How could this book be considered anything other than excellent?

Most Christians believe that unity is an unachievable aim, especially when considering that the Christian tradition is wrought with fractures. But to be "one" is the prayer of Christ and the command of Scripture. Therefore, until this is realized, the church is not as it should be. Peter J. Leithart states, "The church's unity is a fact, rooted in Christ himself, the work of the one Spirit who animates many members of the body, and the promise of God the Father to gather the nations in Abraham's seed." We have work to do.

The End of Protestantism is a biblically grounded, theological driven, and historically robust challenge to the present state of affairs in Christianity. Leithart's argument is compelling, though deeply challenging. But the dream Leithart describes is nothing less than the dream of Christ, a vision born of a spiritual reality which beckons wonder and a longing for deep faith, without which true unity cannot be had. Leithart writes, "God has promised to unite humanity, and so we can be confident he will do so." That is a grand claim.

Leithart writes, "Talk about 'the end of Protestantism' will sound pretentious. But we must take the risk." This book is both a step and a prophetic call to all who follow Jesus Christ, not only to seek unity and to work to achieve it, but to trust Christ and the Spirit to guide us, "even when we do not know where they are leading us--which is all the time." Yes, that may be a risk, but with God it is surely a risk we can have confidence in taking.

If your committed to denominationalism, or if you are highly skeptical concerning Christian possibilities for unity, you should be the first to read this book. Of course, this book is for Christians seeking a way forward as well, and who are open to a timely challenge. This work is timely, prophetical, theologically sound, and filled with fresh exegetical insight. May the church heed this call, and dare to trust Christ to bring about the reality which he has established, and for which he has died and risen, to the wonder and amazement of all.

Peter's reading of both John 17 and Gal 2, taking the implications of both texts seriously for the church's present and future, is refreshing. He's injected hope that is not rosy but is rightly placed: the Spirit is at work in the church. Combined with his biblical-theological insights, and his observations about where and how Christianity is spreading today, he's given a convincing argument that needs not just to be paid attention to but worked out between churches within their own cities and communities.

As a devout Bible based Christian, I struggled with the first two thirds of this book, and its premise that an ideal church is one where all the splinters are reabsorbed into the Catholic fold. Our author gives minimal lip service to the issue of Mariolatry, even going so far as to coach his language to gloss over some of the ancestral worship issues, and not until the very end of his presentation does he acknowledge that significant changes need to be made in a reformed Catholic Church, if the Body of Christ is to actually Re-form, as is his desire. While it was nice that he FINALLY got to that point in his presentation, it was a very weak and late address of this problem.

Union in the body is highly desireable, but I look at a couple of quotes from Mr. Leithart early in his writing that he then seemed to walk away from.

Loc 1666
"Time moves forward by periodic deaths and resurrections: worlds take form, decay, and collapse, and new worlds take their place. God makes worlds, dismantles them, and rebuilds. This is the pattern of biblical and church history."

Loc 2777
"But if the biblical pattern holds, the church of the future is not continuous with the church of the present, any more than the temple was simply a refurbished tabernacle or the church a slight upgrade of Judaism."

If these two quotes hold true, then a New Body of Christ will form out of the remnants, rather than the Catholic Church maintaining its supremacy, even if in a morphed form, as it reabsorbs the Orthodox and Protestant.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of review at Netgalley.com .

Although a little dry, the topic is very appealing. The author knows church history, and makes a solid argument. I wish the book had gone into "if Protestantism ends, what next?"