The Month in Reviews: April 2015

May 1, 2015May 1, 2015 / rtrube54 / Leave a comment

April’s book reviews covered both a significant span of time and geography as well as genre. I reviewed an academic debate on free will from the sixteenth century and a conversation about Christology published last year. There was a decided international flavor to these books, whether it concerned a historical novel of the British campaign in Flanders during World War II, a discussion of immigration, narratives of nonviolent action around the world in the last fifty years, or the last fifty years of African history. I reviewed genres as diverse as Walter Wangerin’s fantasy taking place in a barnyard of animals to Max Planck’s scientific autobiography and essays. I explored both the formation of the inner virtues of faith, hope, and love, and the interesting idea that the complexity and beauty of the world is a profound apologetic for the Christian faith.

As always, the links on this page are to my full reviews. Many of the reviews have links to the book publisher. So, without further ado, here’s the list:

1. True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense of our Complex World by David Skeel. David Skeel argues that far from being a problem for Christians, the complexity of the world is in fact something best explained by the Christian faith.

2. The Eighth Champion of Christendom by Edith Pargeter. A historical novel set at the beginning of World War Two exploring the growing realization of the horror of war that “heroic warriors” face. The plot centers around Jim Bennison, an English soldier and Miriam Lozelle, a Jewish refuge farm holder in Boissy whose husband is away at war.

3. Educating for Shalom by Nicholas Wolterstorff. This collection of essays and talks written or given over a 30 year period traces Nicholas Wolterstorff’s journey of thinking about Christian higher education, the integration of faith and learning, and his growing concern that education result in the pursuit of justice and shalom.

4. Jesus without Borders ed. by Gene L. Green, Stephen T. Pardue, K.K. Yeo. Eight theologians from different parts of the world came together for a theological dialogue on Christology, engaging the Chalcedonian definition of Christology and reflecting on the unique perspective they bring on Christology from their part of the world.

5. Immigration: Tough Questions, Direct Answers by Dale Hanson Bourke. Third in “The Skeptics Guide Series” and like others in the series it provides a concise overview of basic facts about immigration and discusses the challenges of immigration policy in the United States.

6. Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers by Max Planck. This is a re-issue in e-book form of Planck’s Scientific Autobiography and other papers on some of the “big” issues of science including causality, the limits of science and the relationship of science and religion.

7. Nonviolent Action by Ron Sider. Ron Sider argues from a number of instances over the past seventy-five years that nonviolent action can work and bring about political change.

8. Erasmus and Luther: The Battle over Free Will edited by Clarence H. Miller, translated by Clarence H. Miller and Peter Macardle. This work is a compilation of the argument between Erasmus and Luther over the place of free will and grace in salvation, excluding most of the supporting exegesis but giving the gist of the argument.

9. Christ-Shaped Character by Helen Cepero. Cepero, through personal narrative and formational teaching and practices, traces a path of growing to be more who we truly are as reflections of Christ through the embrace of love, faith and hope.

10. The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr. This modern animal fable portrays a conflict between the beasts of the Earth and Wyrm of the underworld and his evil surrogates, and the heroism of a rooster, a dog, and the other beasts.

11. The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith. Meredith, a foreign correspondent who has made a lifelong study of Africa, chronicles the last 50 years of African history from the hopes of independence from colonial rule and promising beginnings through the heartbreaking instances of corruption, economic pillaging, and various slaughters and genocides including that of AIDS.

Best of the Month: This is a tough pick this month, but on the basis of the “I will read it again” test, I have to go with The Book of the Dun Cow. This apparently simple fable has layers of meaning and depths of insight into the struggle of good and evil, and the qualities of character and grace needed to meet that struggle.

Best quote of the Month: I would choose this quote from Max Planck’s essay on science and religion. While I did not agree with all he wrote, I think he gets the balance right here:

“Religion and natural science are fighting a joint battle in an incessant, never relaxing crusade against scepticism and against dogmatism, against disbelief and against superstition, and the rallying cry in this crusade has always been, and always will be: ‘On to God!’ “

I so appreciate all of you who read and comment on my reviews! I appreciated the comment I received today on Facebook from one reader: “I like your habit of reading books with view of reviewing for the benefit of community @large (I am a beneficiary of it).. I am trying to make it a discipline .. Thanx 4 da work.. Keep doing Bob…”

One of the delights of blogging and the internet is to find oneself part of a global community. I really do hope these reviews are a benefit, whether in finding your next “good read” or in becoming familiar with writers and writing of whose work it is helpful to know more.

All “The Month in Reviews” post may be accessed from “The Month in Reviews” link on the menu bar of my blog. And if you don’t want to wait a month to see my reviews, consider following the blog for reviews as well as thoughts on reading, the world of books, and life.

Review: Jesus without Borders

April 8, 2015August 26, 2025 / rtrube54 / 2 Comments

Jesus without Borders: Christology in the Majority World, Gene L. Green, Stephen T. Pardue, K.K. Yeo eds. Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2014.

Summary: Eight theologians from different parts of the world came together for a theological dialogue on Christology, engaging the Chalcedonian definition of Christology and reflecting on the unique perspective they bring on Christology from their part of the world.

One of the most exciting developments of the last fifty years is the rapid growth of Christianity outside of Europe and North America. With this growth has come thoughtful scholars and church leaders representing these movements in the Majority World. What they bring is the unique perspective of each of their cultures that brings fresh light and fresh insight into theological discussions, which in the past, have only been shaped by a western Christian intellectual tradition. This book represents the first in a series of books on Majority World Theology that came out of a theological consultation focused on Christology, what we believe about who Christ is and what he has done.

The organizers of this consultation decided that they would consider the Chalcedonian definition of the person of Jesus as one person existing in two natures, human and divine that are neither mixed nor separated. They were then asked to reflect on the unique contribution each participants cultural perspective brings on how they understand Christ. Kevin Van Hoozer begins with a paper outlining the Western theological discussion of Christology from Chalcedon to the present considering the “Christ from within” Christologies of Schleiermacher and Ritschl, kenotic theologies, the “Christ of history” theologies, down to the narrative approaches of Hans Frei. and Barth’s approach of understanding everything else through the lens of Christology. What he contends is necessary for the global discussion is to “go on in the same way” from Chalcedon, and yet with a plurality of tongues and voices speaking of the One Lord.

The essays then follow in two groups, first focused more around systematic theology, and second around biblical theology. Victor Ezigbo reviews African Christologies, which he categorizes as “neo-missionary” Christologies which retain some reservations about African culture while attempting to relate to the African context; ancestor Christologies, likening the mediatory role of Christ to that of ancestors, and his own approach of revealer Christology which emphasizes Christ’s sufficiency to communicate and interpret life. Timothy Gener surveys Christologies in the Asian context, building off of the multiple perspectives on Christ in the gospels and New Testament. He contends for multiple Christologies that reflect local contexts and multiple religious traditions so long as these aid in Christian discipleship. Jules A Martinez-Olivieri then addresses the Latin context where liberation Christologies give weight to the actions of Jesus over the transcendent aspects of his nature.

The second half of the book then turns to biblical theology. Yohanna Katanacho surveys the gospel of John and the New Beginning that consists in cleansing, a new Holy Space, Holy Time, Holy Experience, Holy People in a new Holy Land, that while rooted in Jewishness represents humanity as a whole in radical inclusiveness. Aida Besancon Spencer considers the veneration of Mary in Latino/a contexts reflecting a false perception of the unapproachability of Jesus when he is in fact intercessor par excellence. Andrew M. Mbuvi discusses African elements in a reading of 1 Peter around blood sprinkling, the lamb of God, and the “spiritual state” of Jesus between death and resurrection and the hope this gives for ancestors.

K.K. Yeo concludes this volume with a review of the discussion reminding readers of the different Christologies of the four canonical gospels and makes his own contribution of directions in Chinese Christology focusing on dao, a Chinese version of logos, renren (meaning “who loves”) a Christology of relationship, and image of God Christology.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of Trinitarian theology, reflecting the idea that the conciliar formulations are not the final word on the Trinity. Likewise, I was impressed in these papers that the theological work of these scholars from the Majority world can greatly enrich our conception of the person and work of Christ, bringing to our attention neglected aspects. At the same time, both Van Hoozer and Yeo bring up the issues of orthodoxy as we explore plural expressions of Christology. It actually seems that conversations like this theological forum are crucial of sharpening and balancing different expressions and looking at the common scriptures together as we do so. As the opening work of the series on Majority World Theology, this volume set a high standard of rich and vigorous discussion we might have around our One Lord.

Review: Jesus The Sage: The Pilgrimage Of Wisdom

March 11, 2014March 11, 2014 / rtrube54 / 2 Comments

Jesus The Sage: The Pilgrimage Of Wisdom by Ben Witherington III
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3, NIV).

A number of years ago, C. S. Lewis framed the Liar, Lunatic, Lord argument that asserted that Jesus could not possibly have been merely a good teacher–either he lied about his own identity which would make him not good, he was deluded about his own identity (also not good) or he was truthful in his claim to be the Lord of all. An unintended consequence of that argument is that we may deprecate Jesus standing as a teacher in our efforts to assert his Lordship.

In Jesus the Sage Ben Witherington III brings Jesus as Teacher and Jesus as Lord together in his exploration of Wisdom writings and how these influenced Jesus himself, and how they influenced the view of Christ, or Christology of the earliest Christians and the New Testament writers.

The first part of this book traces the trajectory from Solomon and the earliest Wisdom literature up through Ecclesiastes and extra-canonical books like The Wisdom of Solomon and Ben Sira. In this we see a development from Wisdom as Lady Sophia, with God at the Creation, to Wisdom as the Spirit of God. Witherington also argues in this section that these Jewish wisdom sources, and not Greek Cynics influenced Jesus and the early church. He draws the parallels between wisdom sayings in these works and the teaching of Jesus, particularly his use of parable and aphorism.

The second part of the book looks at the movement from Jesus to the early church and how these wisdom traditions influenced Q and James, the earliest hymns of the church, the writing of Paul, and the Gospels of Matthew and John. The basic trajectory is to see Jesus as not only incarnate God but as incarnate Wisdom, the one “greater than Solomon” (Matthew 12:42). One of the great services Witherington does is to show not only the linkage of the wisdom traditions to the early hymns of the church such as Philippians 2:5-11 (which very likely preceded Paul’s writing by some time) but to show that these indicate that the church’s view of Christ, or Christology, was a high one from the beginning–not a late development. I also found his treatment of both Matthew and John as Wisdom books illuminating because, while they do not depend on each other, they both portray Jesus as the wise teacher or logos, they emphasize discourse, and discipleship, among other parallels.

This is but a cursory survey of a rigorously scholarly work that makes an important contribution in reconciling the ideas of Jesus as Lord and Teacher, the one who is Wisdom in human flesh, not the builder of the temple as was wise Solomon, both “God with us”, the living temple. Years ago, Dallas Willard challenged a number of us with the Colossians verse at the beginning of this review and the implications of this truth for every academic discipline in the university. Do we truly believe Jesus knows physics, or law, or business, or history? Do we believe that his wisdom can illuminate our understanding as we wrestle with the deepest questions the academy can pose? What Witherington has done is lay out the biblical (and extra-canonical) case for answering these questions with a resounding “Yes!”

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