Charismatics and Postmodernity

Is charismatic renewal a bit too much like postmodernism? With its multiple ways of knowing what is "true," touchy-feely and pragmatic, with an emphasis on personal story and community, why does it look like something dreamt up by postmoderns longing for a church befitting their ideals? This book explores these questions by investigating an example of charismatic renewal, the Charismatic Movement in the Church of England, leading to some surprising results. Appearances can be deceiving, and what seems postmodern about charismatic renewal is a complex mix of modernism, reactions to modernism, and a longing to go back to a time before modernism reared its head. Jitesh Patel helps show how renewal's ongoing life has much still to contribute to the wider church's life once it recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of how it has formed in the context of modernism, and the chapters herein illuminate what its future could look like as a result.