be visible and include shared beliefs, service, and prayer.

Reunion cannot simply arise from churches returning to or uniting with the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church, or for that matter Lutherans or Anglicans. He instead argues that the united church will be a way of being church that does not yet exist. Just as God made and unmade God's people in the past, so God will remake the church. Leithart offers an ''interim ecclesiology'' for the church as it awaits and strives for this reunification. This interim ecclesiology, however, is aimed toward an ''ultimate ecclesiology''—a vision of the united church (26). Leithart also cautions against unrealistic expectations by emphasizing the ''eschatological dimension of unity'' (19). The New Delhi statement serves as a paradigmatic example.

While Leithart advocates for ''the end of Protestantism,'' his book serves as an apology for the original vision of the Protestant Reformers, for the Reformers did not intend to divide the church or to start new churches, but to reform the one Catholic Church according to the Scriptures. So by ''end,'' he not only means termination, but also telos. Instead of reducing Protestants to what they are against, Leithart advocates a ''Reformational Catholicisim that draws its inspiration from the catholic vision of the earliest Reformers'' (39). Leithart argues this future church will be one and catholic (rather than splintered into tribes), biblical (teaching from the whole of Scripture), sacramental and liturgical (focus on Word and sacrament), and metropolitan (organizational). This church will have unity without uniformity, be open to learning from others both past and present, and be ''formed as an alternative public within the public square'' (36).

The denominationalism that has dominated the Western marketplace context has its benefits. It allows Christians to follow their consciences and disagree with other Christians amicably while preserving a level of fellowship with Christians in other groups. Nevertheless, denominationalism ''institutionalizes division'' (72), and so Christians must not accept it as a normal state of the church. Denominationalism prevents the church from challenging the world and presenting a unified witness because it accommodates the church to liberal political order. Within this context, Leithart not only addresses doctrinal and institutional division, but also the need for the church to repent of its history of social, economic, and racial division.

While Christians must strive for unity, Leithart concludes the work by arguing, ''Reunion, when it comes, will be a gift of God, a work of the Spirit'' (165). While federative, spiritual, and receptive models of ecumenism are helpful steps upon the way, they do not fulfill Jesus's high priestly prayer. Rather, the church must have full visible unity, and unity should not be pursued at the expense of truth.

Readers across the theological spectrum will find things to disagree with. Catholics and Orthodox will not accept his suggestions that a future united church will exclude prayers or appeals to the saints and the veneration of icons. Conversely, low church Protestants...