The Latin phrase Quo vadis? means, “Where are you going?” The most famous occurrence of the expression is found in John 13:36 (cf. 16:5) where Peter asks Jesus this question prior to the crucifixion. This reference is later picked up and further developed in the apocryphal Acts of Peter. More recently, Quo Vadis? has been the title of a novel, written by Henry Sienkiewicz and set at the time of Roman Emperor Nero in A.D. 64, in which Marcus Vinicius, a Roman patrician, falls in love with a young Christian woman, Lygia. Since it came out in 1896, the book has been translated into over 50 languages, and its author was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905. Famously, Hollywood made the book into an epic movie in 1951 (MGM).

In case you haven’t seen the movie, or read the book, I will not spoil your enjoyment by telling you the ending. In any case, my primary concern is not with the movie, or the book Quo Vadis?, or even Peter’s original question to Jesus. I believe that once again, in our day, the question is appropriate to ask of the evangelical movement at large: “Where are you going, evangelicals?” There are some who stress doctrinal fidelity, including biblical inerrancy, defined in terms of a literalism that insists on us having the ipsissima verba (“exact words”) of Jesus in every instance in the New Testament. There are others who insist that “evangelical” can mean just about anything. In between, there is a large variety of definitions and understandings. In fact, there seem to be almost as many views on what it means to be evangelical as there are evangelicals.

I am currently working on a project tentatively titled, Quo Vadis, Evangelicals? (due out with Crossway Books at the end of the year) which poses this question in search for informed, even prophetic, answers. The book takes its point of departure from the 50^th anniversary of publication of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society which I edit and surveys 9 selected presidential addresses over its publication history from 3 major periods. In my introduction I seek to weave together a metanarrative of these guiding visions in order to document the quest of the leaders of the Evangelical Theological Society (which is admittedly only a part of evangelicalism at large) to develop an evangelical identity in the last half-century.

I believe the volume will be highly instructive, and it is my hope that the book will serve as a guiding light as evangelicals continue to pursue God’s calling in today’s world to be both salt and light and to preach the one pure gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

by Andreas Köstenberger - February 16th, 2007.
Filed under: Theology.