Chaplain Mike, who has taken up Michael Spencer’s mantle at Internet Monk, has a great post up today about misunderstandings of the Ancient-Future (some might say paleo-orthodox) approach to Christianity. He begins with some negatives:

1. Ancient-Future is not about “older is better.”
2. Ancient-Future is not about being “high church.”
3. Ancient-Future is not about being liturgical vs. non-liturgical.
4. Ancient-Future is not about using only traditional music or elements of worship.
5. Ancient-Future is not about ceasing to be Protestant (or…whatever).

Then he affirms some positives:

1. Ancient-Future is about embracing a theological perspective of “classic Christianity.”
2. Ancient-Future is about maintaining a vital, organic, respectful connection to our Christian history and heritage.
3. Ancient-Future is about restoring a robust doctrine and practice of the church and her authority in the life of the faithful.
4. Ancient-Future is about practicing liturgical wisdom and integrity in our worship.

Chaplain Mike mentions the “Vincentian canon” along the way, which gives me a good enough excuse to add an icon of St. Vincent of Lérins to my sidebar.