Category Archives: Pastoral Theology and Ministry

Review of Superheroes Can’t Save You: Epic Examples of Historic Heresies by Todd Miles

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Review of Superheroes Can’t Save You: Epic Examples of Historic Heresies by Todd Miles

Miles, Todd. Superheroes Can’t Save You: Epic Examples of Historic Heresies. Nashville: B&H 2019. pp. 208, $20 paperback.

Superheroes

Todd L. Miles is professor of Theology and Director of the Master of Theology program at Western Seminary in Portland, OR.

We are easily enamored with escaping our normal everyday lives to enjoy watching our favorite superhero destroy the evil villain, bring justice to the oppressors, and save the day. Whether you are a Marvel or DC fanatic, most people cannot resist seeing the newest superhero movie that seems to drop every few months. The connection and love we have with superheroes seem to highlight a deeper truth that as humans, we all desire someone who is more powerful and stronger than us to come and save us from the difficulties and sufferings in our lives. All superheroes are attempts to create a “savior-like figure” who can rescue us from our depravity using their super-human powers. Yet as Todd Miles demonstrates in his book, Superheroes Can’t Save You, every superhero that we have created is an inadequate picture of the true hero of the story of reality: Jesus Christ.

Superheroes Can’t Save You attempts to show how each one of our coveted heroes exhibits a “bad idea about Jesus,” that can be traced back to the heresies that arose in the early church about the person of Christ. It is important to understand these heresies because these “bad ideas” undercut the gospel and can lead others away from embracing the true gospel. Therefore, each chapter of the book provides an explanation of a superhero; how each superhero displays an incomplete view of Jesus; and how Jesus is a much better idea than what is represented by each superhero (p. 7). Each chapter is divided up into five sections: an introduction of the superhero, the heresy that the superhero represents, how this heresy is still practiced today, what the Bible teaches to combat this heresy, and why these truths about Jesus are important for our lives today.

Miles covers most of the heresies about the person of Christ from the early church, which include Docetism, Modalism, Arianism, Adoptionism, Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, and Eutychianism. The only heresy that Miles covers that cannot not be traced back to the early church is Liberalism, which he argues, was birthed in the 18th century by Friedrich Schleiermacher. Due to its focus on the heresies of Christ and the four famous councils of the early church, Superheroes Can’t Save You aids in adding to the reader’s understanding of the church history and Christology of the Patristics. The book is written to students in theological studies but can also be understood by the general Christian or skeptic who has an interest in learning more about the person and work of Jesus.

Four commendable aspects of the book can be seen in the readability of the prose, the relatability to understanding how each heresy is represented by a familiar symbol of a superhero, the linear progression of the author’s thought, and the practical application and discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Throughout the book, Miles uses big theological terms but always defines and provides helpful examples to further the reader’s understanding. One example can be seen when Miles explains how to understand Nestorianism through the character Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. Just as Nestorius believed Jesus had two natures and two separate consciousnesses, Gollum provides a practical example that most readers can relate to in his split personality with his other personhood of Smeagol.

Another example can be seen by each of the sub-headings of the chapters. Miles provides a short statement that describes each heresy in a way that is embodied by the superhero that is the subject of each chapter. For example, Docetism is described as thinking Jesus was simply “God in disguise” just as Superman disguised himself as a man in Clark Kent. The complexities of Eutychianism can be arduous to comprehend for most people, but relating this heresy to Spider-Man, knowing Peter Parker is part human and part Spider, is much easier for the reader to understand Eutyches’ claim that Jesus had a hybrid nature in being part human and part god.

The similarity of the structure and organization of each chapter allows the reader to easily understand Miles’ argument and flow of thought throughout the work. The framework of each argument also helps teach readers how to approach, understand, and combat false ideas that undercut the gospel. For example, Miles starts each chapter laying the background information by describing the superhero, how they emulate the heresy, and then the historical information of what the heresy is and how it originated. Once a charitable explanation of the heresy is given, he expounds on how we can still believe this false idea today and how it leaves a picture of Jesus that cannot save us. Miles then confronts the false idea with the truth of God’s Word; and demonstrates who the Bible proclaims Jesus to truly be; and then concludes with why believing these truths about Jesus are important for our lives today. This structure demonstrates the necessity of conducting sound historical research and biblical exegesis to demolish strongholds or any lofty thought that is raised up against the knowledge of God.

Lastly, the personal application sections and discussion questions are what make this book a user-friendly and a practical resource. When considering ideas that were espoused in the third and fourth centuries, readers can easily revert into thinking these ideas have nothing to do with them today. Yet, Miles provides everyday examples of how we can still fall into these heresies. For example, when looking at Modalism, most Christians understand the common fallacy of comparing the Trinity to H2O or a three-leaf clover, but very few realize they are falling into Modalism during prayer when they ascribe to the Father things that only the Son did (i.e. dying on the cross, Patripassianism). Miles then explains how having these false ideas about Jesus can have serious consequences. Using the Modalism example, if Jesus is just “one of three costumes God put on,” then he cannot answer our prayers because the Bible teaches us to pray in a trinitarian way of praying to the Father, in the name of the Son, and through the Holy Spirit. More importantly, this view of Jesus cannot save us because it was the work of all three persons of the Trinity that was necessary to accomplish our salvation. To drive the application further for the reader, Miles ends every chapter with personal reflection questions, small group discussion questions, and a section for further study to foster deeper application and life transformation by meditating on the timeless truths about Jesus.

One critique of the book is the lack of scholarly contributions. There are few, if any, footnotes and there is no bibliography section. In Miles’s defense, it does not appear that a scholarly and in-depth magnum opus of the heresies of church history and a thorough exegesis of Christology was his intention in writing this book. Rather in this work, Miles seeks to provide a practical resource for students of theology, youth workers, and avid superhero fanatics that provides sound historical theology, biblical exegesis, and Christology in an easy-to-read format and everyday language. Miles’s creativity should be extolled in the way he exquisitely expounds how each heresy is emulated by superheroes that are easy to relate to and remember. Therefore, this book is for any Christian or skeptic who wants to take a deeper dive in understanding the false ideas about Jesus that are still being propagated today and how the Bible confronts those lies to demonstrate who Jesus truly is: two natures, one person, fully God, fully human. Superheroes can’t save us, but praise God that Jesus can!

Andrew Slay

PhD Student

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Review of Doing Asian American Theology: A Contextual Framework for Faith and Practice by Daniel D. Lee

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Review of Doing Asian American Theology: A Contextual Framework for Faith and Practice by Daniel D. Lee

Lee, Daniel D. Doing Asian American Theology: A Contextual Framework for Faith and Practice. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2022, pp. 216, $24.00, paperback.

Asian American

Daniel D. Lee is the Associate Professor of Theology and Asian American Studies, and also the academic dean for the Center for Asian American Theology and Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Lee’s newest work, Doing Asian American Theology, presents his Asian American Quadrilateral (AAQ) as a heuristic tool to empower Asian Americans to live out Christian theology from their own contextuality/embodiment (p. 2). The elements of his AAQ are as follows: the first element is Asian heritage, which includes various inheritances from all across Asia, from the cultural to the religious (p. 68); the second element is the migration experience (p. 70); the third element is American culture, which includes American colonial histories in the Asian continent (p. 71); and the fourth and final element is racialization or, in other words, “the process of racial identity formation, navigating the Black/White binary, and the particular forms of discrimination the Asian Americans face as people of color” (p. 72). Lee’s AAQ constitutes the main thrust of the nine chapters in his book where he tries to theologically understand how God reveals himself to Asian American Christians and how Asian American Christians can, in turn, respond to God in their embodied selves: “Theological contextuality arises out of divine self-revelation of a covenantal God who enters history, making creation part of the divine being. Because Jesus is eternally Jewish, our present particularities matter as well” (p. 15). As such, Lee’s overarching point is that Asian American theology is both a task and calling that Asian American Christians ought to take seriously (p. 18).

As Lee proceeds with his AAQ as a framework for how an Asian American can do theology, one question that comes to mind is this: how do we even understand what “Asian American,” much less “Asian,” even means? With an umbrella term such as “Asian American,” Lee’s solution is to lean into Asian heritage and cultural archetypes in chapter four (the first chapter where Lee starts to expound on his AAQ in more detail). While there is much to say about the other parts of Lee’s AAQ, it seems to me that Asian heritage and cultural archetypes is the cornerstone of Lee’s AAQ, because it sets up a lot of what Lee does in the other three elements of his framework. Thus, the first part in particular of his AAQ perhaps presents the most thought-provoking element in Lee’s theological methodology. His examination of Asian heritage begins with a treatment of the geographic, temporal, and theoretical distance that Asian Americans have in relation to their own ancestral histories (pp. 78-79). Lee then proceeds to state, “A direct way to theologically engage Asian heritage is through a frame of interreligious dialogue” (pp. 78-79). This begs a few questions, though: what if this is irrelevant to some Asian American Christians? How relevant would this be for, say, Asian American adoptees or mixed-race Asian Americans?

To illustrate, one section in particular that stood out in that chapter was Lee’s analysis of Filipino heritage and cultural archetypes. As a Filipino American Christian, I took a great interest in this short but important section. Lee states, “The Philippine myths and indigenous spiritual beliefs are an important part of the Filipino cultural imagination” (p. 85). Now, it is important to mention that Lee wants to avoid cultural essentialism: “These elements should not be seen and handled as some eternal essence of ethnic culture” (p. 83). Yet, one cannot help but wonder this possibility: if a Filipino does not care much (much less know) about Philippine myths and indigenous spiritual beliefs, then is this Filipino less Filipino? If all a Filipino has ever known was growing up in church, then how important are these Philippine myths in light of the lived existence of the Filipino Christian? To give Lee the benefit of the doubt here, there is perhaps an element of truth in that there may perhaps be some trace of these indigenous beliefs in Filipino Christianity; but as to how important these cultural archetypes really are, is up for debate. To be sure, this is not only true with Filipino American Christianity, but also for other Asian American Christianities such as Chinese American and Korean American Christianity (both of which Lee highlights in chapter four).

Therefore, the student of theology and culture must ask whether or not culture can have the explanatory power to unite diverse people groups under an umbrella term such as “Asian American,” or perhaps divide diverse groups further. In other words, students must realize the inherent complexity at hand when discussing theology and culture. To Lee’s credit, though, he explains further in the chapter that there is a dialectic when it comes to culture: it is at once sinful (p. 100) and good if and only if God commandeers it to function as a witness (p. 101). And this, I think, is an important nuance that Lee makes close to the end of chapter four.

While chapter four had some weaknesses in terms of possible essentialism, chapter seven was Lee’s strongest as he aims to discuss racialization of Asian Americans and how Asian American Christians can resist “the lordless powers” of White supremacy (p. 166). He frames this resistance by primarily engaging with the problematic White/Black binary in contemporary discussion on race in America. Lee correctly highlights that part of how Asian Americans experience the process of racialization is being deemed invisible because of this racial binary; Asian Americans do not know, in other words, when or even how to engage in questions of race because they, because of this binary, do not know if it is their place to engage in such discussions (p. 164). Thus, Lee is right: the question at stake here is if Asian Americans can truly be deemed as American.

As such, Lee, with his undoubtably Barthian flavor, does a great job in his “lordless powers” section by beginning to form a very apt theological anthropology. In other words, Lee is saying that it is our duty as Asian American Christians to resist what he calls “White normativity” (the idea that whiteness is the norm in society) because, in this resistance, we are saying no to this demonic power (p. 166) while also becoming more human in the process (p. 168). Lee hence beautifully says that our embodied relationship with the incarnate God is simply to learn what it means to be more human (pp. 167-168).

In sum, Lee’s new book is undoubtedly a great contribution to Asian American theology because he envisions a grassroots theology through his own lens of “contextuality” (p. 20). In addition, Lee should be commended for bringing Asian heritage into the conversation when talking about Asian American theology because our heritage always plays a subtle role in all that we do theologically; there is thus an element of truth to Lee’s comment of there being a “cultural DNA” in an Asian American’s psyche. Overall, Lee really brings to the forefront the complexities of having an Asian American theology. Therefore, students of theology and culture (especially Asian American Christians) can highly benefit from engaging with Lee’s new work.

Kristoff Reese Grosfeld

Ph.D. Student, Princeton Theological Seminary

Review of Together in Ministry: Women and Men in Flourishing Partnerships by Rob Dixon

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Review of Together in Ministry: Women and Men in Flourishing Partnerships by Rob Dixon

Dixon, Rob. Together in Ministry: Women and Men in Flourishing Partnerships. Downers Grover, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, 176, $22, paperback.

Together

Rob Dixon is an associate regional ministry director with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and senior fellow for gender partnership with the InterVarsity Institute. He is an adjunct professor at Fresno Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary and provides training on flourishing mixed-gender ministry partnerships for numerous organizations around the country.

Together In Ministry is the culmination of Dixon’s twenty-seven years of ministry experience and four years of focused doctoral research in mixed-gender ministry partnerships. Dixon’s book “rests on the premise that women and men are designed to partner together in the work of fulfilling God’s mission on earth,” as laid out in the first two chapters of Genesis (p. 2). His thesis states that it is necessary and possible to embrace this Genesis picture in order to have flourishing mixed-gender ministry partnerships. Drawing on years of hands-on experience, research interviews, focus groups, and a survey of theology and church history, Dixon lays out a model for ministry partners that helps each person find a profound sense of personal satisfaction and accomplish their ministry goals (p. 17).

His research has led him to focus on ten attributes that need to be present for a mixed-gender ministry partnership to flourish. Dixon divides these attributes into three domains (p. 22). First, the inner life domain is comprised of the attributes of an authentic learner’s posture, a shared theological conviction of gender equality, and an awareness of gender brokenness. Next, the domain of community culture is populated with attributes including a vision for freely shared power, difference for the sake of mission, a value for holistic friendships, and a corporate sensitivity to adverse gender dynamics. The final domain is intentional practices, containing the last three attributes of abundant communication, contextualized boundaries, and public affirmation and modeling.

The bulk of the book is spent fleshing out each of the three domains, with individual chapters devoted to each of the ten attributes. Dixon begins each chapter with a survey of examples from Scripture and pertinent testimony from interviewees and focus groups that helped him develop and define each attribute. He then describes the benefits of exhibiting each of these attributes and the barriers that keep these attributes from being present in ministry partnerships between men and women. He rounds out each chapter with tactics for how to cultivate these attributes, leading to a well-rounded, flourishing mixed-gender ministry partnership.

Dixon anchors his organizational model in the context of church history and theology, resting on the premise that men and women are designed to partner together to fulfill God’s mission, as seen in Genesis 1. Dixon spends a good portion of each chapter explaining the principles of each attribute based on what he has learned from Scripture. While his interpretation of Scripture is unapologetically egalitarian, the purpose of this book is not strictly to convince the reader to adopt an egalitarian posture. It is to provide well-researched, practical guidance for creating a healthy staff culture in ministries and churches, one that focuses less on what women cannot do and more on what men and women can accomplish together to advance the Gospel.

Dixon approaches each attribute with humility and care, neither berating men for their perceived slights nor coddling women for their perceived inabilities. He also does not take a genderless approach. Many of his attributes focus on embracing the differences between men and women and encouraging the difficult work of inspecting some of the sinful behaviors that arise from how we think about these differences. Where Dixon does promote commonality is in areas involving the convictions that we hold and the power that we wield, with attributes like a shared theological conviction of gender equality and a vision for freely shared power.

Attributes with titles like awareness of gender brokenness and corporate sensitivity to adverse gender dynamics can initially be challenging for some readers, but behind the modern jargon is the conventional wisdom found in the process of sanctification. It has merely been applied to the specific context of men and women working together in ministry, from the examination of one’s own brokenness and how it leads men and women to sin against each other to how we learn to live and work with one another in the unity of fellowship through discipleship and spiritual formation within a community of believers. Even if some of the terms seem new or unwieldy to the reader, the underlying concepts can still be beneficial.

Admittedly, much of what Dixon teaches in these chapters can be summed up, as he puts it, in the pursuit of courageous intentionality (p. 151). That is also where the difficulty lies. It requires setting aside time to do things like debriefing during a staff meeting and putting in the effort to learn from the other person. It requires courage to be honest with one another when something is not working in the partnership and set appropriate boundaries and expectations. Regardless of the setting, if men and women are working together in a ministry context, applying these attributes can lead to personal satisfaction in their God-given calling and joyfully advancing the mission.

Christine Ellis

First Baptist Starkville

Starkville, MS

Review of The Calling of Eve: How the Women of the Bible Inspire the Women of the Church by Jacki C. King

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Review of The Calling of Eve: How the Women of the Bible Inspire the Women of the Church by Jacki C. King

King, Jacki C. The Calling of Eve: How the Women of the Bible Inspire the Women of the Church. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Momentum, 2022, pp. 176, $16.99, hardcover.

Calling of Eve

Jacki C. King holds a master’s degree in theological studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and serves as a Bible teacher. Despite juggling life as an author, blogger, podcast host, pastor’s wife, and mother of three, Jacki King thinks of herself as “just a normal girl.” While such achievements exceed what society or even the church considers normal, King’s standard of reference does not come from society or the church but from the women of Scripture.

King begins her book by describing how her understanding of the importance of women’s roles in the kingdom was formed in the context of the local church but subsequently shaken in the church. Lacking the stereotypical qualities the church emphasized as most important among women, the young King questioned whether following and serving Christ meant being someone other than, well, her. Her leadership gifting and devotion to Christ and his church seemed undeniable. Nevertheless, King felt little connection to the demure image the church expected women to portray. King describes her younger self as loud, extroverted, energetic, and clumsy. Finding herself vastly at odds with the superwoman depicted in Proverbs 31 (which King would later come to recognize as a personification of wisdom), King turned to the rest of Scripture to uncover a more accurate understanding of biblical womanhood.

Drawing from the first two chapters of Genesis, King presents a theological anthropology of women in a simplified manner that is easily accessible to a lay audience. Having already extracted the “fear of the Lord” from Proverbs 31 as foundational to biblical womanhood, the author explores with readers how Scripture defines their identity as image bearers and establishes their purpose. While acknowledging the commonalities men and women share in these areas, King also recognizes distinct differences, such as the woman’s role of “ezer,” a term markedly misunderstood and underestimated in the contemporary church. King endeavors to help women understand God’s intention for them to, along with men, reflect his image, exercise dominion over his creation, and commit their lives to his glory,

Beginning with the third chapter, King pivots her focus to how women can flourish and carry out their divinely appointed purpose within whatever sphere or circumstance God may place them. She explores what it means for women to flourish as image bearers and submit to God’s purposes in (1) singleness, (2) marriage, (3) motherhood, (4) work, (5) mission, (6) church, (7) justice for the vulnerable, and/or (8) leadership. King highlights female exemplars from Scripture and modern-day women who stand out in fulfilling God’s purposes in each of these categories. For example, in her chapter on justice for the vulnerable, King spotlights Rachael Denhollander, whose courageous stand against Larry Nassar ended his decades-long spree of sexually abusing girls and young women. The author then explores women of Scripture who exemplified the same courage, such as the Hebrew midwives of Exodus who risked their own lives by refusing to kill infant boys. No matter what their circumstance, King notes that God has placed a calling and commission on every redeemed woman’s life.

With this book, King aims to help women catch a vision for flourishing as image bearers and fulfilling the cultural mandate—and the Great Commission—according to their design and God’s purposes. King has a gift for conveying critical theological truths in easy-to-understand language. Such skillful writing lends toward accomplishing her goal.

King’s eighth chapter, “Women in the Church,” provides substance for contemporary ecclesiological debate. Writing from a complementarian perspective, the author nonetheless laments the disturbing tendency of church leaders to accent limitations on women’s roles rather than freedoms. Juxtaposing such restrictive attitudes against Romans 16, King highlights women who worked hard, sacrificed, became imprisoned, and risked their lives alongside Paul for the gospel’s sake—each of whom Paul esteemed and honored by name in his letter. Consequently, King asserts that outside of the office of elder/bishop/pastor, “women are able to lead, teach, serve, and love in the same way the faithful sisters in Romans 16 lived out their giftedness in the early church” (p. 106). Likely, King will garner pushback on this statement from those who embrace a more restrictive view of complementarianism. Considering her exposition of the text, however, critics will face a challenging task in arguing with her.

One weakness of King’s work is her over-reliance upon the created identity found in Genesis 1 and 2 in her discussion of identity. While created identity is crucial to an accurate understanding of self, it is shared by all image bearers—all human beings—regardless of whether they are spiritually dead or alive in Christ. Believers wishing to flourish in the kingdom must also live in light of their redemptive identity received through union with Christ upon salvation. Not only do believers bear God’s image, but they also bear, in increasing degrees, Christ’s image. Adam and Eve were naked before the fall, but believers are clothed in the righteousness of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. Whereas the Old Testament focuses on created identity, the New Testament shifts its gaze toward redemptive identity–which is given only to God’s elect. I believe King applies this perspective, but it does not appear in chapter two’s discussion on identity.

While King writes The Calling of Eve to inspire women of the church, her book could and should be used also to inform the church. Women wrestling with how they can fit into and serve God’s kingdom should indeed read the book. However, pastors, ministry leaders, and seminary faculty and students who do or will shepherd or teach women should also read it to equip themselves for encouraging, empowering, and promoting the flourishing of the women they serve.

Angelia Dittmeier

PhD Candidate,

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Review of The Scandal of the Gospel: Preaching and the Grotesque by Charles L. Campbell

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Review of The Scandal of the Gospel: Preaching and the Grotesque by Charles L. Campbell

Campbell, Charles L. The Scandal of the Gospel: Preaching and the Grotesque. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2021, pp. 120, $33, paperback.

The Scandal of the Gospel

Painters have their colors and canvas, sculptors have their clay, and preachers have their words. And words are powerful. As the Bible so often indicates, Scripture has the power to build up and to tear down, and this is especially so in the ministry of preaching, as Charles L. Campbell discusses in his latest book, The Scandal of the Gospel: Preaching and the Grotesque. Campbell is James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor Emeritus of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School. He is a past president of the Academy of Homiletics, a highly sought-after lecturer, and he is well published in the field.  Most of the content for this latest book comes from his 2018 Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School; only the fourth chapter contains new material.

In the forward, Campbell explains that he is not seeking any consistency or system; rather, he says that he is “simply trying to make some homiletical connections between preaching and the grotesque” (p. xiv). This concept of the grotesque subsequently stands at the center of the book. The term is borrowed from the world of visual art, where it originally referred to paintings found in ancient Roman grottos, i.e. grotto-esque. These “murals presented unsettling, disorienting hybrids that transgressed accepted categories. They distorted what was considered ‘normal’ or ‘beautiful.’ They messed with accepted patterns. They were, as they came to be called, ‘grotesque’” (p. 6). This description encapsulates the homiletical vision that Campbell sets forth in these chapters, i.e. preaching that is unsettling, disorienting, that transgresses accepted categories and norms, that is “grotesque.”

In the first chapter Campbell considers how this concept of the grotesque fits with the scandal of the Gospel. Taking his cue from 1 Corinthians 1:23, he explains that the Gospel confronts with the destabilizing pairings of opposites: God-cross, life-death, repulsion-fascination, horror-hope. A God that is violently crucified on a cruel Roman cross is inherently “grotesque.” In chapter 2, Campbell explores how the grotesque is often weaponized in the act of preaching. Specifically, when one compares sociological and/or theological opponents with non-human objects, one is using the grotesque to dehumanize and minimize them in order to maintain one’s own particular understanding of order. In chapter 3, Campbell offers an alternative to this kind of weaponization by explaining how the grotesque creates preaching that is “open, protruding, irregular, secreting, multiple, and changing” (p. 55). Preaching that is grotesque welcomes input and insights from a variety of voices, and not merely biblical and theological ones. It is preaching that “becomes real when truth happens among the cacophony and incongruities of diverse voices and diverse lives” (p. 57). Finally, in chapter 4, Campbell imagines how the grotesque could be employed in preaching to address the environmental crisis.

Campbell’s application of the grotesque to the discipline of preaching is provocative to say the least because it stands in such stark contrast to the kind of preaching that is the focus of Campbell’s critiques. Sermons that offer simplistic principles for improving marriage, managing finances, or raising godly children attempt to “give people a nice focused nugget to carry home – not the shocking unresolved contradictions of the grotesque gospel” (p.11).  This kind of preaching is neat, clean, even idealistic. The problem, however, is that “when we rush to order, when we avoid the interval of the grotesque, our preaching may become shallow, unreal, cliched. We don’t go deep enough. We’re not honest enough. And we end up falsifying both the gospel and life itself – we end up imposing false patterns” (p. 12). Life is so often the opposite of the neat and clean categories we attempt to impose on it from the pulpit. It is complex and messy; it is “grotesque.” Campbell would have readers embrace these tensions rather than attempting to resolve them.

Though he rightly critiques this “humanistic” (his label) approach to preaching, the alternative that he proposes is inherently more so. Grotesque preaching is “shaped by the dynamic and open life of Jesus’ grotesque body. Grotesque preaching calls the church to be open to the world and calls the pulpit to be open to different bodies and new voices” (p. 56). It springs forth from the lived experiences of people rather than from the authoritative Word of God. What is glaringly absent from Campbell’s vision for preaching is how it relates to the principle of “Thus saith the Lord.” Christian preaching springs forth from the fact that God has spoken. The Apostle Paul instructed his protege Timothy to “Preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4.2). God has spoken; therefore, we speak. In other words, the purpose of Christian preaching is to exposit the declared Word, “giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read” (Nehemiah 8.8). It is not merely to listen to people’s stories or to appreciate the diversities and complexities of the human experience.

In the final analysis, Campbell’s invitation for preachers to approach the complexities, difficulties, and tensions of life with greater compassion is a welcomed alternative to the idealistic naivete that characterizes most preaching today. That being said, his alternative is essentially void of the very resources that God has provided to address those complexities and difficulties. In other words, grotesque preaching, as Campbell envisions it, comes off merely as a way to exalt and platform human experiences over the Word of God. However, it is ultimately powerless as a homiletical method for proclaiming the inspired Word of the one true and living God. In my view, preachers would be better served by attending to the text of Holy Scripture, giving its meaning through systematic exposition, than by any clever attempts to be “grotesque.”

Phillip Powers

South Caraway Baptist Church

Jonesboro, AR

Review of Being Saved: Explorations in Human Salvation edited by Marc Cortez, Joshua R. Farris, and S. Mark Hamilton

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Review of Being Saved: Explorations in Human Salvation edited by Marc Cortez, Joshua R. Farris, and S. Mark Hamilton

Cortez, Marc, Joshua R. Farris, and S. Mark Hamilton, eds. Being Saved: Explorations in Human Salvation. London: SCM, 2018, pp. 361, $56, paperback.

Being Saved

Being Saved is a collection of essays circling around the twin topics of “theological anthropology and soteriology” (p. xiii). The essays explore classic systematic theological categories while also engaging with other disciplines of enquiry about the human condition. The editors acknowledge that this creates a wide variety in the essays, but they seek to avoid “a homogenous approach to this multi-levelled discussion” (p. xv). This approach makes clear several different modes of theological enquiry for Christian theology. By juxtaposing them in one volume, it serves as a sourcebook for contemporary questions about soteriology and about the interaction between soteriology and philosophy. Although a four-part division provides structure to the book, some essays fall more neatly into the given categories than others.

The first section, “Sin, Evil and Salvation,” centers on cosmic issues, or those outside the individual person. After initial forays into God and time (“Identity through Time,” R. T. Mullins) and idealism (“Divine Hiddenness,” Trickett and Taber), there are three essays on sin and atonement. Jonathan Rutledge rejects “Retributivism”, defined as the claim that “the punishment of wrongdoers is required because wrongdoers deserve to be punished” (p. 41). He argues retributivism as a philosophical position is open to several objections, and then interprets the book of Romans as coherent without retributivism. Thus, retributivism and its theological counterpart, penal substitution, are to be rejected and replaced with a “restorative” purpose to God’s punishments (p. 51). Joshua Farris and S. Mark Hamilton (“Reparative Substitution”) probe how their own view of the atonement is “efficient”, that is, how it accomplishes something definite. While acknowledging that Christ’s death is a type of substitution, they wish to focus attention on the repayment of honor to God rather than on the endurance of a penalty. Daniel Houck engages with Abelard on original sin, but perhaps a next step would be to apply this to contemporary ways of expressing the doctrine.

The second section is the “The Nature of Salvation” and asks about the ontology of salvific change. What is God actually saving? Contributions from Oliver Crisp (“Theosis and Participation”) and Myk Habets (“Spirit, Selfhood and Salvation”) continue larger projects for these authors. Crisp’s desiderata for a definition of “participation” in God are insightful: (1) a model that is closer than our closest human relationships, (2) one that unifies us with God, but (3) one that does not result in the loss of the individual human. Adonis Vidu (“Ascension and Pentecost”) addresses the sending of the Spirit as part of the divine missions. He seeks to avoid saying that Christ “merits” the sending of the Spirit since this introduces a sense of compulsion into the godhead. Kate Kirkpatrick (“Saved by Degrees?”) finds that the early Augustine viewed salvation as continuous, “an ongoing process of becoming” (p. 135). The payoff from such a focus on “being” is somewhat undeveloped. Benjamin Arbour (“Virtue Epistemology”) calls for deeper interaction between theology and epistemology.

The third section, “The Process of Salvation,” uses the traditional categories of the ordo salutis. Andrew Loke (“Doctrine of Predestination”) defends Molinism against an objection centered on the physical conception of new human persons. How and in what way is God involved in the individuation of new human beings? He believes a Molinist account can draw from both Creationism and Traducianism for explaining God’s involvement, but the “creationist” side is unclear—since it seems, in his view, that the shapes of individual humans (particularly that of Judas Iscariot) exist apart from God’s creative decision. John Fesko (“Priority of Justification”) continues his work of showing how traditional categories of justification and sanctification are distinct yet unified. His interaction with Marcus Johnson evidences how recent discussions that emphasize “union with Christ” are helping to refine a traditional Reformed position on the process of salvation. Adam Johnson (“Barth and Boethius”) emphasizes Barth’s account of salvation primarily through the lens of a “representative substitute.” A consistent emphasis on human identity in Christ should lead to a form of wholeness and security. W. Madison Grace (“Being Christ”) explores Bonhoeffer’s “communal notion of personhood” with special reference to the church as the place in which Christ exists in the world. Such a view should lead Christians to view salvation in communal terms, but the implications of such a view are unclear. James Arcadi (“Redeeming the Eucharist”) uses Edward Schillebeeckx as a resource for exploring the eucharist and justification. “Transignification” means that God “deems” the bread and wine to be body and blood, and so they are. While avoiding questions about substance and accidents for the eucharist, transignification would need to answer (or embrace!) the charge of “legal fiction” when speaking about justification—another form of “deeming.” Paul Helm continues his work analyzing Jonathan Edwards in regard to regeneration (“Regeneration and the Spirit”). There is no doubt that Edwards’s tone and vocabulary differ from earlier Reformed representatives such as Stephen Charnock. Helm appears to see weaknesses in Edwards’s use of the “new simple idea” as a term for the crucial change that brings about conversion. Evaluation of Edwards on this point is still ongoing: if he has appropriated categories from John Locke, in what ways do these categories make his view of regeneration more or less helpful?

The final section, “The Body, the Mind and Salvation,” includes more interaction with philosophical perspectives on the nature of human being. Carl Mosser (“Two Visions”) presents transhumanism as a rival eschatology to traditional Christian views. He finds an alternative in the Christian idea of “deiform perfectibility,” that is, a form of deification. Hans Madueme (“Theological Musings on Mental Illness”) addresses the challenge of mental illness for the Christian category of sin. He calls on psychologists to recognize the importance of sin and sanctification for mental healing. The crucial insight is that sin “truly discloses our hearts” (p. 298 n34), whether or not the act of disclosure is conscious and willed. Joanna Leidenhag (“Saving Panpsychism”) believes that Christian soteriology can be helped and extended by viewing soul as the fundamental reality of the created universe. Such a view would extend hope that a saving experience exists for non-human creatures who have minimal subjectivity. Marc Cortez (“Body and the Beatific Vision”) concludes the volume with an analysis of the resurrection body and the beatific vision. Jonathan Edwards, among others, suggested that the body was necessary for a proper vision of God, but Cortez finds these reasons unsatisfying. Better to speak about the resurrection body as fulfilling other purposes of God such as the image of God and human life in embodied community.

The studies in this book cover a huge swath of contemporary questions on soteriology and theological anthropology. The editors acknowledge the diversity of approaches (p. xv), and especially the different uses of philosophy and theology. A particular difference appears about whether the analytic philosophical tradition can provide a mode of discourse to evaluate theological vocabulary—even when the theological positions have not utilized that mode of discourse. Being Saved sets a full table of options and topics and will be a useful resource for Christian theologians.

Jonathan Hoglund

Hanoi Bible College, Hanoi, Vietnam

Review of Baptism: Zwingli or the Bible? by Jack Cottrell

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Review of Baptism: Zwingli or the Bible? by Jack Cottrell

Cottrell, Jack. Baptism: Zwingli or the Bible? Mason, OH: The Christian Restoration Association, 2022, 163pp, $14.99, paperback.

Baptism: Zwingli

Jack Cottrell, arguably the most prolific writer and influential theologian of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, tackles the topic of baptism in yet another accessible book, Baptism: Zwingli or the Bible? This text incorporates Cottrell’s primary insights on how the Protestant Reformer Huldreich Zwingli (1484-1531) changed the course of church history by creating a new view of the meaning of baptism from salvific to merely symbolic. Although this concise book contains previously published material by Cottrell, it is good to have an overview and summary of Cottrell’s critique of Zwingli’s view of baptism in one small volume. It is certainly handy for the student as well as the scholar and teacher.

Cottrell divides this work into three parts: (1) a review of his Princeton dissertation on Zwingli, (2) his personal views on “Zwinglianism,” and (3) a reproduction of “Connection of Baptism with Remission of Sins.” (Part Three is the work of the nineteenth century Christian Church theologian J. W. McGarvey which was originally included in his New Commentary on Acts of the Apostles [1892] but omitted from later editions.)

Part One is divided into two chapters. The first is a rehearsal of Cottrell’s first chapter found in Baptism and the Remission of Sins: An Historical Perspective (College Press, 1990), edited by David Fletcher. Cottrell briefly surveys some primary New Testament texts on baptism and statements by the church fathers, and then argues that all of church history taught that baptism is the time the sinner receives salvation. This is what Cottrell terms the “biblical consensus” on baptism.

Chapter two is when Cottrell brings his main point into focus that reflects the title of the book: Zwingli discarded the biblical consensus on baptism, creating a brand-new view. With one big stroke, argues Cottrell, Zwingli proclaimed that all church fathers were wrong when they connected baptism with salvation.

Cottrell provides thorough documentation showing how and why Zwingli reaches this new view on baptism: Zwingli (1) denies the Roman doctrine of ex opere operato, claiming that all the doctors taught this before him, (2) argues that a sacrament can never save, only the blood of Jesus saves, and (3) assumes a platonic view of matter and spirit, thus concluding that water cannot save because it is inherently inferior to spirit. Additionally, Cottrell discusses Zwingli’s theological reasons for rejecting the “biblical consensus” on baptism, such as his views of divine sovereignty, different kinds of baptisms, and divine election.

Finally, Cottrell elaborates on the development of Zwingli’s new baptismal theology. Since Roman theology taught the doctrines of baptismal regeneration and original sin, this led to the Roman doctrine of infant baptism. But Zwingli had now rejected the consensus view on the meaning of baptism, so why baptize infants if not for original sin? Cottrell contends Zwingli invented a new reason for pedobaptism, namely, for a sign of the covenant. From this, Zwingli developed an entirely new theology known as covenant theology (or unity)—that there is only one covenant, one people of God, and one covenant sign for all time. In relation to the covenant sign, it was circumcision in the Old Testament, and it was replaced by baptism in the New. Hence, infants ought to be baptized in the New Testament as they were circumcised in the Old.

Although Cottrell focuses on Zwingli’s concept of covenant unity up to this point, his primary concern, which is always in view, comes more into focus in Part Two: that Zwingli is the one who rung in the totally new view of baptism as merely symbolic and not salvific. He critiques covenant unity and finds it biblically untenable, but he spends two of the three chapters in this part arguing how baptism is not a work of man but a work of God (echoing Martin Luther).

Chapters four and five are practically equivalent. In these chapters, Cottrell maintains that baptism is never defined as a “sign” or “work of law.” It is always in context of salvation by faith. Interestingly, Cottrell highlights that a more precise definition of “work” is needed when discussing salvation by faith vs. works. If “work” always means “anything we do,” then Jesus and Paul contradict each other since Jesus says in John 6:29 that “the work” one must do to be saved is to “believe in Him whom He has sent” (NASB). Paul, then, cannot mean that “to be justified by faith apart from works” is equivalent to “to be justified by faith apart from anything we do.” Paul must be using the term “work” in a more nuanced way, namely, “works of law,” i.e., following a law code to be saved.

Cottrell concludes that defining baptism as the time the sinner receives salvation is not salvation by works. Is it something “we do” in the general meaning of the word? Yes, but it is not a work of law (cf. Paul), as if someone can save himself by following a moral code. Baptism, as faith and repentance, is something “we do” to be saved, Cottrell contends. This distinction in the way “works” is used by Jesus and Paul, Cottrell emphatically states, is the most important theological discovery of his career.

This small tome is helpful in numerous ways. The discussions on covenant unity, baptism as merely symbolic, and Paul’s use of “works” raise some good questions. It is uncanny that Zwingli’s radically new approach to the meaning of baptism has often been overlooked in evangelical scholarship until more recently (see, e.g., Believer’s Baptism, B&H, 2007; M. Haykin, Amidst Our Beloved Stands, B&H, 2022). Cottrell’s work on this topic has been around for decades with little or no interaction, even in the works just mentioned parenthetically. Cottrell has made significant contributions to this discussion. It is time to interact with it.

Red flags, however, may be raised for some. Cottrell consistently refers to Zwingli’s view of baptism as merely symbolic as “heresy” and says that Zwingli’s covenant theology brought about “demonic results,” i.e., a new view of baptism (p. 77). For many, such language may be considered overly exaggerated. “Heresy” is typically reserved for teachings like Arianism and the like. Another overstatement may include “most Evangelicals have adopted Zwingli’s new rationale for baptism” (p. 79). This seems strained. Many evangelicals view baptism as an outward sign of the salvation internally realized, which Zwingli outright rejected (as Cottrell even notes).

Others may find one of Cottrell’s main points objectionable: that Zwingli rejected the “biblical consensus” on baptism and created an entirely new one (p. 49). Cottrell argues that Christians had always taught baptism was for salvation and never as a symbol of salvation. Here, one might point out, for example, that Basil of Caesarea (AD 330-379) referred to baptism as a symbol (e.g., see On the Holy Spirit, 15). Of course, others have, too, throughout history before Zwingli. Some may conclude that Cottrell overstates his case or needs to nuance his views a little more.

Finally, a word might be said on Cottrell’s brief survey of the church fathers’ view of baptism. To support his “biblical consensus,” Cottrell refers to Thomas Aquinas and Tertullian. Some may question the use of these fathers, considering that they have traditionally been understood to support the Roman Catholic view of ex opere operato, or baptismal regeneration. Certainly, this is not Cottrell’s view. His view of baptism as salvific is much more nuanced, and he rejects baptismal regeneration. But, then, one may wonder why he employs Aquinas and Tertullian to support his view?

Cottrell’s book is not a deep, academic study, but it is surely a good addition to the discussion of baptism. If the student or theologian wishes to understand Cottrell’s baptismal view succinctly and interact more with Zwingli’s influence upon this doctrine, this book will accomplish these goals. It is written primarily for those in the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, so those outside this tradition may find the biblical, theological, and historical discussion unconvincing or perhaps too shallow. For a deeper study, Cottrell’s PhD dissertation and two chapters in the book edited by Fletcher (cited earlier) are highly recommended.

Peter J. Rasor II

Grand Canyon University

Review of The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative (2nd Edition) by Steven D. Mathewson

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Review of The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative (2nd Edition) by Steven D. Mathewson

Mathewson, Steven D. The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative. 2nd edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021, 252 pages, $22.99, paperback.

Preaching Old Testament

Steven Mathewson is both a pastor and a scholar. He serves as the senior pastor in Libertyville, IL, and he is also the director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Western Seminary in Portland, OR. Mathewson’s background as a practitioner and scholar in the field of homiletics enhances his book, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative, by allowing him to provide practical counsel and helpful instruction to readers.

The author develops his work around three parts. In Part One, Mathewson addresses some challenges with preaching from Old Testament narratives, and he surveys “The Christ-Centered Preaching Debate” (pp. 15-26). In relation to the subject of Christ-centered preaching, the author notes that “I did not deal with this sufficiently (in fact, hardly at all) in his first edition” (xviii). Mathewson’s rationale for adding this discussion is as follows: “Your conclusions [about preaching Christ in the Old Testament] will shape the way that you study and preach an Old Testament narrative text” (p.15).

In Part Two, Mathewson presents his methodology for studying biblical narratives for preaching in six chapters. The first chapter addresses key aspects of sermon preparation such as text selection (pp. 29-32), exegesis (pp. 32-39) and prayer (pp. 39-40). Beginning with the second chapter in Part Two, the author works systematically through his exegetical methodology for preaching Old Testament narratives, and he employs the acronym “ACTS” (p. 41) to describe its main components. The “A” in “ACTS” stands for “Action” and corresponds to the literary feature of plot in biblical narratives (p. 41). This discussion culminates in the practical benefit of developing an exegetical outline for preaching a biblical narrative. The next chapter explains that the “C” in the acronym “ACTS” stands for “characters” (p. 65). The fourth chapter in Part Two discusses the “T” in the word “ACTS” which is the initial for the word “talking” (p. 75). While readers may assume that Mathewson focuses on the words or speeches of characters in this chapter, the author actually uses the word “talking” in a broader sense to “focus on the statements or speeches made by characters – as well as editorial insights shared by the narrator” (p. 75). In the fifth chapter of this section of the book, the “S” in the word “ACTS” comes into view, and it stands for “setting” (p. 81). Again, the word “setting” is used in a rather broad sense to cover ideas such as “Historical-Cultural Setting” (pp. 82-83) and “Literary Setting” (pp. 83-85). Part Two of the book concludes with practical pointers on how to summarize key information gleaned from the application of the “ACTS” methodology (pp. 87-90), and it also includes a homiletical discussion on how to formulate a “Big Idea” from a biblical narrative (pp. 90-96).

Part Three of The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative focuses on homiletics in terms of building upon the exegetical foundation and literary analysis discussed in Part Two. The first chapter in this closing section of the book addresses the topics of connecting the focal narrative to the overarching storyline of Scripture (pp. 108-111) as well as “Explanation” (pp. 111-112), “Validation” (pp. 112-113), and “Application” (pp. 113-119). The second chapter in Part Three returns to the homiletical subject of the “Big Idea” (pp. 121-124) mentioned earlier in the book as well as briefly discusses the purpose of the sermon (pp. 125-126). The third chapter in this section proposes different types of movement which may be used in developing a sermon on biblical narratives. The major options discussed are “Inductive Preaching” (pp. 128-133), “The Flashback Approach” (p. 133), “The Inductive-Deductive Approach” (133-134), “The Semi-inductive Approach” (p. 134), and “First-Person Narratives” (134-136). The final four chapters in Part Three offer homiletical counsel on topics like developing a sermon outline (pp. 137-135), developing a sermon manuscript (pp. 165-163), developing an introduction and conclusion (pp. 165-170), and delivering a sermon (pp. 171-177), respectively.

In addition to a helpful bibliography, Scripture index, and subject index, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative includes three appendices which further enhance its benefits. Appendix A features a sample sermon manuscript on Judges 17-18. This sample sermon is intended to illustrate the methodology for preaching biblical narratives discussed throughout the book, and after the sample sermon, Mathewson provides some analysis of his sample sermon as well as an outline for the sermon manuscript. It should be noted that while the second edition only includes one sample sermon in contrast to the first edition which included five sample sermons (p. xviii), the author directs readers to other publications where more sample sermons can be found (p. 179). Appendix B focuses on applying the exegetical methodology in the book to the Hebrew text more directly. This discussion should be helpful for readers with a proficiency with the Hebrew language. Lastly, Appendix C offers readers guidance on commentaries on select biblical books.

Both practitioners and scholars should find The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative helpful. The layout of the book provides a guide for preachers to develop sermons based on biblical narratives in terms of how their sermons align with the biblical content and flow of Old Testament narratives. Of course, the exegetical and homiletical principles discussed in the book are also transferrable to preaching narrative texts in the New Testament.

In terms of challenges with the resource, they are few in number, but three are worth mentioning. To begin, the chapter added to the second edition entitled “The Christ-Centered Preaching Debate” (pp. 15-26) is an important addition. However, it is more of a historical survey of the debate. Readers who are unfamiliar with the nuances, arguments, and approaches in this debate will need to make additional effort to read the homileticians referenced in this chapter in order to arrive at a more robust understanding of the hermeneutical and homiletical issues involved in this discussion. Second, some of the homiletical topics mentioned in the book assume some prior knowledge. For example, while the subject of “Big Idea” preaching surfaces in more than one place in the book, the discussions of this homiletical concept are brief. Readers would be well served to follow the author’s footnotes in these sections of the book to read more extensively on these topics. This general idea would also apply to other aspects of the resource related to the various functional elements of preaching like explanation, illustration, and application, for instance. Lastly, while the survey of commentaries in the final appendix is helpful, it is nevertheless truncated. For instance, this appendix only covers the Pentateuch and the historical books. It does not provide guidance for other biblical books which also include narrative sections such the books of Jeremiah, Hosea, and Jonah. While these are prophetic books, they nevertheless include narrative aspects, and offering some hermeneutical and homiletical guidance for prophetic narratives would be helpful.

Even with these challenges, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative is a solid resource for all readers who are interested in developing sermons based on biblical narratives. The overall methodology presented in the book along with its helpful appendices and bibliography will provide practitioners and scholars with guidance for a sustained and meaningful journey in learning to preach Old Testament narratives well.

Pete Charpentier

Grand Canyon Theological Seminary

Review of Say It!: Celebrating Expository Preaching in the African American Tradition edited by Eric C. Redmond

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Review of Say It!: Celebrating Expository Preaching in the African American Tradition edited by Eric C. Redmond

Redmond, Eric C. ed. Say It!: Celebrating Expository Preaching in the African American Tradition. Chicago: Moody, 2020, 240 pages, $14.99, paperback.

Say It!

What does the Great Migration have to do with exposition? Much! The Black Church in the United States has a beautiful yet painful history. The African American preaching tradition arose in this context, producing notable preachers including John Jasper, Richard Allen, Francis J. Grimké, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gardner C. Taylor, James Earl Massey, and E. K. Bailey. Historically, African American preaching has been underresearched and underpublished. However, times are changing, and homiletical treasures are being unearthed and offered to Christ’s people. Eric C. Redmond (Ph.D., Capital Seminary and Graduate School) has assembled a top-notch lineup of African American homileticians in Say It! to “demonstrate the power of exposition in the cradle of the black pulpit” (back cover). Redmond is a Professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute and an Associate Pastor of Preaching, Teaching, and Care at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, IL. He has published several books and articles, including Where Are All the Brothers? Straight Answers to Men’s Questions About the Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008) and Christ-Centered Exposition: Jonah (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016).

In the preface, Charlie E. Dates gives a taste of the riches of studying black preaching. Dates says, “One can learn much from a tradition of preaching that emerged from the transatlantic diaspora, is baptized in suffering, is sophisticated in rhetorical harmony, and yet proclaims salvation to the land of its own captivity” (p. 14). Dates suggests the African American hermeneutic and homiletic will assist preachers in a country that has witnessed Christianity move from the center to the margins.

In the introduction, Redmond shows embracing the African American preaching tradition does not diminish one’s ability to offer expositional preaching. Redmond believes there has been a misunderstanding—some have wrongly thought expositional preaching was the property of one culture. For example, a notable change can take place when a young African American is called to preach and enters an evangelical Bible college or seminary for training: “The people who have sent this young preacher to school no longer identify with the preacher’s sermon content” (p. 22). At times the young preacher develops “a growing disdain for what he believes is ‘the simplistic, unsophisticated’ preaching of the black church” (p. 23). Is it possible to preach expositionally and embrace one’s ethnic culture and preaching tradition?

A significant homiletical question arises: Is expository preaching a matter of form or content? After surveying definitions of exposition from Bryan Chapell, Albert Mohler, and Haddon Robinson, Redmond asserts, “Expository preaching concerns only the content of a message with respect to the words of Scripture and its accurate delivery” (p. 26). Since there is no requirement for a specific style of expression, the preacher is released from any burden to communicate the message in a particular style.

The rest of the book divides into four sections. Part 1 discusses the hermeneutics of African American preaching. In chapter 1, Winfred Neely shows the African American experience has molded preachers in this tradition to be sensitive to some biblical themes the evangelical world neglects. In chapters 2 and 3, Redmond and Ernest Gray show that though some are more difficult than others, all of the books of the OT and NT “are readily accessible and relevant for one to preach” (p. 57). Part 2 gives five sermons from each of the four major sections of the OT—the Pentateuch (George Parks, Jr.), Historical Books (Redmond), Poetical Books (Eric Mason), and Prophetic Books (Terry D. Streeter and Dates). Part 3 gives three sermons from three divisions of the NT—the Gospels and Acts (Romell Williams), the Epistles (Paul Felix), and Revelation (K. Edward Copeland). Finally, Redmond argues for lectio continua preaching in part 4. He asserts, “The best way to give our people the wealth of the truth of Christ for all aspects of their lives is to preach through full books of the Bible as the majority of the regular diet of our preaching” (218).

This book is commendable for at least three reasons. First, the authors demonstrate the African American preaching tradition and exposition go together more than some have assumed. The Black Church is not monolithic, and not all her ministers are considered expositors. Nevertheless, many of her ministers are excellent expositors. Students from all traditions will glean much from these expositors of the African American tradition. Readers will see how these preachers communicate the passage’s meaning and apply the ancient text to their listeners’ current, contextual realities.

Second, the chapters Redmond contributed to this volume were clear and practical. In the introduction, Redmond makes a clear case for the wedding of the African American preaching tradition and exposition while highlighting the dual emphases of justice and hope. In chapter 2, “A Ladder, A Mediator, and an Ark: The Challenge of Old Testament Exposition,” he shows preachers have nothing to fear when they preach from the OT. Students will find his hermeneutical discussion of genre and his exegetical insights of Genesis 28:10–22, Exodus 2:11–24, and Psalm 24 accessible and applicable. In chapter 5, Redmond gives a solid example of a sermon from an OT Historical Book, Joshua 14:6–15, and his pastoral insights at the end of the chapter are beneficial to preachers. Finally, in chapter 12, Redmond makes a convincing case for preaching through books of the Bible as the best way for preachers to model sound hermeneutical principles and give their congregations Christ from all the Scriptures.

Third, readers will find the sermon examples one of the book’s biggest strengths. Good preaching is both caught and taught. These sermons illustrate sound exposition in print form and will be helpful as examples to aspiring preachers. Doubtless, readers will miss out on the special delivery of these sermons, though, thankfully, internet technology allows for listening to sermons from these expositors. Each manuscript has an introduction and conclusion, which will prove particularly useful to aspiring preachers. Here, the preacher gives the context of preaching and homiletical insights.

There are a couple of areas readers should note. First, while the sermon examples were helpful, not every sermon given was a Christ-centered exposition. Due to hermeneutical and homiletical convictions, some preachers have different views about whether and how to preach Christ from the OT. Here, not every brother felt compelled to mention Jesus from an OT text or explain the gospel with clarity, which seemed out of step with Redmond’s Christ-centered advocacy (pgs. 217–218).

Second, readers should think through the definition, purpose, and method of expository preaching. What happens—or should!—when a preacher stands up with a Bible in front of a congregation? There is much to praise God for with the recent resurgence in expository preaching. The sermons of many professing expositors, however, reveal there is little consensus about what expository preaching means. Redmond’s definition of exposition, like Haddon Robinson’s, defines exposition more broadly than others. He places a greater emphasis on contextualization and speaking to the contemporary issues of the congregation. While some homileticians may define exposition more narrowly than Redmond and the sermons illustrate, this book will provoke constructive questions: How much should the text’s structure shape the sermon? What is the part of the preacher in advocating for social change? What is the Spirit’s role in exposition?

The body of Christ is beautiful in its diversity. While various traditions have different strengths and weaknesses, this book demonstrates this tradition has much to offer biblical and theological students and pastors. Here, readers engage with hermeneutics, exegesis, and application principles and see examples from the African American preaching tradition. After completing this book, readers may want greater exposure to this homiletical heritage. If so, they can join a bus tour through the history of the tradition in Introduction to the Practice of African American Preaching by Frank A. Thomas (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 2016). Indeed, Students and pastors of any part of Christ’s body should read this book to learn how to Say It! well.

Scott Lucky

Parkway Baptist Church

Clinton, MS

Review of God’s Mediators: A Biblical Theology of Priesthood by Andrew S. Malone

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Review of The Royal Priesthood and the Glory of God by David S. Schrock

Andrew S. Malone. God’s Mediators: A Biblical Theology of Priesthood. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2017, pp. 230, $25.00, paperback.

God's Mediators

Andrew S. Malone serves as Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Dean of Ridley Online at Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia.

In God’s Mediators, Malone develops an expositional and synthetic biblical theology of the theme of priesthood, studying both individual and corporate priestly identities and work across the canon so as to “augment and refine our existing knowledge, reinforce or reshape our theological framework, and make us better expositors of the texts and their consequences for God’s holy people” (p. 10). He contends, specifically, that Christians struggle to define priests and priesthood in a manner following the patterns of the biblical witness (pp. 8–9; 186–187). Malone descriptively surveys, therefore, the biblical landscape for individual priests, starting with Aaron’s and his sons’ mediation at Sinai with an important focus on “the kingdom of priests” found in Exodus 19:5–6 as a royal priesthood (pp. 16–17, 126). His survey of the Aaronic priesthood, ultimately, establishes a baseline to consider implications for 1) Israel’s corporate priesthood, 2) Jesus’ priesthood, and 3) the nature of the church’s corporate priesthood. He labels the Aaronic priesthood by its status of (unearned) holiness (pp. 130–133) that allows for a safe approach to God and mediation to draw others closer to God (pp. 20, 35, 45–46). Thus, Israel’s corporate priesthood sets the whole nation as a mediator for those beyond itself (pp. 126–136): a graded and missiological holiness (pp. 20, 45–46, 134–137). Ultimately, the failures of individual priests and the corporate priesthood pave the way for a greater priest (pp. 125–126, 137–144). For Malone, the NT, and especially Hebrews, transforms the OT categories of the Aaronic priesthood to teach “Jesus as our great high priest who facilitates everything foreshadowed in the earthly [OT] cultic system” (p. 114). He posits that both “Jesus’ individual priesthood and Christians’ corporate priesthood are derived from closely related Old Testament antecedents, but they are not derived in the same fashion (p. 184).” Malone argues that the NT transforms the graded holiness of the OT because Jesus’ priestly ministry provides an access to God that needs no other priest “to facilitate [further] access” (p. 186), mark[ing] believers as beneficiaries of the altar and sacrifice rather than as contributors to them” (p. 170) Christians’ corporate priesthood, therefore, depends on and “respond[s] to God’s grace with ‘sacrificial’ praise and acts of service (p. 172),” not with sacerdotal contributions that forge access to God, leaving the church with a spiritual priesthood that allows the church “to be and to behave in such a holy – God-worthy manner – fashion that the wider nations are brought to join the worship of the universe’s creator (emphasis original) (p. 178).”

In chapter 1, Malone lays out his problem and methodology. His approach to priests and priesthood “invoke[s] the English concept of ‘mediator’ and/or ‘mediation’ (p. 9)” in a rather broad sense because the primary thrust of his thesis and analysis is descriptive.

In Part 1, Malone focuses on individual priesthood, beginning with chapter 2’s look at the mediation of Aaron and his sons. Malone argues for an Aaronic priesthood whose ministry emphasizes a “[s]afe approach to God in response to the terrifying theophany at the mountain and the Tabernacle’s “concentration of God’s presence in creation” (p. 18) Even Aaron’s clothes mark his status and those of his sons’ as closer to God, reflecting a priestly royalty (pp. 24–25) that facilitates holiness (pp. 28–34) and communicates such (p. 38) to forge “successful reconciliation of humanity to God (emphasis original)” (p. 38).

Malone, then, in chapter 3 draws the reader to a discussion of the garden of Eden and priests before Sinai. Adam’s depiction corresponds to priestly work, even a regal priesthood that anticipates the Aaronic priesthood. He, also, focuses on Melchizedek as a priestly king, showing how these two roles work together (p. 63) before depicting Moses himself as a priest (pp. 65–66).

In chapter 4, Malone tackles individual priesthood in the rest of the Old Testament, beginning with the failures of the golden calf. His broad definition of “priest” ultimately highlights the prophets condemning the Israelite priesthood and promising a restored priesthood of Israelites and foreigners (86–96).

In chapter 5, Malone finishes Part 1 of his study of individual priests by examining new covenant transformation. He asserts that the failed Israelite priesthood continues in NT narrative (97–102). Finding little support for Jesus’ depiction as a priest in the gospels, he leans upon Hebrews’ confession of Jesus as high priest that uses a combination of comparisons and contrasts, a “synkrisis [that] inherently relies upon the unfolding developments found in salvation history and progressive revelation (115).” He further supports Jesus’ perfect priesthood in Revelation and in 1 Peter (116–120).

In Part 2, beginning with chapter 6, Malone considers Israel’s corporate priesthood as a kingdom of priests so as to draw closer to understanding how the Aaronic priesthood relates to corporate Israel, Jesus, and corporate Christians (125–126). In particular, he focuses on Exodus 19:5–6’s “kingdom of priests” to reinforce Israel’s holy status for the benefit of the world. Israel’s priestly mediation is missiological (134–137). Unfortunately, Israel does not live consistently with its holy status (137–144).

In chapter 7, Malone pivots to the church’s priestly commission as a spiritual house with spiritual sacrifices, a principle that he again tethers to Exodus 19:5–6 via 1 Peter 2:9–10. He develops this corporate priesthood as a chosen people from all the nations with a holy and special status before God that grants their role as priests with behaviors consistent with this status (137–153). Turning to Revelation, Malone identifies the church’s corporate priesthood as both inaugurated and regal, ministering so that the nations may worship God (161–163). Hebrews regards the church as beneficiaries of Jesus’ priesthood (164–170), approaching God to walk in spiritual sacrifices of “praise and acts of service (172).”

Malone concludes his work in chapter 8 with final reflections that draw out biblical implications for how individual and corporate priesthoods work “under the old covenant and after new-covenant transformation (182).” He extends these insights into ecclesiological and missiological components that challenge churches to walk in its assigned priesthood.

Malone succeeds in defending his descriptive-focused thesis. His examination of priesthood connects categories across the two canons and provides consistent and sufficient evidence for the patterns described. Pastors and scholars will strengthen their understanding of the church’s dependence on Jesus’ priesthood and the corresponding call to walk in a missiological mediation through this book. Also, this volume prepares for more detailed and more prescriptive examinations of its data. It offers clearly aligned relationships of priesthoods, but its study proves a mere starting point, being embedded with unanswered questions beyond this volume’s scope. Thus, its greatest weakness in the limiting of its scope that made the study useful on so many levels also leaves readers with a desire to resolve these same questions. Such answers will hopefully stem from other works that will draw from this resource that will enable churches and denominations to examine their own understandings of priesthood in light of the whole biblical corpus.

Peter Link, Jr.

Charleston Southern University