Review: Paul the Storyteller

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Cover image of "Paul the4 Storyteller" by Christoph Heilig

Paul the Storyteller: A Narratological Approach, Christoph Heilig. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802878953) 2024.

Summary: A narratological approach showing that Paul combines implicit and explicit narratives, making him a gifted storyteller.

In my biblical training, we learned to distinguish genres, with the gospels generally consisting of narrative, whereas the letters of Paul were examples of discourse. Of course, neither of this is strictly true. Furthermore, two key New Testament scholars, Richard B. Hays and N. T. Wright pioneered “narrative approaches” to Paul. However, they dismissed the idea of explicit narratives in Paul, observing “narrative substructures (Hayes) or “implicit worldview narratives” (Wright).

Christoph Heilig, while appreciating the pioneering work of these scholars, believes they are wrong in dismissing explicit narratives. He wrote a 600 page dissertation (in German) in 2018. This work follows the organization of the dissertation but is about half the length and in English. He takes the narrative approach a step further, engaging in narratological analysis at a linguistic, grammatological level. While he confirms the use of implicit narrative, he also demonstrates that Paul incorporates a number of explicit narratives.

He begins with a definition of narrative by Kindt and Köppe: “A text is a narrative if and only if it deals with at least two events that are ordered temporally and connected in at least one further meaningful way.” He shows different ways this may be done and discusses the interpretation of story, using biblical examples. Then in chapter two, he turns to the grammar of narration and all the ways events may be linguistically connected. This is not for the faint of heart, running to nearly 100 pages. Grammar nerds will love it, especially Greek grammar nerds.

Chapter three turns to narratives within the wider context of Paul’s works. Explicit narrative connects to a broader frame narrative of Paul’s letters, Chapter four then turns to implicit “protonarratives” in Paul, offering numerous examples of these. Then, in chapter five, he returns to Hays and Wright, confirming aspects of their proposals, and arguing for much closer attention to the way Paul implicitly and explicitly narrates. Particularly, he critiques Wright’s worldview narrative approach as focused more on overarching plot rather than building up from careful analysis of both explicit narrative and implicit protonarratives.

As you may deduce, this is a rigorously technical account, putting forth an argument for a narratological approach to Paul. In addition to contributing to a larger scholarly conversation, Heilig offers resources to enrich the exegesis of Paul’s writing, foundational work, first for commentators, and then for preachers. While it is not easy work, good exegetical work never is. I hope Heilig will build upon and model this work in a commentary (or two!) on one of the Pauline letters.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Hollow

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Cover image of "The hollows" by Agatha Christie

The Hollow (Poirot, 26), Agatha Christie. William Morrow (ISBN: 9780062073853) 2011 (first published in 1946).

Summary: When Poirot sees Dr. John Christow lying dead poolside with Christow’s wife holding the gun, the murderer seems obvious.

John Christow is a Harley Street physician. His patients love him. But his real passion in medicine is not the stream of patients to his office, but his efforts to cure Ridgeway’s Disease, focused on one gritty old woman, Mrs. Crabtree. His other passion? Women. He’s had a string of affairs before and after the dutiful and seemingly dull-witted Gerda, who is waiting his lunch upstairs. He’s slow to see his last patient thinking of Henrietta Savernake, his current affair, who he will see at the Hollow this weekend.

The Hollow is the country home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell. All the relations are coming. Henrietta is Sir Henry’s cousin and an accomplished sculptress. Edward Angatell is a distant cousin, and the holder of the family home, Ainswick. He’s a bachelor but has loved Henrietta since they were teens. Meanwhile, Midge Hardcastle is a young cousin of Lucy’s, and has always held an affection for Edward. She renounced any family support, working in a dressmaker’s shop. Finally, David Angkatell is the youngest, a bookish, aloof, introvert who doesn’t seem to like anyone, but stands to inherit Ainswick if Edward has no children.

The one responsible for this gathering is Lucy. Forgetful, blunt, conniving, and surprisingly shrewd, she is the one who stage manages this gathering, as well as the family relationships and future, as best she can. She’d like to get Edward and Henrietta together and even loosen up young David. One thing she fails to control is the sudden appearance of actress Veronica Cray, resident of a nearby cottage, needing to borrow a box of matches. John Christow is starstruck. Before his marriage to Gerda, he and Veronica had a torrid affair, broken off because he wouldn’t follow her to Hollywood. She asks him to escort her home. But he doesn’t return until 3 am the next morning.

The next day is Sunday and Poirot is coming to lunch at Lucy’s invitation. As it turns out he has a modest cottage nearby. Just before he arrives, a gunshot rings out. Henrietta and Edward arrive to find John Christow lying by the pool, bleeding out from a fatal gunshot wound. And Gerda is standing over him as Poirot arrives and takes in the scene. Poirot kneels by the dying doctor, who intently looks at him, speaking one word. “Henrietta.” Then he dies. Henrietta, unwisely perhaps, takes the gun from Gerda only to have it fall into the pool, wiping out any fingerprints.

When Inspector Grange arrives, he’s pretty sure Gerda is guilty, even though she claims to have picked up the gun lying by Dr. Christow. Yet things aren’t as they seem. Ballistics reveal another gun killed him, possibly another from Sir Henry’s gun collection that is missing. Gerda goes free to mourn while the search is on. And there’s a country house of suspects. Was Henrietta jealous? What did Christow’s last word mean? What about Veronica Cray, who was heard fighting with Christow and threatening him earlier that morning? Even Gudgeon, the butler, and Lucy are spotted with guns. But when the murder weapon is found, the prints don’t match any of these people.

Poirot talks to all of them. And he comes away with the sense they all know something. The clues seem staged. But by whom? And for what end? In the end, Poirot will figure it out, preventing one more murder as he does so.

This was Christie at the top of her game. An intricate plot, numerous red herrings, and the diverting subplot around Edward. All the ingredients for a great country house murder!

Review: Jesus Changes Everything

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Cover image of "Jesus Changes Everything" by Stanley Hauerwas

Jesus Changes Everything (Plough Spiritual Guides), Stanley Hauerwas, edited by Charles E. Moore with an Introduction by Tish Harrison Warren. Plough Publishing House (ISBN: 9781636081571) 2025.

Summary: The radical implications of Jesus’ call to follow him for every area of life from personal to societal.

Did answering the call of Jesus to follow him turn your life upside down (or rather right side up)? Stanley Hauerwas has maintained through all of his writing that Jesus changes everything. Following him isn’t about inspiring messages followed by polite chit-chat in the church lobby that has little effect on life Monday through Saturday. Rather, this collection of readings from his works demonstrates how Jesus indeed changes everything from our life orientation to our identification with God’s people to our money, our pursuit of peace, and even our politics.

The book is organized in six sections. What follows is a brief summary to highlight what you will find:

Part I: Following Jesus. Jesus call is a call to follow him, giving him our ultimate allegiance, even unto death, to get out of the boat far from shore and come to him. It’s not a call to an abstract kingdom but into relationship with the living, breathing king. But to follow this king is not a modification of the existing social order, but to become part of a new social order. While love is central to that life, it is love defined by the cross, where Jesus fully identifies with sin and suffering to raise us to new life.

Part II: Good News. The good news is that in Christ the impossible of the sermon on the mount becomes possible. There is really more to life than living for ourselves. Jesus means it when he calls us to be perfect because that perfection is already in effect in him, and may be in us as we look at and follow him. This way of living subverts the existing social order as it embraces a community of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Part III: God’s Alternative Society. At Pentecost, God created something new out of people from every language group. Specifically he created the alternative society called church. It is a society characterized by truth and charity. It is our first family through baptism. For Hauerwas, this has radical implications for marriage, which is supported and derived from our other commitments. Hauerwas contends, “You do not fall in love and then get married. You get married and then learn what real love requires.’

Part IV: Kingdom Economics. Hauerwas is blunt. We have a problem with wealth and we try to soften the radical teaching of Jesus. The issue is whether we see our goods voluntarily at the disposal of others and are able to say “enough” to ourselves. To not offer help we are able to give is theft. Even the prayer for daily bread is for our bread. He asks whether we are closer to the extravagant Mary or the grifting Judas.

Part V: Sowing Seeds of Peace. The way of Jesus is the way of peace. He made peace with God and with one another possible at the cross. He challenges Christians to practice this when we have grievances and he speaks a challenging word to divisive political partisanship. Any identification of Christianity with party or nation is idolatrous. Rather Christians are to “help the world find habits of peace.” He unflinchingly calls Christians to non-violence which may mean “that we and those we love cannot be spared death.” This is dangerous business, only to be contemplated with the hope of the resurrection. He makes the modest proposal that Christians begin by at least agreeing that they will not kill each other.

Part VI: The Politics of Witness. The question is not which party or policies ought the church support. Instead, Hauerwas argues,

“Put starkly, the first task of the church when it comes to social ethics is to be the church. Such a claim may well sound self-serving or irrelevant until we remember that what makes the church the church is its faithful manifestation of the peaceable kingdom in the world. As such, the church does not have a social ethic; the church is a social ethic.”

Jesus alone is king. Rather than killing for freedom, we are called to faithfulness, even unto death. Instead of seeking social status through political alliances, we pursue our freedom to be the church apart from any social order. Rather than the polite society of Sunday mornings being the church could actually get us in trouble, Hauerwas concludes; “By God, sisters and brothers, being Christian could turn out to be more interesting than we had imagined.”

More interesting indeed. This is an uncomfortable book. But it has the ring of truth as being faithful to the one who went to the cross and bids us die. Charles E. Moore captures the message of Hauerwas across the years, and articulates an alternate path to quiet discouragement or political captivity. He skillfully edits the readings to make this a seamless composition. He also offers a brief biography of Hauerwas complemented by an Introduction by former Times columnist Tish Harrison Warren.

I love these Plough Spiritual Guides. Each one I’ve read calls me into both an encounter with Christ, and to the life of following him. This one is no exception. If you are discouraged with the state of the contemporary church, pick this up. It will both challenge your heart and capture your imagination.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Waiting for God

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Cover image for "Waiting for God" by Simone Weil

Waiting for God, Simone Weil, Translated by Emma Craufurd with Introduction by Leslie A. Fiedler. Harper & Row Perennial Library (ISBN: 0060902957) 1973 (Originally published in 1951, link and cover photo are to current edition in print).

Summary: Weil’s correspondence with her mentor and four essays on her religious thought focused around loving and attending to God.

Simone Weil is a “one off” figures. She struggled with migraine headaches. She worked tirelessly while paying little heed to her own nourishment or her worsening tuberculosis. Weil struggled with her intellectual inferiority to her brother, the mathematician Andre Weil, mostly because she struggled with geometry while producing profound religious and philosophic insight. She died young, at the age of 34.

Waiting for God captures the essence of her spiritual journey and insights into one’s relationship with the transcendent God. The title captures a theme running through the correspondence and essays that make up this book. In “The Love of God and Affliction” she writes:

“How are we to seek him? how are we to go toward him? Even if we were to walk for hundreds of years, we should do no more than go round and round the world. Even in an airplane we could not do anything else. We are incapable of progressing vertically. We cannot take a step toward the heavens. God crosses the universe and comes to us.”

Life consists of waiting for God to come to us in love and stir in us love for him. And in her spiritual autobiography written to her priestly mentor, Father Perrin, she describes how during prayer at Assisi and in reciting George Herbert’s poem, “Love,” “Christ himself came down and took possession of me.” Yet despite this profound encounter, she never felt she could enter the church.

Her letters to Father Perrin that make up the first part of this collection, explain her reasoning. Part of her answer is that she does not believe she loves God enough to deserve the grace of baptism. Another aspect is that while she loves the saints and liturgy, she does not love the church. Instead, she fears the flawed influence it might have upon her as a social structure, Thus, she anticipates many of the objections of the “nones” who would describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. While her intellectual integrity prevents her from entering the church, she takes great pains to express her gratitude to Father Perrin. At one point, she writes,

“In gaining my friendship by your charity (which I have never met anything to equal), you have provided me with a source of the most compelling and pure inspiration that is to be found among human things. For nothing among human things has such power to keep our gaze fixed ever more intensely upon God, than friendship for the friends of God.

What a friend Father Perrin must have been!

Then the second part of the book turns to her essays. First is her essay on school studies. Having worked in student ministry, this essay was worth the price of admission. Specifically, Weil draws the connection between prayer and study in the act of attention. In particular, the “lower attention” given to disciplined study develops this faculty in prayer. But I also found myself wondering whether attention in our prayers also may make us attentive in our studies.

From here she discusses “The Love of God and Affliction.” She speaks of the corrosive effects of enduring affliction on the soul and how help may only be found at the foot of the cross. Only by grace may we enter into an apprenticeship of obedience that awaits the coming of God to us.

Her longest essay is “Forms of the Implicit Love of God.” The essay is divided into sections on the love of neighbors, the order of the world, religious practices, friendship, and implicit and explicit love. In contrast to the clarity of her shorter letters, I found this essay more difficult to follow. Perhaps the best way to describe it is that it read a bit like the Pensees with her thoughts grouped under the subheadings.

However, she concludes on a high note in a line by line meditation upon the “our Father.” As have many others she concludes that the prayer “contains all possible petitions; we cannot conceive of any prayer not already contained in it.”

This is but one of the many works she produced, most published posthumously. I differ with her at points. For example, we will never deserve grace, in baptism or anything else. Yet hers is a voice that comes from outside of our echo chambers. Above all, her insight that life consists in waiting for and attending to God captures the heart of Christian devotion.

Review: Light Unapproachable

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Cover image of "Light Unapproachable" by Ronni Kurtz

Light Unapproachable, Ronni Kurtz. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514007105) 2024.

Summary: An explanation of the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility as well as God’s gracious accommodation.

“God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16, NIV)

There is a paradox in the verses above. On one hand God lives in unapproachable light. Of ourselves we cannot approach the light, let alone the God who lives in it. From this, and verses like this, theologians speak of divine incomprehensibility. Yet these verses describe God as blessed, as ruler, king, and absolute Lord, immortal, and they tell us of God’s living in unapproachable light. That is, these verses do speak of God truthfully, faithfully, and worshipfully. While God in God’s self is incomprehensible, Paul affirms there are things about God that God has revealed, that we may apprehend.

In Light Inapproachable, Ronni Kurtz unpacks how we can affirm both aspects of this paradox. While affirming the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility, Kurtz does not believe this leaves us in a place of not being able to say anything of God. Rather, he believes God accommodates our creaturely nature, as he did Moses, in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:19-23).

First, Kurtz lays the groundwork for a definition of divine incomprehensibility. He observes there is a biblical tension between the imperatives to “know the Lord” and the indicatives speaking of the unknowability and unsearchability of the Lord. He addresses a number of misperceptions about incomprehensibility. Finally, he identifies two ditches to avoid: theological despair and theological idolatry. With that, he offers the following definition of divine incomprehensibility:

“Divine incomprehensibility affirms that God the Creator is wholly other than his creatures and the distinction between the two renders God out of the rational jurisdiction of the creature’s theological and intellectual comprehension. In no way can the creaturely imagination comprehend the divine nature as it truly is. As the finite will never circumscribe the infinite, the creaturely mind will never surround all that is in God. Since God as God is out of reach for the mind of the creature, so too is God as god out of reach for the words and names of the creature. Divine incomprehensibility necessitates divine ineffability as the creaturely limits, combined with the otherness of God, means that we cannot either fully know or name God as he really is in se” (pp. 20-21).

Kurtz begins this project by developing the biblical doctrine of incomprehensibility. As a result, he identifies scripture that declares the doctrine, others that demonstrate the doctrine and those that demand it. He then turns to a historical theological treatment. He begins with Chrysostom and his response to the Anomoeans, who maintained that humans could comprehend God. And he recounts Chrysostom’s five homilies that refute this idea. Then he shows how the Cappadocian fathers further developed the doctrine. Next, he discusses Pseudo-Dionysius and The Cloud of Unknowing. While recognizing the importance of negation and mystery, Kurtz argues against the pessimism of a completely negative theology. By contrast, he discusses how Aquinas spoke both of incomprehensibility and knowability. He concludes his discussion with the Reformation, and the more contemporary work of Herman Bavinck.

Part Two of the book moves from retrieval to constructive theology. Kurtz begins with a discussion of the dogmatic location of incomprehensibility. Specifically, he develops what was implicit in his definition, that the doctrine properly is located in the Creator/creature distinction. In contending this, he argues against locating the doctrine in either human sinfulness or in the “size” of God. Regarding sin, he observes that the sinless angels cannot fully comprehend God. And it is not that God is larger but rather that God is wholly other that makes God incomprehensible.

But how then may we speak of God at all? Our creaturely inability does not rule out God’s ability to graciously accommodate our creatureliness and reveal something of Himself. Specifically, through anthropomorphisms (describing God in terms of human parts), anthropopathisms (describing God through human passions and volition) and anthropochronisms (describing God in terms of human time and chronology), God accommodates himself to our creatureliness. He does so analogically, in which the term, while not signifying what God in himself is like, conveys through the creaturely shadow, reflects what is true and meaningful of God. This truth is ectypal, that is, a revelation in creation patterned after the archetypal knowledge of God, which is unknowable.

Finally, Kurtz concludes by discussing the implication of both God’s incomprehensibility and gracious accommodation. This bids us to humility but not hopelessness and calls us into a theology of prayer and pilgrimage. He proposes the vivid images of the limp of Jacob and the awe of Moses.

Kurtz writes clearly about the incomprehensible and with clarity about this doctrine. The combination of biblical, historical, and constructive theology in a relatively slim text makes this both accessible and substantial. And his pastoral approach of humility and hope that runs through the book translates this from abstract theologizing to truths we might embrace in both worship and life.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

The Weekly Wrap: March 16-22

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woman in white crew neck t shirt in a bookstore wrapping books
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Library Love

“Feel good” stories seem increasingly scarce. This one involved a woman walking into her local library to renew her library card. What is unusual is that Lily Walter is 104 and received her first library card 100 years ago in Latvia. An immigrant to the United States in 1949, she describes her passion for reading in this way: “You learn things by reading, I think. Or you should.” In her eighties and nineties, she worked as a volunteer at the Hubbard Public Library, near my home town of Youngstown.

Lily’s story is one of the reasons I am a passionate believer in the importance of our libraries. It’s why I spent part of Monday this week calling my House and Senate representatives to protest proposed cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. While such cuts are only a small part of most libraries’ total budget, they usually fund targeted programs like veterans outreach or summer reading programs at libraries. This means libraries are faced with diverting funds, raising local levies, or cutting programs.

Lily began reading at four years old. I was a childhood reader as well and a visit to the library was as much fun for me as a visit to the candy store. My family had modest means. The library gave me access to resources wealthier children had at home, enabling me to be valedictorian of my high school class and win an academic scholarship to college. Libraries were a part of my “success story.” That’s what I told my representatives–that, and that I wanted others in my shoes to have the same opportunities.

If you want to know more about the President’s executive order and sign a petition opposing the cuts, visit the EveryLibrary site. And if you want your heart warmed, here is an interview with Lily Walter:

Five Articles Worth Reading

Speaking of reading for life, Ted Gioia, in “My Lifetime Reading Plan” shares how he, though a college grad, largely educated himself through his own reading. He describes the reading practices that helped him. One interesting insight: he read old books when he was young and young books as he grew older.

Have you ever picked up a book you thought was new to you, started reading it, only to realize that you’d read and forgotten it? I have. Turns out we’re in good company, as we learn in “The Patron Saint of Forgetting” on Michel Montaigne’s famed forgetfulness of things he’d read.

We hear of people who have changed their minds and celebrate this as a mark of intellectual honesty. In “It’s Hard to Change Your Mind. A New Book Asks If You Should Even Try,” Kieran Setiya reviews a new work by novelist Julian Barnes that raises questions about the possibility of changing our minds.

I’m a lover of crime fiction of all sorts. One sub-genre is the Private Eye Detective story. This week, The New York Times released “Classic Private-Eye Detective Novels: A Starter Pack” which includes some classics I’ve not yet read.

Can you imagine earning six figures for writing one article? Bryan Burrough describes how much he earned for one article in “Vanity Fair’s Heyday” under editor Graydon Carter, who was at the helm of the publication from 1992 to 2017.

Quote of the Week

Children’s writer and poet Phyllis McGinley was born on March 21, 1905. She observed:

“Words can sting like anything, but silence breaks the heart.”

Any of us who have had a friend “ghost” us without explanation know the truth of this.

Miscellaneous Musings

The book sounded intriguing, exploring Paul’s use of narrative, something we don’t usually associate with Paul’s letters. The writer amply made his case, going for a far deeper drive into grammar (in Greek!) than I had expected. I’m neither a grammar nor Greek geek, so this one was really a stretch!

I’m curious about a lot of things but it can get the better of me at times, especially when I try to write a review of a book plainly out of my “wheelhouse.” A recent read on monetary policy was a case in point. I hope the aficionados on the subject will be as gracious as the author, who re-posted the review. It was publicity, and I hope I accomplished what I always try to do, which is to give people enough to decide if they want to buy the book.

I wasn’t looking for another reason not to like Meta and then I learned how they used LibGen, a file sharing site for print articles and books, to train its generative language AI. LibGen itself is under accusations of copyright violations as is Meta. One thing that is clear is that authors neither gave permission for their works to be used in this way nor received any payment for their intellectual property. This Atlantic article describes the allegations against Meta and includes a feature where you can search authors to see what they’ve used. For example, a search of J.R.R. Tolkien turns up just about everything he has written.

Next Week’s Reviews:

Monday: Ronni Kurtz, Light Unapproachable

Tuesday: Simone Weil, Waiting for God

Wednesday: Stanley Hauerwas, Jesus Changes Everything

Thursday: Agatha Christie, The Hollow

Friday: Christoph Heilig, Paul: The Storyteller

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for March 16-22, 2025!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page

Review: Free Agents

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Cover image of "Free Agents" by Kevin J. Mitchell

Free Agents, Kevin J. Mitchell. Princeton University Press (ISBN: 9780691226231) 2023.

Summary: An argument based on the evidence of the development of nervous systems, for the evolution of individual agency–free will.

Philosophers have long debated whether human beings have free will or are creatures determined by the various forces that impinge upon us. Then enter the neurobiologists who have been able to increasingly map the fine structures and neural networks of the brain. They have accounted for a vast array of animal and human behaviors For many in the field, they have concluded that ultimately, we only have the illusion of free will. We only think we are thinking and deciding.

Kevin J. Mitchell, while accepting the evidence of evolutionary neurobiology, argues otherwise. He believes there is evidence that human beings, and perhaps other species, have agency that is not an illusion but an evolved quality. There are at least two strands to his argument. First, he traces evolutionary history from single-celled organisms to human beings. The simplest organisms have sensory abilities oriented toward sustaining life (seeking nutrients) and avoiding harm (from poison to predators). Over several chapters he shows how, as multicellular organisms developed, giving way to more complex species, that sensory apparatus developed. Neural inputs fed into ganglia, and eventually a cerebral cortex. Increasingly complicated responses developed to the variety of inputs involving layered and connected neural networks. In human beings, this resulted in a large pre-frontal cortex with semantic capabilities carrying the possibilities of thought and meaning within the recursive and layered neural processes.

The other part of Mitchell’s argument is based on quantum effects and neural “noise” factors that introduce indeterminacy into the system. He argues that this creates room for choice in what might otherwise be a determined system. Combined with human evolution, this allows space for higher level thinking, consciousness of self, and real agency.

He also argues against an approach to freedom as a lack of prior influences on choice. He argues that we have greater freedom when we have access to these factors and can draw upon them. This means we enjoy degrees of free agency rather than some impossible “absolute freedom.”

Until reading Mitchell’s book, I thought there were only two major options. One is dualism which posits a non-material mind, consciousness, or soul interacting with the brain. The other is reductive materialism where we are our brains and agency is illusion. What Mitchell posits is a third option, cognitive realism, in which neural patterns comprising “thoughts” may have causal power based on what they “mean.”

As interesting as this is, I still can see this collapsing into reductive materialism. All of what he posits is rooted in material processes. All material is subject to quantum indeterminacy. Random probability is different from free agency.

Mitchell is still making a materialistic argument. While I recognize that philosophic dualism has its own challenges, not least that it is incapable of scientific proof, I found that Mitchell was dismissive of this long tradition of thought that has its own explanatory power in terms of what it means to be human. Mitchell relegates this to “the ghost in the machine” language, and in doing so thinks he has satisfactorily dismissed it. Yet I wonder if he has substituted material for non-material “ghosts.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Beren and Lúthien

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Cover image of "Beren and Lúthien" by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien

Beren and Lúthien, J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien, with illustrations by Allen Lee. HarperCollins (ISBN: 9781328915337) 2018.

Summary: An edited collection of different versions and extracts of one of the most celebrated love stories of Middle-earth.

The tale of the love story of Beren and Lúthien was considered by J.R.R. Tolkien one of the chief stories of The Silmarillion, published posthumously with the editorial work of his son Christopher. Beren and Lúthien is one of the last edited works by Christopher Tolkien before his death in 2020, along with The Fall of Gondolin, which followed it. It reflects Christopher’s work in collecting, ordering, and editing his father’s various writings in creating the world of Middle-earth. As in other works, Tolkien’s telling of the story evolved over time and this work shows that development.

The story in brief, is of Beren, a refugee of wars with Morgoth that wiped out his people. He wanders into the elvish realm of king Thingol. There, he sees Lúthien (or Tinuviel) dancing in a glade and falls in love, which Lúthien reciprocates. But her father sets a high price for her hand, a Simaril (a precious and powerful jewel) in the crown of Morgoth. After many perils Beren is imprisoned. There are various versions, one involving imprisonment by a great cat. Sauron holds him captive in another. Lúthien, whose dances have the power to enthrall to sleep, comes to his rescue, aided by the great hound, Huan. They succeed in liberating Beren. Subsequently, she uses her powers to enter Morgoth’s fortress, subduing to sleep Morgoth long enough for Beren to cut the Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown.

Alas, they cannot escape without encountering the great wolf who guards the gate of Morgoth, now wide awake. All Beren can do is ram his hand down the wolf’s throat, which bites it off, holding the Silmaril, which drives the wolf mad, allowing their escape. How they recover the Silmaril and the further lore around Beren and Lúthien, in several versions, are all here.

As I’ve mentioned. Christopher Tolkien provides various versions of the story and extracts of parts of it from an early rendering with the cat, later replaced by Sauron, various passages with variations on the story, a lengthy verse rendering of much of the story in The Lay of Leithian, and various versions of the return and afterlife of Beren and Lúthien, as well as the subsequent history of the Silmaril.

In addition, Alan Lee provides nine full-color plates of incidents in the tale. Also, Christopher Tolkien adds an annotated list of names and glossary. This is helpful to keep straight so many names of persons and places.

In conclusion, Christopher Tolkien gives Middle-earth fans a trove of background surrounding this great story. In doing so, he helps us understand afresh the monumental world-building effort of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was so great that it took two generations (at least) to bring it all into published form.

Review: Scripture in Doctrinal Dispute

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Cover image of "Scripture in Doctrinal Dispute" by Frances M. Young

Scripture in Doctrinal Dispute (Doctrine and Scripture in Early Christianity, Volume 2), Frances M. Young. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802882998) 2024.

Summary: A study of how scripture was used in the doctrinal controversies concerning the Trinity and Christology.

One of the challenge early teachers in the church faced was how to articulate the evidence of the biblical text when discussing the nature of God as well as the nature of Christ as the Incarnate Son of God. These questions came to a head in the fourth and fifth centuries. The Council of Nicea in 325 AD and Constantinople in 381 AD articulated the church’s doctrine of the Trinity, of God’s singular nature subsisting in three persons. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD addressed the nature of the Incarnate Christ as the person of the divine Son, who subsisted in two natures, divine and human.

What Frances M. Young does in this second volume of her study of doctrine and scripture in early Christianity is show how the scriptures were used by the different parties to these controversies. The book begins in setting the stage with the discussions on the nature of God in the earliest centuries where the Oneness of God was affirmed but also the three persons of the Godhead. The ambiguities that remained led to further controversy.

Chapters 2 and 3 focus on the discussions of the Trinity. Chapter 2 addresses the challenge of Arius and his use of scripture and the response of Athanasius and Basil of Caesarea. Chapter 3 focuses on the Cappadocians and the decisive work of Gregory of Nyssa leading up to Constantinople. Chapters 4 and 5 turn to the unresolved questions about Christology. Chapter 4 contrasts the exegesis of Hebrews by Chrysostom and the interpretation of the Gospel of John by Cyril of Alexander. Chapter 5 centers on the polemic between Cyril and Nestorius over whether Mary was theotokos (Cyril) or christotokos (Nestorius).

Then Chapter 6 summarizes Young’s findings of the use of scripture. One was the importance of the Rule of Faith and baptismal creeds as summaries of scripture. These didn’t resolve controversy but pushed the church to articulate clearly the nature of the Godhead, Father, Son and Spirit, in whose name new converts were baptized and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ who they confessed. Young also observes how the process of “prooftexting” and the effort to express the overall teaching called for extrabiblical terms to express the mind of scripture, terms like ousia (substance) and hypostases (persons). Citing Augustine, Young notes both how doctrine informs right reading of scripture and the wrestling with the body of scripture leads to refined doctrinal understanding. She concludes that it is in worship where scripture and doctrine coinhere.

I would say in reading Young, one has to work to keep the forest in view with all the “trees” in the discussion. In addition to keeping a thumb in the detailed table of contents, it might have helped to have some summaries in tabular form. Absent these, the studious reader may want to take their own notes and outline.

Young describes a process far “messier” than many of us might like. Even after the councils, not all agree, as is the case with the Nestorians. Her discussion also underscores that everyone here treated scripture as authoritative and appealed to the Rule of Faith. As I personally consider the outcomes of the Councils, I see not a power struggle with winners and losers but a process superintended by God that led to wise formulations that guide us well to this day in articulating the sense of scripture.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Communicating for Life

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Cover image of "Communicating for Life" by Quentin J. Schultze

Communicating for Life, Quentin J. Schultze, foreword by Martin E. Marty. Integratio Press (ISBN: 9781959685098) 2024.

Summary: An introductory text in communication grounded in a theology of communication and a vision of faithful stewardship.

Communication. It may be argued that we spend the greater parts of our day in some form of communication. Conversation with family. Scrolling through our newsfeeds, posting and commenting. Listening to podcasts. Sending texts and emails. Writing a proposal or report. Teaching a class or giving a presentation. I could go on. Our unique human capacity to convey meaning, however imperfectly is constantly employed.

Followers of Christ are people who want to please him in all we say and do. Matthew 12:36 is sobering: “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken” (NIV). That strikes me as a lot of accounting. And it motivates me to want to do this well, in ways that honor the one I follow.

Quentin Schultze has given a great deal of thought to this matter as a professor of communication. Communicating for Life is a product of a life of reflection and teaching. While meant to serve as an introductory text for communication courses in a Christian setting, it offers great insight to any of us engaged extensively in communication. Which is all of us. While he discusses various theories and media, the focus of his work is to help us think about communication in light of our faith, with thought of how then we should live.

He begins with creation and understands communication as a way we “co-create” culture in our relationships with God, our neighbors, our world, and ourselves. Our ability to name makes us symbolic stewards in defining what things are. Done under God’s grace, communication fosters the shalom of flourishing in community in all the relationships just mentioned. One of the most powerful aspects of our symbolic stewardship is the ability to identify with other communicators through listening well and conveying our sense of connection–that we understand something of each other’s world.

Hence, Schultze thinks our theories ought to reflect our call to servant stewardship with symbols. Thus, he takes issue with transmission models of communication, which reduce communication to sending and receiving messages. Not only does this miss the creative aspects of communication but it may foster manipulation and control. In contrast, he proposes a cultural view of communication, emphasizing co-creating culture.

But theory alone does not account for what goes on in our communication. Instead, human rebellion through the Fall results in misunderstanding, arrogance, and presumption. Consequently, there is confusion and hurt. However, there is hope in Christ’s incarnated loving work. He both exemplifies to us and empowers in us the use of communication to serve and love others and to advocate for the marginalized.

Then Schultze turns to an analysis of the role of mass media. He notes how much is shaped by love for earthly wealth and power and functions as a form of religious storytelling, occasionally challenging the status quo but more often supporting it. He also deals with how powerfully it may be used to demonize those who don’t fit in.

From here, Schultze turns to ethics. He affirms our responsibility before God. We are to tell the truth, and live authentic lives. Most of all, he challenges us to think of our communication as part of Christian discipleship, seeing all our communication in terms of both service and worship to God.

My sense is that the chapters closely reflect the 2000 edition of this book. That means he wrote prior to social media and the new forms of online-based media that arose since that time. For all that, I found him remarkably prescient in his analysis of mass media and spot on in his ethics. However because of the changes in both media and his discipline, he invited a team of scholars to respond, one for each chapter, to his work.

On one hand these essays often complemented his content well. For example, in response to Schultze’s shalom focus as a goal for our communication, Bill Strom proposes covenantal communication as a means to that end. Others enhanced his ideas with their own research. But I felt that the book lost some sense of continuity as a result. This may be remedied by reading all the chapters first, then the responses. One nice addition are reflection questions at the end of each response.

In conclusion, I’m glad to see Schultze’s work updated. The theology of communication he elaborates is timeless, and the communication virtues he advocates are, if anything, even more timely. And he models co-creating in community with a new generation of communication scholars to carry forward his work. And the relevance of this work isn’t just communication in the classroom. It is, indeed, communicating for life.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.