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The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith
Every generation faces the temptation to wander from orthodoxy—to seek out the jolt that comes with false teaching, and to drift with cultural currents. And so every generation must be awakened again to the thrill of orthodoxy, and experience the astonishment that comes from stumbling afresh upon the electrifying paradoxes at the heart of the Christian faith.
In The Thrill of Orthodoxy, Trevin Wax turns the tables on those who believe Christian teaching is narrow and outdated. Returning to the church's creeds, he explains what orthodoxy is and why we can have proper confidence in it, and lays out common ways we can stray from it. By showing how heresies are always actually narrower than orthodoxy—taking one aspect of the truth and wielding it as a weapon against others—Wax beckons us away from the broad road that ultimately proves bland and boring, and toward the straight and narrow path, where true adventure can be found.
In The Thrill of Orthodoxy, Trevin Wax turns the tables on those who believe Christian teaching is narrow and outdated. Returning to the church's creeds, he explains what orthodoxy is and why we can have proper confidence in it, and lays out common ways we can stray from it. By showing how heresies are always actually narrower than orthodoxy—taking one aspect of the truth and wielding it as a weapon against others—Wax beckons us away from the broad road that ultimately proves bland and boring, and toward the straight and narrow path, where true adventure can be found.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 15, 2022
111 people are currently reading
1461 people want to read
About the author
Trevin K. Wax
30 books133 followersTrevin Wax is the Bible and Reference Publisher for LifeWay Christian Resources. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin hosts a blog at The Gospel Coalition and regularly contributes to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today, which named him one of thirty-three millennials shaping the next generation of evangelicals. His previous books include Counterfeit Gospels, Clear Winter Nights, and Gospel-Centered Teaching. He and his wife Corina have three children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
October 28, 2022
So, so good. Here are some of my favorite quotes: https://www.tgc.org/article/20-quotes...
April 3, 2025
2 stars !!
Thank you to Netgalley, InterVarsity Press and the author for an ecopy. This was released October 2022. I am providing honest feedback (not quite a review)
I stopped at 44 percent after reflection, conversation, prayer and meditation.
I am not the intended reader but I also will not be diminished or othered due to this book either.
The writer is earnest, well meaning and is infused with his truth.
I thought this book was a primer on Eastern Orthodox spirituality. The error is mine and I should probably have discontinued reading this from the get go when I realized where this was going....
I feel that this book will be most helpful to American Evangelical Christians who are disillusioned or disappointed in their churches that have strayed into hypocritical, judgmental money making and politicking machines and connecting to more pure Christian outlook through the practice of orthodoxy and connecting to the early tenets of the faith.
I appreciated the author's spiritual passion and the connection to the Christian Creeds. I was much less appreciative of the rest and had to stop.
I am a bi queer man who has spent many years exploring/practicing many faiths and practices as a truth seeker. I currently practice Christian contemplation and Buddhist meditation along with some other mystical and esoteric practices. My partner stated that in times past it would take only a couple of angry-disgruntled fishwives to have me burned at the stake (that really hit hard) as a heretic and I knew I could no longer move forward with this well meaning rigidity.
Christ is full of compassion, love and this folks although well meaning was controlling and opinionated to the core. Not for me.....
This book has awards and many four and five star reviews so this book may work for you and your spirituality....
Blessings and well wishes to all....
Thank you to Netgalley, InterVarsity Press and the author for an ecopy. This was released October 2022. I am providing honest feedback (not quite a review)
I stopped at 44 percent after reflection, conversation, prayer and meditation.
I am not the intended reader but I also will not be diminished or othered due to this book either.
The writer is earnest, well meaning and is infused with his truth.
I thought this book was a primer on Eastern Orthodox spirituality. The error is mine and I should probably have discontinued reading this from the get go when I realized where this was going....
I feel that this book will be most helpful to American Evangelical Christians who are disillusioned or disappointed in their churches that have strayed into hypocritical, judgmental money making and politicking machines and connecting to more pure Christian outlook through the practice of orthodoxy and connecting to the early tenets of the faith.
I appreciated the author's spiritual passion and the connection to the Christian Creeds. I was much less appreciative of the rest and had to stop.
I am a bi queer man who has spent many years exploring/practicing many faiths and practices as a truth seeker. I currently practice Christian contemplation and Buddhist meditation along with some other mystical and esoteric practices. My partner stated that in times past it would take only a couple of angry-disgruntled fishwives to have me burned at the stake (that really hit hard) as a heretic and I knew I could no longer move forward with this well meaning rigidity.
Christ is full of compassion, love and this folks although well meaning was controlling and opinionated to the core. Not for me.....
This book has awards and many four and five star reviews so this book may work for you and your spirituality....
Blessings and well wishes to all....
November 16, 2022
Summary: Spirited advocacy for orthodox belief as vibrant, broad, crucial in the battle before us, and for the renewal of God’s people.
Many are the voices echoing Bishop John Shelby Spong advocating “Christianity must change or die.” Orthodoxy is portrayed as dead, sterile, narrow, confining, and irrelevant. In an era of politicized Christianity, culture wars and accommodations, and moral scandals that have left many deconstructing their faith, the temptation is to associate dogma with dogmatism–the sooner abandoned the better.
Trevin Wax would contend just the opposite. Writing in the tradition of figures like G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers, he would advocate that the way forward for both personal and communal renewal in the church is to return to the central creeds of the church, those that have defined the “communion of the saints” across the millenia and around the world. He offers the following picture to articulate his vision of the “thrill” of orthodoxy:
“Orthodoxy is an ancient castle with spacious rooms and vaulted ceilings and mysterious corridors, a vast expanse of practical wisdom handed down from our forefathers and mothers in the faith. Some inhabit the castle but fail to sift through its treasures. Others believe the castle stands in the way of progress and should be torn down. A few believe the castle’s outer shell can remain for aesthetic purposes, so long as the interior is gutted. But in every generation, God raises up those who see the value in the treasure, men and women who maintain a deep and abiding commitment to recognize and accentuate the unique beauty of Christian truth so that future generations can be ushered into its splendor” (p. 9).
Wax defines orthodoxy as “the foundational truths, consistent with the Scriptures, upon which Christians through the ages have demonstrated agreement.”
He follows this introduction with a discussion of the ways we drift from orthodoxy, usually without intent. but rather with the complacent “of course.” Some drift into a place of affirming the faith to accepting a lifeless Christianity, distant from God. Some drift into a pragmatic, “whatever works” where action becomes detached from conviction and degenerates into niceness. Yet others downplay uncomfortable beliefs that they would jettison, and perhaps do. Finally, some become more enamored with the good the church can do rather than the transforming good the gospel can do. For each, the problem is gradual drift and the antidote is the thrill of orthodoxy.
Wax argues the adventure begins with discovering who God is and what God has done. While acknowledging mystery, he contends that it is not all mystery but that God has revealed himself and calls us to the encounter of a person: who do you say that I am? We discover that certain boundaries lead to freedom and that humility rather than arrogance is essential to the understanding of truth.
He contends against those who argue that we shouldn’t fuss with the details that details matter. He proposes, for example, that the belief in original sin leaves no room for any form of moral or class superiority–we are all tainted by sin and all need salvation without exception. Even a single letter matters, such as the difference between homoousios (that the Father and Son are of the same substance) and homoiousios (that the Father and Son are of similar substance). As Karl Barth noted, his theology could be summed up with the children’s song, “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.” The volumes of Barth’s theology flow from this simple statement.
One of the most striking chapters for me was that in which Wax contends that far from representing a broadening, heresy represents a narrowing. It ends up pitting one truth against another in attempt to make Christianity simpler. But to do so is always to make it smaller, less inclusive than the both-and of orthodoxy. He goes on to advocate for a humble but confident orthodoxy that neither accommodates itself to the world nor retreats from it but rather is “against the world for the world.” It is against self-help for salvation, against naturalism for a world of wonders, against sin for sanctification, and against wealth for true riches. Do you notice that, in all of these, orthodoxy wages battles against falsehoods for the love of the world and its people? When we lower the eternal stakes connected with orthodoxy, we raise the earthly stakes of other things–whether nationalism, racial purity, social justice as salvation, or whatever.
Orthodoxy beckons us to a quest of moral excellence and radical generosity that is always on the penitential path, becoming ever more aware of how far we have to go, and the grace that has been given us that calls us on. He argues that the beating heart of orthodoxy is not adaptation but application, where we take old truths and apply them to new situations, becoming a church that is always re-forming. He reminds us of the journey of Thomas Oden, who cycled through every new theological fad until challenged to go back to the Church Fathers (by a Jewish rabbi no less!) and found himself in a new place of freedom that spanned time and cultures. Orthodoxy is the eternal song of the church, reminding us both where we have come from and of our eternal destiny as the people of a holy, creating and redeeming God of wonders.
Reading Wax is like a plunge into cold, clear, sparkling waters, awakening us from the dull, the tarnished, the clouded indifference of drifting from orthodoxy. It can be both intensely uncomfortable and utterly invigorating. Wax may make you angry or lead you into the delights of the splendor of God. What he won’t do is leave you nicely indifferent. He challenges our creeping universalism, our pragmatic activism divorced from its theological roots, and our accommodations to our culture’s sexual ethics. Yet I find nothing censorious in his tone but rather, as he puts it, a stance against the world for the world–that is out of deep love for what truly contributes to the flourishing of humans created in the image of God. This book is like the fire alarm that cuts through our dreaming slumbers allowing us to find our way to safety and freedom. It is also like the call of Gandalf to home-loving hobbits to glorious and risky adventures–except that the call to us is not a fiction but to an undying future hope.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.
Many are the voices echoing Bishop John Shelby Spong advocating “Christianity must change or die.” Orthodoxy is portrayed as dead, sterile, narrow, confining, and irrelevant. In an era of politicized Christianity, culture wars and accommodations, and moral scandals that have left many deconstructing their faith, the temptation is to associate dogma with dogmatism–the sooner abandoned the better.
Trevin Wax would contend just the opposite. Writing in the tradition of figures like G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers, he would advocate that the way forward for both personal and communal renewal in the church is to return to the central creeds of the church, those that have defined the “communion of the saints” across the millenia and around the world. He offers the following picture to articulate his vision of the “thrill” of orthodoxy:
“Orthodoxy is an ancient castle with spacious rooms and vaulted ceilings and mysterious corridors, a vast expanse of practical wisdom handed down from our forefathers and mothers in the faith. Some inhabit the castle but fail to sift through its treasures. Others believe the castle stands in the way of progress and should be torn down. A few believe the castle’s outer shell can remain for aesthetic purposes, so long as the interior is gutted. But in every generation, God raises up those who see the value in the treasure, men and women who maintain a deep and abiding commitment to recognize and accentuate the unique beauty of Christian truth so that future generations can be ushered into its splendor” (p. 9).
Wax defines orthodoxy as “the foundational truths, consistent with the Scriptures, upon which Christians through the ages have demonstrated agreement.”
He follows this introduction with a discussion of the ways we drift from orthodoxy, usually without intent. but rather with the complacent “of course.” Some drift into a place of affirming the faith to accepting a lifeless Christianity, distant from God. Some drift into a pragmatic, “whatever works” where action becomes detached from conviction and degenerates into niceness. Yet others downplay uncomfortable beliefs that they would jettison, and perhaps do. Finally, some become more enamored with the good the church can do rather than the transforming good the gospel can do. For each, the problem is gradual drift and the antidote is the thrill of orthodoxy.
Wax argues the adventure begins with discovering who God is and what God has done. While acknowledging mystery, he contends that it is not all mystery but that God has revealed himself and calls us to the encounter of a person: who do you say that I am? We discover that certain boundaries lead to freedom and that humility rather than arrogance is essential to the understanding of truth.
He contends against those who argue that we shouldn’t fuss with the details that details matter. He proposes, for example, that the belief in original sin leaves no room for any form of moral or class superiority–we are all tainted by sin and all need salvation without exception. Even a single letter matters, such as the difference between homoousios (that the Father and Son are of the same substance) and homoiousios (that the Father and Son are of similar substance). As Karl Barth noted, his theology could be summed up with the children’s song, “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.” The volumes of Barth’s theology flow from this simple statement.
One of the most striking chapters for me was that in which Wax contends that far from representing a broadening, heresy represents a narrowing. It ends up pitting one truth against another in attempt to make Christianity simpler. But to do so is always to make it smaller, less inclusive than the both-and of orthodoxy. He goes on to advocate for a humble but confident orthodoxy that neither accommodates itself to the world nor retreats from it but rather is “against the world for the world.” It is against self-help for salvation, against naturalism for a world of wonders, against sin for sanctification, and against wealth for true riches. Do you notice that, in all of these, orthodoxy wages battles against falsehoods for the love of the world and its people? When we lower the eternal stakes connected with orthodoxy, we raise the earthly stakes of other things–whether nationalism, racial purity, social justice as salvation, or whatever.
Orthodoxy beckons us to a quest of moral excellence and radical generosity that is always on the penitential path, becoming ever more aware of how far we have to go, and the grace that has been given us that calls us on. He argues that the beating heart of orthodoxy is not adaptation but application, where we take old truths and apply them to new situations, becoming a church that is always re-forming. He reminds us of the journey of Thomas Oden, who cycled through every new theological fad until challenged to go back to the Church Fathers (by a Jewish rabbi no less!) and found himself in a new place of freedom that spanned time and cultures. Orthodoxy is the eternal song of the church, reminding us both where we have come from and of our eternal destiny as the people of a holy, creating and redeeming God of wonders.
Reading Wax is like a plunge into cold, clear, sparkling waters, awakening us from the dull, the tarnished, the clouded indifference of drifting from orthodoxy. It can be both intensely uncomfortable and utterly invigorating. Wax may make you angry or lead you into the delights of the splendor of God. What he won’t do is leave you nicely indifferent. He challenges our creeping universalism, our pragmatic activism divorced from its theological roots, and our accommodations to our culture’s sexual ethics. Yet I find nothing censorious in his tone but rather, as he puts it, a stance against the world for the world–that is out of deep love for what truly contributes to the flourishing of humans created in the image of God. This book is like the fire alarm that cuts through our dreaming slumbers allowing us to find our way to safety and freedom. It is also like the call of Gandalf to home-loving hobbits to glorious and risky adventures–except that the call to us is not a fiction but to an undying future hope.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.
June 3, 2023
Sometimes I wonder whether it’s fair to grade books based on my level of enjoyment. There are a number of books that seem to cover the same material or make points covered in other books that I’ve already read, and because they seem like old hat to me I don’t enjoy them as much. But had I read that book before the others I might have thought it was great. So perhaps this one didn’t blow me away in part for that reason.
I’m also not sure that Wax satisfactorily proved his thesis, but he did make plenty of good points along the way.
And now for the data dump:
Re moral relativism:
“Many today put religion in the category of self-discovery and self-expression…When it comes to religion, just like everything else, there's your truth and my truth.
But the greater adventure is in exploring something beyond the depths of our own heart. The greater adventure comes when we find something beyond the realm of my perspective and your experience—truths we didn't invent or adapt to suit ourselves, but truths we discovered, to which we adapt.”
[p 38]
Re the value of theology:
“To those who say, ‘I just want to love God and leave aside all that theological stuff’ we must reply: theology is the discipline of knowing and understanding the God we are called to love. It would make no sense to tell someone, ‘I love you, but I don't really want to get to know you.’ The quest for knowledge is driven by the passion of love. Theology helps us better understand what it means to love God and others. Doctrine helps us distinguish true love from sentimental feelings that ebb and flow. Ethics help us see if, in the name of love, we may be harming someone else, no matter our good intentions.”
[p 74]
Re Karl Barth:
“It's said that when the theologian Karl Barth was asked to sum up his theology, he quoted the line from the famous hymn, most often sung by children, ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’ A simple statement of faith from a world-renowned theologian. But even that simple song builds on a foundation of riches.
Jesus loves me. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the One who is both God and man, the Messiah of Israel, whom we confess as Savior and Lord. Loves. Oh, how he loves! Me. Who am I? A human being, made in God's image, marked by sin, in need of salvation. A wretch and a masterpiece bundled into one. This I know. How do we know? What does it mean to know? The Bible tells me so. These Scriptures—our authority, divinely inspired and delivered to us. Can you see the glorious complexity behind the beautiful simplicity? We could write thousands of pages expounding every word of that children's hymn.”
[p 77]
Re Heresy:
“Heresies are never devoid of truth. You will always find some truth in theological error, something true in every heresy. In fact, one could say that drifting begins when a Christian weaponizes one truth against other truths. The appeal of heresy comes from its tight grip on one of the multiple truths affirmed by Christianity.
Error creeps in when people attempt to simplify Christianity by picking up one truth--a vital truth that makes up part of the Christian faith--and holding tightly to it while letting go of other important truths. Over time, that one truth, separated now from the rest of orthodoxy, gets called into action and becomes a weapon against Christianity's other truths.”
[p 85]
Re preaching:
“Too often, the person who rises with that Book delivers a message that blends in well with the advice and punditry we can get anywhere else, riffing on the week's news or delivering commentary on recent events, or challenging people to "shape up" and "be better" as if the primary purpose of our faith is personal improvement.
If our message has become little more than "make the world a better place, Christian proclamation has become wildly mis-directed, no matter how many doctrines we say we believe.”
[p 110]
Re Social Justice:
“The challenge for Christians is to remember that the Bible itself is pro-social justice, or we might say, ‘public righteousness.’ The Scriptures set forth a vision of both public and private righteousness, of justification by faith alone through the cross of Christ, and justice in society as the gospel works itself out in societal implications—in fact, the Scripture’s vision of divine justice is much more rigorous and exacting than the world's can ever be. The problem is, different movements, alongside other pseudo-religions, tap into these longings and respond in ways driven by philosophies that stand opposed to the gospel. Which means we cannot simply be knee-jerk anti-social justice, since our faith calls us to advocate and work toward a more just society. But neither can we be naively pro-social justice, if people understand ‘social justice’ to mean jumping on a bandwagon of various ideologies that, ultimately, run counter to biblical theology.”
[p 138]
Chesterton’s take:
“Disdaining a fixed set of dogmas merely replaces one set of dogma for another, and leaves us blind to just how dogmatically anti-dogma we are. ‘The dislike of defined dogmas,’ G. K. Chesterton wrote, ‘really means a preference for unexamined dogmas.’"
[p 184]
Re the extremes we need to avoid:
“The faithful few. Some church leaders survey the landscape of declining faith and determine the problem is always and ever the world.
The times are just too tough.
People can't stomach Christian truth anymore.
If a church is growing quickly in an environment like this, it must be due to compromise.
If you're of this mind, then a declining or dying church is a badge of honor because it shows your church is faithful…The faithful few make the adventure of orthodoxy one of survival. We have this precious treasure—the gospel—and were going to guard it with our lives. It doesn't matter if we grow. It doesn't matter if we go beyond our walls. The important thing is to huddle up and hold on to what we have.
The faithful few make maintenance the mission. Unlike a church that may be seeing decline for a variety of reasons (even when faithfully seeking to share the gospel), the faithful few abandon the task of evangelism and mission. Maintenance is what matters. And this focus on maintaining whatever we have leads a defensive posture toward the world. The church is a fortress... The problem is out there, and we must keep ourselves and our beliefs safe in here.
“The always adapting. Other church leaders survey the landscape of declining faith and determine the problem is always and ever the church.
Christians have become too rigid.
The church is too tied to archaic beliefs with little relevance to today.
We will lose the next generation if we remain unbending and unwilling to adapt to the modern era.
If a church is in decline—failing to engage the culture well or facing opposition- it's because the church has failed to update its belief system. It's too rigorous in its demands, hypocritical in its actions. The way forward is to adjust our teaching to reach beyond and stay vibrant in the next generation.
The always adapting make the adventure of orthodoxy one of progress. The way we move forward is by demonstrating our affinity with those around us, showing the world a church active and responsive, making a difference in ways that curry favor.
The always adapting make change the mission. We must move past the past if we are to embrace the future, accommodate the beliefs of young people, and remain viable in the next generation. If numbers are declining, it's because the church has grown bloated and corrupt, and remains tethered to outdated beliefs and practices. The problem is in here, and we must make our message more palatable to recruit new people from out there.
[p 170-171]
A summary:
“The beating heart of orthodoxy, the thrill of a living faith, is not in adaptation, but application. How do we take the old truths we've received and apply them to new circumstances?”
[p 175]
I’m also not sure that Wax satisfactorily proved his thesis, but he did make plenty of good points along the way.
And now for the data dump:
Re moral relativism:
“Many today put religion in the category of self-discovery and self-expression…When it comes to religion, just like everything else, there's your truth and my truth.
But the greater adventure is in exploring something beyond the depths of our own heart. The greater adventure comes when we find something beyond the realm of my perspective and your experience—truths we didn't invent or adapt to suit ourselves, but truths we discovered, to which we adapt.”
[p 38]
Re the value of theology:
“To those who say, ‘I just want to love God and leave aside all that theological stuff’ we must reply: theology is the discipline of knowing and understanding the God we are called to love. It would make no sense to tell someone, ‘I love you, but I don't really want to get to know you.’ The quest for knowledge is driven by the passion of love. Theology helps us better understand what it means to love God and others. Doctrine helps us distinguish true love from sentimental feelings that ebb and flow. Ethics help us see if, in the name of love, we may be harming someone else, no matter our good intentions.”
[p 74]
Re Karl Barth:
“It's said that when the theologian Karl Barth was asked to sum up his theology, he quoted the line from the famous hymn, most often sung by children, ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’ A simple statement of faith from a world-renowned theologian. But even that simple song builds on a foundation of riches.
Jesus loves me. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the One who is both God and man, the Messiah of Israel, whom we confess as Savior and Lord. Loves. Oh, how he loves! Me. Who am I? A human being, made in God's image, marked by sin, in need of salvation. A wretch and a masterpiece bundled into one. This I know. How do we know? What does it mean to know? The Bible tells me so. These Scriptures—our authority, divinely inspired and delivered to us. Can you see the glorious complexity behind the beautiful simplicity? We could write thousands of pages expounding every word of that children's hymn.”
[p 77]
Re Heresy:
“Heresies are never devoid of truth. You will always find some truth in theological error, something true in every heresy. In fact, one could say that drifting begins when a Christian weaponizes one truth against other truths. The appeal of heresy comes from its tight grip on one of the multiple truths affirmed by Christianity.
Error creeps in when people attempt to simplify Christianity by picking up one truth--a vital truth that makes up part of the Christian faith--and holding tightly to it while letting go of other important truths. Over time, that one truth, separated now from the rest of orthodoxy, gets called into action and becomes a weapon against Christianity's other truths.”
[p 85]
Re preaching:
“Too often, the person who rises with that Book delivers a message that blends in well with the advice and punditry we can get anywhere else, riffing on the week's news or delivering commentary on recent events, or challenging people to "shape up" and "be better" as if the primary purpose of our faith is personal improvement.
If our message has become little more than "make the world a better place, Christian proclamation has become wildly mis-directed, no matter how many doctrines we say we believe.”
[p 110]
Re Social Justice:
“The challenge for Christians is to remember that the Bible itself is pro-social justice, or we might say, ‘public righteousness.’ The Scriptures set forth a vision of both public and private righteousness, of justification by faith alone through the cross of Christ, and justice in society as the gospel works itself out in societal implications—in fact, the Scripture’s vision of divine justice is much more rigorous and exacting than the world's can ever be. The problem is, different movements, alongside other pseudo-religions, tap into these longings and respond in ways driven by philosophies that stand opposed to the gospel. Which means we cannot simply be knee-jerk anti-social justice, since our faith calls us to advocate and work toward a more just society. But neither can we be naively pro-social justice, if people understand ‘social justice’ to mean jumping on a bandwagon of various ideologies that, ultimately, run counter to biblical theology.”
[p 138]
Chesterton’s take:
“Disdaining a fixed set of dogmas merely replaces one set of dogma for another, and leaves us blind to just how dogmatically anti-dogma we are. ‘The dislike of defined dogmas,’ G. K. Chesterton wrote, ‘really means a preference for unexamined dogmas.’"
[p 184]
Re the extremes we need to avoid:
“The faithful few. Some church leaders survey the landscape of declining faith and determine the problem is always and ever the world.
The times are just too tough.
People can't stomach Christian truth anymore.
If a church is growing quickly in an environment like this, it must be due to compromise.
If you're of this mind, then a declining or dying church is a badge of honor because it shows your church is faithful…The faithful few make the adventure of orthodoxy one of survival. We have this precious treasure—the gospel—and were going to guard it with our lives. It doesn't matter if we grow. It doesn't matter if we go beyond our walls. The important thing is to huddle up and hold on to what we have.
The faithful few make maintenance the mission. Unlike a church that may be seeing decline for a variety of reasons (even when faithfully seeking to share the gospel), the faithful few abandon the task of evangelism and mission. Maintenance is what matters. And this focus on maintaining whatever we have leads a defensive posture toward the world. The church is a fortress... The problem is out there, and we must keep ourselves and our beliefs safe in here.
“The always adapting. Other church leaders survey the landscape of declining faith and determine the problem is always and ever the church.
Christians have become too rigid.
The church is too tied to archaic beliefs with little relevance to today.
We will lose the next generation if we remain unbending and unwilling to adapt to the modern era.
If a church is in decline—failing to engage the culture well or facing opposition- it's because the church has failed to update its belief system. It's too rigorous in its demands, hypocritical in its actions. The way forward is to adjust our teaching to reach beyond and stay vibrant in the next generation.
The always adapting make the adventure of orthodoxy one of progress. The way we move forward is by demonstrating our affinity with those around us, showing the world a church active and responsive, making a difference in ways that curry favor.
The always adapting make change the mission. We must move past the past if we are to embrace the future, accommodate the beliefs of young people, and remain viable in the next generation. If numbers are declining, it's because the church has grown bloated and corrupt, and remains tethered to outdated beliefs and practices. The problem is in here, and we must make our message more palatable to recruit new people from out there.
[p 170-171]
A summary:
“The beating heart of orthodoxy, the thrill of a living faith, is not in adaptation, but application. How do we take the old truths we've received and apply them to new circumstances?”
[p 175]
October 27, 2022
Trevin Wax has given us a gem of a book. Early in the book he writes "When we assume the gospel, it is a sign we've lost sight of the beauty before us. We wander when we lose our wonder." This is really the point of this book. Wax is trying to remind us and show us again how great orthodoxy (right/correct praise) is and how we need to recapture it. The church needs to see orthodoxy not as something dry and boring but instead inspiring and God glorifying. In this powerful book Wax makes this clear. This is a good book for both lay-people, Bible teachers and pastors. I highly recommend it.
January 24, 2023
G. K. Chesterton once commented on the marked difference between typical images found in Christianity and those found in Buddhism: "The Buddhist saint has a sleek and harmonious body, but his eyes are heavy and sealed with sleep. The medieval saint's body is wasted to its crazy bones, but his eyes are frightfully alive." As I read this book I kept thinking of that contrast, and Trevin Wax's The Thrill of Orthodoxy is an invitation to behold this full and transcendent faith we have been confronted with the only way possible: with frightfully wide-open eyes.
Wax lists out the ancient creeds which have, based on critical Biblical texts, formed a baseline of the Faith throughout the history of Christianity. Adherence to these stunning truth claims is what is called Orthodoxy, and deviations from it, heresy. Interestingly enough, these deviations are almost always thought in their time to be more thrilling than Orthodoxy. Human nature feels what C. S. Lewis called “the horror of the same old thing.” Imagine how much better it would be if we'd only triangulate some difficult truths and have something a little more palatable, say, make Jesus a created god, or adjust the sinner's dreadful position to needing only moral improvement? Others in our day reason if Christianity could only affirm other forms of sexual expression or allow more paths to God--how much more grand it would be than it is! But contrary to popular belief, heresy always diminishes the thrilling refulgence of God's external truth which demands our conformation, replacing it only with the dull, small corner of the individual. Heresy truncates, softens, bores--and like that Buddhist statue its eyes remain sleepily shut on self, closed to the brilliance just outside.
The thrill is in the dogma, the weighty facts that stand before us: Heaven and hell, the God-man, the bloody substitutionary atonement, the resurrection from the dead. As we peer deeper into them we see the water has no bottom and we are compelled to jump headlong into its subsurface. Its depth is the furthest thing from the comfort of domesticated heresies, it breaks us of our own desires and confronts us every step of the way. Orthodoxy is wild and demanding, threatening even, but there is no thrill that can match where it leads: the meeting of the living God.
And once we taste of it we can no longer content ourselves with the essentials. No, under every rock there is beauty to be found, under every doctrine something precious that matters and needs be defended. Wax quotes Peter Kreeft who says, "Christianity is not a hypothesis, it is a proposal of marriage"; which makes doctrinal nonchalance in an age of tolerance and greater unity really a "sign of lovelessness." The thrill is in the discovery of the facts, the keeping of those facts, and the defense of those facts—for they testify about a Person. Theology is not about being right, it’s about love.
Throughout, Wax shows various ways in which we may be tempted to fall away from the faith once delivered to the saints. From the often frequented paths of accommodation or retreat, to the lowering of eternal stakes in the name of temporal good, to downplaying Christ's challenging demands--we are met always with manifold ways to fall away from the truth. It is possible even in the honest defense of orthodoxy to fall into heresies! Thankfully the Spirit of God is powerful enough to keep us, and His message is sufficient to enamor us. Wax reminds, "The best way to avoid new errors is to love old truths, to hear the story fresh again and again, and to be caught up in the process of being slain and made alive by the gospel." The good news about an old story is not something to be taken for granted, it is rather the foundation of our continuance.
The Thrill of Orthodoxy is an excellent book and what is more is it is an example of how to reach people in a postmodern age. Once upon a time you could argue a case for truth and if the argument was sound, people would follow the argument. These days very few care to follow where the truth leads: "Who cares if it accords reality, my personal autonomy knows no such restrictions." How then do you reach people with no regard for the truth? I think you do what this book does. You tell them how wonderful the truth is, how infinitely more thrilling it is than their small counterfeits. "This grand story trumps your small story, come see for yourself!" It is able to, as G. K. Chesterton said, "smash your small cosmos, scattering the stars like spangles, and leave you in the open, free . . . to look up and down."
Wax lists out the ancient creeds which have, based on critical Biblical texts, formed a baseline of the Faith throughout the history of Christianity. Adherence to these stunning truth claims is what is called Orthodoxy, and deviations from it, heresy. Interestingly enough, these deviations are almost always thought in their time to be more thrilling than Orthodoxy. Human nature feels what C. S. Lewis called “the horror of the same old thing.” Imagine how much better it would be if we'd only triangulate some difficult truths and have something a little more palatable, say, make Jesus a created god, or adjust the sinner's dreadful position to needing only moral improvement? Others in our day reason if Christianity could only affirm other forms of sexual expression or allow more paths to God--how much more grand it would be than it is! But contrary to popular belief, heresy always diminishes the thrilling refulgence of God's external truth which demands our conformation, replacing it only with the dull, small corner of the individual. Heresy truncates, softens, bores--and like that Buddhist statue its eyes remain sleepily shut on self, closed to the brilliance just outside.
The thrill is in the dogma, the weighty facts that stand before us: Heaven and hell, the God-man, the bloody substitutionary atonement, the resurrection from the dead. As we peer deeper into them we see the water has no bottom and we are compelled to jump headlong into its subsurface. Its depth is the furthest thing from the comfort of domesticated heresies, it breaks us of our own desires and confronts us every step of the way. Orthodoxy is wild and demanding, threatening even, but there is no thrill that can match where it leads: the meeting of the living God.
And once we taste of it we can no longer content ourselves with the essentials. No, under every rock there is beauty to be found, under every doctrine something precious that matters and needs be defended. Wax quotes Peter Kreeft who says, "Christianity is not a hypothesis, it is a proposal of marriage"; which makes doctrinal nonchalance in an age of tolerance and greater unity really a "sign of lovelessness." The thrill is in the discovery of the facts, the keeping of those facts, and the defense of those facts—for they testify about a Person. Theology is not about being right, it’s about love.
Throughout, Wax shows various ways in which we may be tempted to fall away from the faith once delivered to the saints. From the often frequented paths of accommodation or retreat, to the lowering of eternal stakes in the name of temporal good, to downplaying Christ's challenging demands--we are met always with manifold ways to fall away from the truth. It is possible even in the honest defense of orthodoxy to fall into heresies! Thankfully the Spirit of God is powerful enough to keep us, and His message is sufficient to enamor us. Wax reminds, "The best way to avoid new errors is to love old truths, to hear the story fresh again and again, and to be caught up in the process of being slain and made alive by the gospel." The good news about an old story is not something to be taken for granted, it is rather the foundation of our continuance.
The Thrill of Orthodoxy is an excellent book and what is more is it is an example of how to reach people in a postmodern age. Once upon a time you could argue a case for truth and if the argument was sound, people would follow the argument. These days very few care to follow where the truth leads: "Who cares if it accords reality, my personal autonomy knows no such restrictions." How then do you reach people with no regard for the truth? I think you do what this book does. You tell them how wonderful the truth is, how infinitely more thrilling it is than their small counterfeits. "This grand story trumps your small story, come see for yourself!" It is able to, as G. K. Chesterton said, "smash your small cosmos, scattering the stars like spangles, and leave you in the open, free . . . to look up and down."
July 17, 2023
I’m a big fan of Trevin Wax. “The Thrill of Orthodoxy” is another solid book from a wise and nuanced voice. Wax argues that our desire for something new and fresh can lead us astray from the ancient truths God has give us. Instead of seeking out the new, he encourages us to be invigorated by old truths.
One of the benefits of many of Wax’s books is that he keeps the scope tight and his books on the shorter side. One of the downsides is that you often leave wanting more. For instance, I would have loved for Wax to delve more into the specifics of what constitutes orthodox doctrine.
I encourage you to read just about everything Wax has written, and “The Thrill of Orthodoxy” is no exception.
For more reviews see thebeehive.live.
One of the benefits of many of Wax’s books is that he keeps the scope tight and his books on the shorter side. One of the downsides is that you often leave wanting more. For instance, I would have loved for Wax to delve more into the specifics of what constitutes orthodox doctrine.
I encourage you to read just about everything Wax has written, and “The Thrill of Orthodoxy” is no exception.
For more reviews see thebeehive.live.
January 21, 2023
I went into this one thinking it would be good, not great. But it surprised me. It blessed me, too. Trevin is a fine, expressive and imaginative writer and these qualities emerge when he’s writing about something he clearly loves. I had originally given this book four stars, but a few days after completion found me genuinely loving it more as I reflected on it, and so I felt inclined to bump it up one. A good read indeed.
August 19, 2022
"The church faces her biggest challenge not when new errors start to win but when old truths no longer wow."
Trevin Wax takes us on a journey to rediscover what historic Christianity has to teach us, guard us and exhilerate us. While culture prods us leave the old for the new, he brings us back to the creeds and confessions which increase our wonder of the gospel and bolster our faithful living.
*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review!
Trevin Wax takes us on a journey to rediscover what historic Christianity has to teach us, guard us and exhilerate us. While culture prods us leave the old for the new, he brings us back to the creeds and confessions which increase our wonder of the gospel and bolster our faithful living.
*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review!
May 10, 2024
It’s a good book about a great idea of rediscovering the wonder and beauty of orthodoxy. The author draws in his audience with many illustrations and anecdotes that support his appeal in drawing folks back to the journey and struggle of right belief.
My reason for reading this book is that I believe Trevin Wax has observed that what many other believers have observed in the church today; that the gospel of Jesus and the true dogmas of faith are being diluted by the values of post modernity. Many times, discerning Christians witness such watered down preaching and teaching so that Word of God can be made palatable for sensitive ears.
But with that bleak observation also comes hope. True Christian orthodoxy is robust and has stood the test of time since the beginning of the church. Faithful followers of Jesus fought for its existence and perhaps have the most underrated legacies in history. Through there work, we have been handed down the various creeds in support of true orthodoxy that ground and orient our lives today. Now it’s up to us to preserve orthodoxy in its true form. And that’s the challenge the author gives us.
The book is very easy to read and understand. It also wasn’t as lengthy as I thought it would be. I listened to the audio version read by the author himself and he does a very good job. If you consider yourself an orthodox believer but have felt “drifted” with the times, this would be good book for you.
My reason for reading this book is that I believe Trevin Wax has observed that what many other believers have observed in the church today; that the gospel of Jesus and the true dogmas of faith are being diluted by the values of post modernity. Many times, discerning Christians witness such watered down preaching and teaching so that Word of God can be made palatable for sensitive ears.
But with that bleak observation also comes hope. True Christian orthodoxy is robust and has stood the test of time since the beginning of the church. Faithful followers of Jesus fought for its existence and perhaps have the most underrated legacies in history. Through there work, we have been handed down the various creeds in support of true orthodoxy that ground and orient our lives today. Now it’s up to us to preserve orthodoxy in its true form. And that’s the challenge the author gives us.
The book is very easy to read and understand. It also wasn’t as lengthy as I thought it would be. I listened to the audio version read by the author himself and he does a very good job. If you consider yourself an orthodox believer but have felt “drifted” with the times, this would be good book for you.
October 20, 2022
The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith
I received an advanced copy of Trevin Wax's new book The Thrill of the Orthodoxy.
I am giving this book five stars for the important nature of the subject matter in an era of post-modern sensibilities. I am a teacher at a Christian school. I am observing students whom have a hard time what is right or wrong; truth and error; up or down in a society that rejects truth claims, metanarratives, and moral imperatives. The roll of a book like The Thrill of the Orthodoxy is to remind us that the basics of the Christian faith are to send us on an adventure into exciting view of God's world through God's truth.
Trevin accurately and relvently explains the problem today. Many Christians are pragmatic. The Christians have left behind deep study of orthodox belief because they are embarrassed by the Christian beliefs, they just want to serve, or it is too difficult. Trevin's point of the book is to show that a believer taking on Christian Orthodoxy as a worldview will view the world as an exciting place. They will experience the "Thrill" because of their world walked with God. They will enter into an eternity with a real God. They will have something to fight for. Trevin wants us to understand that study of Christian Orthodoxy will lead to true worship. He introduces the readers to historical Christians who fought for orthodoxy.
My favorite chapter is chapter 7: Eternal Stakes;Epic Battle. Here Trevin navigates how a deep belief in the eternal will lead to a greater joy and fight today. The need for Christians to think through the beauty and glory of living with God for eternity will affect deeply this life. With eternal lens, the Christian will see the importance each person and each moment that they spend on earth. This is the "weight of glory." Everything we do and care for will affect the eternity to come.
I received an advanced copy of Trevin Wax's new book The Thrill of the Orthodoxy.
I am giving this book five stars for the important nature of the subject matter in an era of post-modern sensibilities. I am a teacher at a Christian school. I am observing students whom have a hard time what is right or wrong; truth and error; up or down in a society that rejects truth claims, metanarratives, and moral imperatives. The roll of a book like The Thrill of the Orthodoxy is to remind us that the basics of the Christian faith are to send us on an adventure into exciting view of God's world through God's truth.
Trevin accurately and relvently explains the problem today. Many Christians are pragmatic. The Christians have left behind deep study of orthodox belief because they are embarrassed by the Christian beliefs, they just want to serve, or it is too difficult. Trevin's point of the book is to show that a believer taking on Christian Orthodoxy as a worldview will view the world as an exciting place. They will experience the "Thrill" because of their world walked with God. They will enter into an eternity with a real God. They will have something to fight for. Trevin wants us to understand that study of Christian Orthodoxy will lead to true worship. He introduces the readers to historical Christians who fought for orthodoxy.
My favorite chapter is chapter 7: Eternal Stakes;Epic Battle. Here Trevin navigates how a deep belief in the eternal will lead to a greater joy and fight today. The need for Christians to think through the beauty and glory of living with God for eternity will affect deeply this life. With eternal lens, the Christian will see the importance each person and each moment that they spend on earth. This is the "weight of glory." Everything we do and care for will affect the eternity to come.
June 15, 2025
“Orthodoxy insists on keeping us from error, by believing in the ultimate triumph of truth, reminding us that our current moment is just that—a moment...We need a faith that stands strong where we would falter. And that’s what orthodoxy provides. It is truth that always takes on the world, and sometimes takes on the church, because in the end orthodoxy serves the good of both.”
What a helpful encouragement in the daunting task of approaching doctrine, deciphering and cherishing creeds, reading early church fathers, etc. Both an encouragement to the church and a challenge! REALLY good!!
What a helpful encouragement in the daunting task of approaching doctrine, deciphering and cherishing creeds, reading early church fathers, etc. Both an encouragement to the church and a challenge! REALLY good!!
November 28, 2023
A really important book. I wish all Christians and exvangelicals would read this and take the message to heart.
November 13, 2022
I read this book as part of a book launch team. This is my honest experience of reading the book. I would advise not reading the introduction (not written by the author) - it doesn't do the book any favours and is full of assumptions, cliches and negative comments about current Western culture, without really explaining what orthodoxy is. There's also a lot of talk about boredom which was not what I expected, having come to this work to understand what orthodoxy may be, to learn about the early church and Church Fathers (and mothers) and possibly what good theology looks like. Maybe even a discussion of systematic theology. The introduction also made me almost weep when the old chestnut was wheeled out that you (apparently) can't be creative and solidly theological "the very idea that one has to conform to established ideas is anathema to the creative artist, who may be more inclined to speak of the chill of orthodoxy". Arghhh.
Anyway, ignore the introduction - skip to the main text. Overall, the work suffers from dense, somewhat flabby overwriting and often too many ideas or examples put together all at once. When the work flows, the ideas are clear - in later chapters on heresy, dealing with questions and doubts and what the Christian life should look like in terms of orthodoxy. When the writing flows, there are some wonderful ideas expressed. I would have preferred some clearer definitions from the beginning - there was a lot of waffle to work through to get to the good stuff, if I'm brutally honest. I started keeping notes from the Intro onwards because I was much of the time struggling to keep tabs on what was being communicated.
At the beginning of the book, the text suffered from telling me what orthodoxy wasn't, rather than what it was. Clearer definitions of orthodoxy, theology etc from the beginning would have helped. 'We' was used a lot, when I think this maybe referred to Western Christians, not all Christians everywhere - given the examples that followed. I am concerned about the examples used generally - usual suspects - Dorothy L Sayer, Tolkein, Lewis, Aslan, Chesterton, Bonhoeffer appeared. Surely (in this day and age) there are Latinx, African nation, indigenous voices who could be used too rather than this narrow band of quotable Christians who appear again and again and again. Although later on it was stressed that orthodoxy, like the Church, is global. The use of Romania anecdotes would have benefitted from a year/time frame as it was portrayed as an economically undeveloped and struggling country, and yet the anecdotes sounded like they were not recent.
I'm still unsure quite what was being said about 'social justice' as points swung backwards and forward between it being a bad thing (when focused on as the main thing) to something that Christians should be engaged with as a result of orthodoxy.
The medieval gentil parfit knight illusions were a bit alarming, given the Crusades. About a third of the way in the author did mention abuse of power by Christians and the Church - within its structures and in historical/political events. I'm glad this was raised as I was unsure where the whole knightly illusion was going really. And where I am in this image as a woman - waving a hanky on the battlements, readying the trebuchets behind the scenes or donning my own armour?
Unevenness and some wobbly examples aside, in the later chapters of the book we do finally get to the Church Fathers (hooray for Athanasius); how the Church can work with questions, doubts and what honouring traditions really looks like. The best thing for me was the Creeds matched to the Scriptures influencing each declaration, and the idea that church, and indeed Christianity, should be a place of wonder, as spiritually older Christians (not age!) see the faith through the responses of the spiritually young (not age).
This book and I have had quite a fight all the way through reading - but I didn't expect this brilliant quote which has given me much to think about "We’ve lost a sense of the supernatural drama unfolding around us. We think of Jesus as a prophet, a teacher, a healer, a miracleworker. Rarely do we stress his role as exorcist. And yet, again and again in the Gospels, we see Jesus casting out demons, not through special rituals or incantations or magical objects common among exorcists in the ancient world, but through the power and authority of his spoken word."
Anyway, ignore the introduction - skip to the main text. Overall, the work suffers from dense, somewhat flabby overwriting and often too many ideas or examples put together all at once. When the work flows, the ideas are clear - in later chapters on heresy, dealing with questions and doubts and what the Christian life should look like in terms of orthodoxy. When the writing flows, there are some wonderful ideas expressed. I would have preferred some clearer definitions from the beginning - there was a lot of waffle to work through to get to the good stuff, if I'm brutally honest. I started keeping notes from the Intro onwards because I was much of the time struggling to keep tabs on what was being communicated.
At the beginning of the book, the text suffered from telling me what orthodoxy wasn't, rather than what it was. Clearer definitions of orthodoxy, theology etc from the beginning would have helped. 'We' was used a lot, when I think this maybe referred to Western Christians, not all Christians everywhere - given the examples that followed. I am concerned about the examples used generally - usual suspects - Dorothy L Sayer, Tolkein, Lewis, Aslan, Chesterton, Bonhoeffer appeared. Surely (in this day and age) there are Latinx, African nation, indigenous voices who could be used too rather than this narrow band of quotable Christians who appear again and again and again. Although later on it was stressed that orthodoxy, like the Church, is global. The use of Romania anecdotes would have benefitted from a year/time frame as it was portrayed as an economically undeveloped and struggling country, and yet the anecdotes sounded like they were not recent.
I'm still unsure quite what was being said about 'social justice' as points swung backwards and forward between it being a bad thing (when focused on as the main thing) to something that Christians should be engaged with as a result of orthodoxy.
The medieval gentil parfit knight illusions were a bit alarming, given the Crusades. About a third of the way in the author did mention abuse of power by Christians and the Church - within its structures and in historical/political events. I'm glad this was raised as I was unsure where the whole knightly illusion was going really. And where I am in this image as a woman - waving a hanky on the battlements, readying the trebuchets behind the scenes or donning my own armour?
Unevenness and some wobbly examples aside, in the later chapters of the book we do finally get to the Church Fathers (hooray for Athanasius); how the Church can work with questions, doubts and what honouring traditions really looks like. The best thing for me was the Creeds matched to the Scriptures influencing each declaration, and the idea that church, and indeed Christianity, should be a place of wonder, as spiritually older Christians (not age!) see the faith through the responses of the spiritually young (not age).
This book and I have had quite a fight all the way through reading - but I didn't expect this brilliant quote which has given me much to think about "We’ve lost a sense of the supernatural drama unfolding around us. We think of Jesus as a prophet, a teacher, a healer, a miracleworker. Rarely do we stress his role as exorcist. And yet, again and again in the Gospels, we see Jesus casting out demons, not through special rituals or incantations or magical objects common among exorcists in the ancient world, but through the power and authority of his spoken word."
January 6, 2023
My endorsement: “As the culture has become decadent, the church in the modern West has often followed suit, dull to the things of God and often worked up about pursuits that in the end are 'wood, hay or straw' (1 Cor. 3:12). Like the Corinthian church of old, we've become fleshly in our divisions and fixated on peripheral squabbles. If we're honest, we've become bored by the things 'of first importance' (1 Cor. 15:3)―we lose sight of the gospel and forget God. In The Thrill of Orthodoxy, Trevin Wax argues that the church faces her biggest challenge not when new errors start to win but when old truths fail to wow. With Chestertonian wit, joy, and incisiveness, he invites us into the great adventure of orthodoxy. If you're wavering in your faith or seeking a renewed wonder in the Christian life, then let Wax be your guide.”
March 10, 2023
Trevin Wax presents a helpful reminder in His book! I was challenged to appreciate historical Christianity. It was such a good reminder to know that orthodoxy has more nuance, and more open-mindness than heresy. He does an excellent job in showing how beautiful orthodoxy truly is, because it points us to Jesus Himself. He is a gifted writer for sure. My favorite line of the book is "It is not our job to keep Christianity alive, for Christianity is what keeps us alive" (page 207). This book is great for those who are tired of the same old truths. Don't abandon orthodoxy!!!
Yet I feel that He also presents some concerns, for me at least. I love His commitment to orthodoxy, and firmly believe that the notion that "deeds, not creeds", is seriously misguided. I wholeheartedly affirm the need to remain true to Jesus, and orthodox teachings.
Yet, my concern is how He tends to hold the history of the fight for orthodoxy as the standard. There is barely, if any mention of how Christians would drown each other for not holding to "orthodox" teaching. No mention of how "Orthodoxy" loving churches remained complicit with racial tensions and injustice in American history for (literally) centuries.
I'm also concerned about the lack of emphasis on orthopraxy. Too many Christians, liberal or conservative tend to divide orthodoxy and orthopraxy. If liberals tend to hold to deeds, not creeds, conservatives tend to uphold creeds as essential, and deeds as optional. Which is why you see in alot of conservative circles a high regard for people like Jonathan Edwards (who owned slaves), and yet a fear for those who are committed to racial justice (because as we know, that just sounds too "liberal"). No where in the book does He cite Titus 2:14, where Paul said that Christ died to make us "zealous for good works". The thrill of orthodoxy should lead us to zeal for good.
Take for example the parable of the sheep and the goats. Notice that those whom are goats, do not hear from Jesus: "I was sick, and you didn't hold to orthodoxy". No! He said, "I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’" (Matthew 25:43). It's concerning to me that the standard by which Jesus defines His sheep, does not have a heavy emphasis in the book.
This does not mean that orthodoxy is bad. 100% not! Some will read this review and still think I am against orthodoxy. Which only proves my point. I'm just pointing out how we can SEE the thrill of orthodoxy in those who hold to it: by their zeal for good works. And contrary to popular belief, what I am saying is now new. Orthodoxy, leading to orthopraxy, has been taught for years by so many believers. A healthy reading of Jesus' first followers will prove that.
That being said, I think the good in this book out-weighs the negative. He challenges the notion that just because something is new, doesn't mean it's good. He challenges the belief that merely doing good in the Christian faith is all God asks us to. He does an excellent job in showing us from the Scriptures that holding to orthodoxy is vital for our faith. That orthodox beliefs keeps us closer in step with the Gospel. I also love how He doesn't seem to bash any individual person. Books like these can often become a verbal attack on popular teachers and preachers, cloaked in the guise of "fighting for the faith". Despite my critique, I do believe Mr. Wax is being very pastoral. I really value that!
All in all I still believe it was a worthwhile book to read. This book seems to be written more for those who want to became an "ex-vangelical", which maybe (if I'm being generous) explains the lack of emphasis on ortho-praxy. If that's you, I would highly recommend this book! If you are someone who already sees the value of orthodoxy, you just want to be taught on how to live it, I would encourage you to maybe try another book.
Yet I feel that He also presents some concerns, for me at least. I love His commitment to orthodoxy, and firmly believe that the notion that "deeds, not creeds", is seriously misguided. I wholeheartedly affirm the need to remain true to Jesus, and orthodox teachings.
Yet, my concern is how He tends to hold the history of the fight for orthodoxy as the standard. There is barely, if any mention of how Christians would drown each other for not holding to "orthodox" teaching. No mention of how "Orthodoxy" loving churches remained complicit with racial tensions and injustice in American history for (literally) centuries.
I'm also concerned about the lack of emphasis on orthopraxy. Too many Christians, liberal or conservative tend to divide orthodoxy and orthopraxy. If liberals tend to hold to deeds, not creeds, conservatives tend to uphold creeds as essential, and deeds as optional. Which is why you see in alot of conservative circles a high regard for people like Jonathan Edwards (who owned slaves), and yet a fear for those who are committed to racial justice (because as we know, that just sounds too "liberal"). No where in the book does He cite Titus 2:14, where Paul said that Christ died to make us "zealous for good works". The thrill of orthodoxy should lead us to zeal for good.
Take for example the parable of the sheep and the goats. Notice that those whom are goats, do not hear from Jesus: "I was sick, and you didn't hold to orthodoxy". No! He said, "I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’" (Matthew 25:43). It's concerning to me that the standard by which Jesus defines His sheep, does not have a heavy emphasis in the book.
This does not mean that orthodoxy is bad. 100% not! Some will read this review and still think I am against orthodoxy. Which only proves my point. I'm just pointing out how we can SEE the thrill of orthodoxy in those who hold to it: by their zeal for good works. And contrary to popular belief, what I am saying is now new. Orthodoxy, leading to orthopraxy, has been taught for years by so many believers. A healthy reading of Jesus' first followers will prove that.
That being said, I think the good in this book out-weighs the negative. He challenges the notion that just because something is new, doesn't mean it's good. He challenges the belief that merely doing good in the Christian faith is all God asks us to. He does an excellent job in showing us from the Scriptures that holding to orthodoxy is vital for our faith. That orthodox beliefs keeps us closer in step with the Gospel. I also love how He doesn't seem to bash any individual person. Books like these can often become a verbal attack on popular teachers and preachers, cloaked in the guise of "fighting for the faith". Despite my critique, I do believe Mr. Wax is being very pastoral. I really value that!
All in all I still believe it was a worthwhile book to read. This book seems to be written more for those who want to became an "ex-vangelical", which maybe (if I'm being generous) explains the lack of emphasis on ortho-praxy. If that's you, I would highly recommend this book! If you are someone who already sees the value of orthodoxy, you just want to be taught on how to live it, I would encourage you to maybe try another book.
November 9, 2022
In our day Christian faith has been thrust to the margins of society. The cultural headwinds blowing against Christian conviction have grown ever stronger. Rising generations are less interested in the faith, and increasingly shrill secularists are preaching a religious ideology of their own in fierce opposition to Christianity.
Into this darkening scene, Trevin Wax's new book, The Thrill of Orthodoxy, breaks like a beam of unanticipated light, encouraging us to remember and recover the beating heart behind the historic doctrines of the faith.
Wax identifies four ways that believers are tempted to drift from the orthodox center, and shows the mistakes embedded in those ways. Instead, Wax encourages us to press in with new vigor to the full force of Christian orthodoxy, including Jesus’ hard moral teachings, the prodigal grace offered us in the gospel, and an unapologetic embrace of all the strangeness of Christianity: the miracles, the resurrection of Jesus, and our unabashed hope for his bodily return.
My favorite part of the book was how he connects living orthodoxy to the missionary encounter of the gospel with unbelief. If we maintain orthodox beliefs but withdraw from the world, we lose the adventure of the missionary encounter with people far from God. If we compromise orthodoxy in order to befriend the world, softening the bold claims of the gospel in hopes of a wider hearing, we also lose the missionary encounter with all its vigor and excitement. The thrill of orthodoxy surges when, as Jesus taught, we enter the Kingdom like a little child, wide-eyed in wonder at its truth and transforming power, and carry that truth and power, unaltered, to our neighbors.
G. K. Chesterton famously showed how classic Christian orthodoxy better explains and solves the ills of humanity than all our modern solutions and ideologies can. Wax’s book is a great extension of the Chestertonian tradition.
As one who gets the privilege of training a rising generation of new Christian leaders, I look forward to putting this book in the hands of many of my students.
Highly recommended.
Into this darkening scene, Trevin Wax's new book, The Thrill of Orthodoxy, breaks like a beam of unanticipated light, encouraging us to remember and recover the beating heart behind the historic doctrines of the faith.
Wax identifies four ways that believers are tempted to drift from the orthodox center, and shows the mistakes embedded in those ways. Instead, Wax encourages us to press in with new vigor to the full force of Christian orthodoxy, including Jesus’ hard moral teachings, the prodigal grace offered us in the gospel, and an unapologetic embrace of all the strangeness of Christianity: the miracles, the resurrection of Jesus, and our unabashed hope for his bodily return.
My favorite part of the book was how he connects living orthodoxy to the missionary encounter of the gospel with unbelief. If we maintain orthodox beliefs but withdraw from the world, we lose the adventure of the missionary encounter with people far from God. If we compromise orthodoxy in order to befriend the world, softening the bold claims of the gospel in hopes of a wider hearing, we also lose the missionary encounter with all its vigor and excitement. The thrill of orthodoxy surges when, as Jesus taught, we enter the Kingdom like a little child, wide-eyed in wonder at its truth and transforming power, and carry that truth and power, unaltered, to our neighbors.
G. K. Chesterton famously showed how classic Christian orthodoxy better explains and solves the ills of humanity than all our modern solutions and ideologies can. Wax’s book is a great extension of the Chestertonian tradition.
As one who gets the privilege of training a rising generation of new Christian leaders, I look forward to putting this book in the hands of many of my students.
Highly recommended.
Read
November 3, 2023Audiobook- lu libby
Ok I didnt want to listen to this but it ended up being only option & boom I really liked it and I could recognize Wax’s voice from AG so that was neat.
Wax gave examples of respdctable ways we forsake orthodoxy, which are followed by detrimental heresy. We naturally drift, so we need to deliberately fight the current.
Notes while reading
“Disdaining dogmas as a unity is still using dogma for unity.”
Both are wrong and are proven over and over again as heresy by forefathers in the faith.… If we do not have commitment toward direction, we walk in circles. We need commitment toward a set map.
There is this idea that the gospel is the golden rule, that we need more doers not hearers, not people who know theology, but people who love thy neighbor. There’s no separation in scripture. We need knowledge in order to love. For a pragmatic culture that puts deeds over creeds. As an old creed says the scriptures and creeds, tell us who God is, and what our duty is before him. There’s no separation between doctrine and works.
Getting rid of orthodoxy is getting rid of informed worship, we can’t worship God if you don’t know who he is
To believe in orthodoxy is to believe that truth always triumphs.
Purity seems to be the only thing the church says they are different on, but what about orthodox generosity? Or orthodox fellowship, selflessness, etc. Love how the author touched on Scripture’s radical call in *every* area, how the Church stood out in a sundry of ways, when we grow in knowledge of Christ and his commands, we grow in conviction and action
Good book for complacent christians, those who say theology isnt for them type, author gave gospel in the beginning and the end i think- wouldve been cool if book talked about the error in “orthodox” denominations. Another guy needs to do that. But this wouldve been a good opportunity to lay out the delusions in “orthodox” churches with idols and goofy traditions.
Ok I didnt want to listen to this but it ended up being only option & boom I really liked it and I could recognize Wax’s voice from AG so that was neat.
Wax gave examples of respdctable ways we forsake orthodoxy, which are followed by detrimental heresy. We naturally drift, so we need to deliberately fight the current.
Notes while reading
“Disdaining dogmas as a unity is still using dogma for unity.”
Both are wrong and are proven over and over again as heresy by forefathers in the faith.… If we do not have commitment toward direction, we walk in circles. We need commitment toward a set map.
There is this idea that the gospel is the golden rule, that we need more doers not hearers, not people who know theology, but people who love thy neighbor. There’s no separation in scripture. We need knowledge in order to love. For a pragmatic culture that puts deeds over creeds. As an old creed says the scriptures and creeds, tell us who God is, and what our duty is before him. There’s no separation between doctrine and works.
Getting rid of orthodoxy is getting rid of informed worship, we can’t worship God if you don’t know who he is
To believe in orthodoxy is to believe that truth always triumphs.
Purity seems to be the only thing the church says they are different on, but what about orthodox generosity? Or orthodox fellowship, selflessness, etc. Love how the author touched on Scripture’s radical call in *every* area, how the Church stood out in a sundry of ways, when we grow in knowledge of Christ and his commands, we grow in conviction and action
Good book for complacent christians, those who say theology isnt for them type, author gave gospel in the beginning and the end i think- wouldve been cool if book talked about the error in “orthodox” denominations. Another guy needs to do that. But this wouldve been a good opportunity to lay out the delusions in “orthodox” churches with idols and goofy traditions.
January 25, 2024
Confidence-building and encouraging. This book draws inspiration from ancient creeds and church history to show us the beauty (and thrill) of orthodoxy. Trevin Wax shows us different ways Christians might be tempted to drift today, but ultimately makes a convincing argument for holding to ancient truths. In a world and culture that often seems out of control, and where “truth” is fluid, we can be grounded by “digging down to the bedrock of our faith.”
I listened on audio, so some of these are not exact quotations, but here are some notes I took as I listened:
We wander when we lose our wonder.
The best way to counter the drift toward heresy is with the thrill of orthodoxy.
The best way to avoid new errors is to love old truths.
Orthodoxy is an adventure of discovery, not invention.
Heresy says either/or where orthodoxy says both/and.
Yes, the church has often missed the melody of the gospel. We’ve gotten the tune all wrong. We’ve remixed and revised the song until the chords of grace become unrecognizable. But the good news is, the song is alive. The truth stands tall no matter how far we fall short.
In the name of freedom we lead the next generation into slavery to their sexual impulses.
In the name of progress we expect the church to let go of her unbending, unchanging promotion of chastity and to join the rest of the world in this immoral morass.
A god who only affirms you is a god indifferent to your betterment.
The beating heart of orthodoxy, the thrill of a living faith, is not in adaptation, but in application. How do we take the old truths we’ve received and apply them to new circumstances?
*This is a great companion to the Reconstructing Faith podcast, which Trevin Wax hosts.
I listened on audio, so some of these are not exact quotations, but here are some notes I took as I listened:
We wander when we lose our wonder.
The best way to counter the drift toward heresy is with the thrill of orthodoxy.
The best way to avoid new errors is to love old truths.
Orthodoxy is an adventure of discovery, not invention.
Heresy says either/or where orthodoxy says both/and.
Yes, the church has often missed the melody of the gospel. We’ve gotten the tune all wrong. We’ve remixed and revised the song until the chords of grace become unrecognizable. But the good news is, the song is alive. The truth stands tall no matter how far we fall short.
In the name of freedom we lead the next generation into slavery to their sexual impulses.
In the name of progress we expect the church to let go of her unbending, unchanging promotion of chastity and to join the rest of the world in this immoral morass.
A god who only affirms you is a god indifferent to your betterment.
The beating heart of orthodoxy, the thrill of a living faith, is not in adaptation, but in application. How do we take the old truths we’ve received and apply them to new circumstances?
*This is a great companion to the Reconstructing Faith podcast, which Trevin Wax hosts.
September 10, 2023
Wax represents the best of those evangelicals committed to theological retrieval, the great Christian tradition, and a traditional Christianity. This book is an aesthetic exercise and admirably puts the orthodox faith before the reader as the story that is worth pursuing.
Ultimately, it feels hamstrung by its evangelical commitments. This is especially evident in the “Reforming Catholic Confession” included in the back. For my part, the thrill of orthodoxy and a genuine commitment to the tradition means leaving those modern expressions of the faith that are simply out of step with apostolic Christianity. I think evangelicalism is greatly served by books like this, and every evangelical needs to wrestle with the Christian heritage. At the same time, I think those evangelicals interested in retrieval need to realize there are elements of evangelicalism that become untenable when you are steeped in the fathers and ancient practices.
Ultimately, it feels hamstrung by its evangelical commitments. This is especially evident in the “Reforming Catholic Confession” included in the back. For my part, the thrill of orthodoxy and a genuine commitment to the tradition means leaving those modern expressions of the faith that are simply out of step with apostolic Christianity. I think evangelicalism is greatly served by books like this, and every evangelical needs to wrestle with the Christian heritage. At the same time, I think those evangelicals interested in retrieval need to realize there are elements of evangelicalism that become untenable when you are steeped in the fathers and ancient practices.
May 1, 2025
Wax celebrates the beauty and adventure of standing firm on the faith once for all delivered. A great book to read devotionally in this year of Nicea’s anniversary.
I will say about chapter 8 that Wax’s reading of the Sermon on the Mount sees Jesus’s kingdom demands as a part of his gospel. I’m concerned that this reading functionally lowers God’s standards and would’ve preferred that Wax had kept Jesus’s high demands for us and his promise to fulfill the law more distinct.
I will say about chapter 8 that Wax’s reading of the Sermon on the Mount sees Jesus’s kingdom demands as a part of his gospel. I’m concerned that this reading functionally lowers God’s standards and would’ve preferred that Wax had kept Jesus’s high demands for us and his promise to fulfill the law more distinct.
January 30, 2025
“It is not our job to make Christianity relevant but to demonstrate Christianity’s eternal relevance”
This book is an amazing little book urging the Church to remember to stand firm in Historical Orthodox Christian belief that has stood for 2000 years, and to not be swayed by the cultural fads and movements of our day. Historical Christian belief (Orthodoxy) is a treasure trove of beauty and adventure and is actually in many ways the solution to the pain and confusion of our world.
This book is an amazing little book urging the Church to remember to stand firm in Historical Orthodox Christian belief that has stood for 2000 years, and to not be swayed by the cultural fads and movements of our day. Historical Christian belief (Orthodoxy) is a treasure trove of beauty and adventure and is actually in many ways the solution to the pain and confusion of our world.
August 28, 2023
Wasn't sure what to expect from this-- really helpful book that I didn't know was needed! Wax does a great job drawing out the importance of truly loving and dwelling on the central tenets of Christianity, not simply vaguely affirming them. His analysis of how this "of course" dismissal of basic doctrines leads to the path of heresy and discussion of how destructive this path can be is truly helpful/
January 5, 2024
Really good read. Wax does a good job painting a picture of why historic, orthodox, Christian truth is not just an obligation but a joy for the church.
Only hang up was at times it got a little repetitive.
All in all really strong read that I would recommend to others.
Only hang up was at times it got a little repetitive.
All in all really strong read that I would recommend to others.
January 24, 2023
An incredibly helpful book for our current cultural moment. But, honestly, for any moment.
"Assuming orthodoxy is the path to abandoning orthodoxy." Trevin Wax
"Assuming orthodoxy is the path to abandoning orthodoxy." Trevin Wax
January 12, 2024
Great reminder about why timeless, Bible based theology is important. Favorite thought from the book, "How many Universalists are rushing to the adventure of the foreign mission field?"
January 13, 2023
This is a beautiful book that is reinvigorating my faith. Trevin Wax does a wonderful job walking the reader through the core tenets of the faith bringing a deeper understanding of the creeds. It is in the discipline of the creeds that we experience freedom and better understanding of God's Word. What a gift to people in the church. This is Trevin's finest book and I plan on using it in my church to help others. I've given the book to my pastors as well to encourage them.
March 29, 2024
“The most rebellious thing we can do in a world that prioritizes nonconformity above all is to stand out from the crowd by deliberately conforming our soul, mind, and body to a truth bigger than ourselves and our desires.” (37)
October 25, 2022
Are the basic truths of the Bible boring? In The Thrill of Orthodoxy, Trevin Wax walks you through rediscovering the adventure of Christian faith.
Creeds and Confessions
Wax refers to orthodoxy as “the foundational truths, consistent with the Scriptures, upon which Christians through the ages have demonstrated agreement. Creeds and confessions can help summarize Scripture, helping the church speak truthfully about what we believe about God. They are like guardrails, keeping us in line with what Scripture says. Read this book to strengthen your faith, finding motivation in the many saints who have come before.
We are all prone to drift from orthodoxy. Wax says that we should not let culture or our own sinful inclinations push us along. Instead, we should be “swim upstream,” pushing against the current — realigning ourselves at all times with the truth. The adventure is in rediscovering the truth, encountering God and knowing him as a person. This book is convicting and will compel you towards truth.
Urgent and Important
I was most moved to see Wax take matters of orthodoxy as urgent and important. While some want the Bible to only be positive and encouraging, the New Testament writers actually issue warnings on the reality of spiritual danger. The Christian life is not boring; Wax reminds us that we are in a spiritual battle. When you truly believe and understand this, even your prayers become powerful in awakening your heart in adventure.
What I most appreciated was how Wax refers to church history throughout the book. From silencing issues at The Council of Sirmium to the errors of Abelard and Pelagius, there is much to learn and look out for. The book ends with an encouragement. While false teachers and erroneous thinking will continue to come, we can fight by pushing further into God and his word. the church of the living God will be championed, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
I received a media copy of The Thrill of Orthodoxy and this is my honest review.
Creeds and Confessions
Wax refers to orthodoxy as “the foundational truths, consistent with the Scriptures, upon which Christians through the ages have demonstrated agreement. Creeds and confessions can help summarize Scripture, helping the church speak truthfully about what we believe about God. They are like guardrails, keeping us in line with what Scripture says. Read this book to strengthen your faith, finding motivation in the many saints who have come before.
We are all prone to drift from orthodoxy. Wax says that we should not let culture or our own sinful inclinations push us along. Instead, we should be “swim upstream,” pushing against the current — realigning ourselves at all times with the truth. The adventure is in rediscovering the truth, encountering God and knowing him as a person. This book is convicting and will compel you towards truth.
Urgent and Important
I was most moved to see Wax take matters of orthodoxy as urgent and important. While some want the Bible to only be positive and encouraging, the New Testament writers actually issue warnings on the reality of spiritual danger. The Christian life is not boring; Wax reminds us that we are in a spiritual battle. When you truly believe and understand this, even your prayers become powerful in awakening your heart in adventure.
What I most appreciated was how Wax refers to church history throughout the book. From silencing issues at The Council of Sirmium to the errors of Abelard and Pelagius, there is much to learn and look out for. The book ends with an encouragement. While false teachers and erroneous thinking will continue to come, we can fight by pushing further into God and his word. the church of the living God will be championed, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
I received a media copy of The Thrill of Orthodoxy and this is my honest review.
November 29, 2022
In the Thrill of Orthodoxy, we are encouraged to be reawakened concerning the truths of the Christian faith, and its significance in the face of our culture and false teaching. We must guard ourselves against drifting from the truth and from temptations to alter it by holding to proper orthodoxy, and how and why we should do so. As stated in the forward, “What is ultimately at stake in preserving orthodoxy is the truth about God, the gospel, and ourselves. And what is thrilling about orthodoxy is the enduring relevance of its truth.”
My biggest takeaway reading this book is the importance of passing on the truths of orthodoxy as well as skills to discern truth in our current culture and whatever it may become; likewise, to also seek to inspire the younger generation to understand the importance of and desire orthodoxy not only in knowledge but in practice and with love.
There were many nuggets throughout each chapter of the book that I took in deeply and gleaned so much from. A few of these were:
“Nothing could be more important for confessing our faith in Jesus than a proper understanding of the One whose name we bear.”
“Christians care about getting the details right because we recognize the consequences of getting them wrong.”
“The beating heart of orthodoxy begins with the childlike wonder of conversion, and the heart of orthodoxy beats on as we celebrate and see the world through the conversion of others.”
For me, the book’s later chapters were mostly better than the earlier ones. While reading the first half I was ready to rate it 3 stars; however, later chapters led me to raise it to 3.5 stars. My favorite sections of the book were the discussions of the Church fathers and their working through doctrine (such as Augustine and Pelagius) as well as the chapter on heresy.
I received a review copy of this book for free from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.
My biggest takeaway reading this book is the importance of passing on the truths of orthodoxy as well as skills to discern truth in our current culture and whatever it may become; likewise, to also seek to inspire the younger generation to understand the importance of and desire orthodoxy not only in knowledge but in practice and with love.
There were many nuggets throughout each chapter of the book that I took in deeply and gleaned so much from. A few of these were:
“Nothing could be more important for confessing our faith in Jesus than a proper understanding of the One whose name we bear.”
“Christians care about getting the details right because we recognize the consequences of getting them wrong.”
“The beating heart of orthodoxy begins with the childlike wonder of conversion, and the heart of orthodoxy beats on as we celebrate and see the world through the conversion of others.”
For me, the book’s later chapters were mostly better than the earlier ones. While reading the first half I was ready to rate it 3 stars; however, later chapters led me to raise it to 3.5 stars. My favorite sections of the book were the discussions of the Church fathers and their working through doctrine (such as Augustine and Pelagius) as well as the chapter on heresy.
I received a review copy of this book for free from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.
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