Church without prisoners: On the twentieth anniversary of A Peculiar People

This article reassesses the seminal ideas of Rodney Clapp’s 1996 A Peculiar People on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary. Clapp observes that Christianity has lost, or seems to have lost, its cultural prestige and prominence and that Christians have responded to the emergence of a post-Christian society in two unhelpful ways: relinquishment and retrenchment. Some believers try to make the Gospel relevant to society by imitating social trends and commercializing the faith. This Clapp calls relinquishment. Retrenchment refers to the tempting impulse to “reclaim America,” its politics and culture, for the Christian cause. Clapp offers a third way, envisioning the church as a peculiar people formed by forgiveness and Eucharist—a church not imprisoned and without prisoners. The article reflects on the nature of Christian community in terms of the ancient problem of “the one and the many” and the dictum, “no salvation outside the church.” In opposition to atomistic individualism, a robust biblical notion of church starts and ends as one body with many members. In contrast to modern notions of autonomy, salvation is found in the community of faith as personal identity is found in family. In the final analysis, Clapp appeals to friendship as a key Christian practice that holds the community of faith together but also subverts the powers of a post-Christian society.