Oden adopted the term paleo-orthodoxy for his approach to theology. The term is derived from the roots "paleo" (meaning "ancient") and "orthodox" (meaning "correct belief"), so it essentially means "ancient correct belief". He has written, "The term paleo-orthodoxy is employed to make clear that we are not talking about neo-orthodoxy. Paleo- becomes a necessary prefix only because the term orthodoxy has been preempted and to some degree tarnished by the modern tradition of neo-orthodoxy" (Requiem, p. 130). Odens' name was further linked to the term "paleo-orthodoxy" and to the idea of the movement by the publication of Ancient & Postmodern Christianity: Paleo-Orthodoxy in the 21st Century: Essays In Honor of Thomas C. Oden (2002).