Paleo-orthodoxy (from Greek paleo "ancient" and orthodoxy "correct belief") is a broad Christian theological movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries which focuses on the consensual understanding of the faith among the Ecumenical Councils and Church Fathers. While it understands this consensus of the church fathers as orthodoxy proper, it calls itself paleo-orthodoxy to distinguish itself from neo-orthodoxy, a movement that was influential among Protestant churches in the mid-20th century. [1]
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Paleo-orthodoxy sees the essentials of Christian theology in the consensus of the old church before the schism between the Orthodox Church and the Roman-Catholic Church (the East-West Schism of 1054) and before the separation between the Roman-Catholic Church and Protestant Churches (the Protestant Reformation of 1517), described in the canon of Vincent of Lérins as "Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus" ("What [is believed] everywhere, always and by everyone").
The dominant figure of the movement is United Methodist theologian Thomas C. Oden of Drew University, who has published a series of books not only calling for a return to "classical Christianity" but also providing the tools to do so. The recent collection of essays in honor of Oden, Ancient & postmodern Christianity: Paleo-orthodoxy in the 21st Century (Kenneth Tanner, Christopher Alan Hall, eds.) also offers a good glimpse into some of the theologians active in this area: Robert Jenson, Christopher Hall, Amy Oden, Bradely Nassif, David Mills, Robert Webber, Geoffrey Wainwright, Carl Braaten, Stanley Grenz, John Franke, Alan Padget, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Richard John Neuhaus, et al. Similar approaches can be found in the theology of Marva Dawn, a Lutheran; Alister McGrath, a Church of England Reformed evangelical; Andrew Purves, a Presbyterian; Dr. Timothy George (Baptist),and Christopher Hall, an Episcopalian.
Among Oden's works, either as writer or editor, in support of paleo-orthodoxy are:
Works by other authors: