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CHRISTIAN FASTING: BIBLICAL AND EVANGELICAL PERSPEC- TIVES, by S. H. Mathews. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2015. Pp.157. $80.00 (cloth). This book aims to analyze fasting in the New Testament in its historical, social, and cultural contexts. This involves examination of the matter of fasting in the cultural set- ting of the first-century Mediterranean world, which sets a background for the practice of fasting in the New Testament. S. H. Mathews, who teaches New Testament courses at Fruitland Baptist Bible College, describes the two general principles of religious fasting: fast- ing as nearly universal phenomenon and fast- ing as a means of identifying oneself with a larger community. He aims at interpreting the phenomenon of fasting in the Gospels and Acts by using the social-scientific critical method as a means of comparing it to the practice of fast- ing in evangelical Christianity today. In chapter one, Mathews presents an an- thropological approach to the New Testament, with the purpose of scrutinizing the biblical texts within their first-century Mediterranean sociocultural context using social-scientific criticism as a major tool. In favor of treating the biblical texts within their original cultural and social setting, Mathews argues, “Texts within their cultural environment are not viewed as one-dimensional; rather the so- cial-scientific critic attempts to take into ac- count the interplay of factors…which together comprise the text in its social, canonical, and theological context” (7). Thus he gives a brief analysis of the social institutions of the early Mediterranean world, including honor and shame, individualism and collectivism, kin- ship, and limited good. He then turns to a very short and comparative discussion of herme- neutical methodologies, namely, social- scien- tific criticism and historical criticism. In chapter two, Mathews reviews fasting in the Old Testament literatures and the socio- cultural life of the ancient Mediterranean world, which he considers a proper site to search for the theological, social, and cultural context if one is to understand fasting in the New Testament. Fasting had a significant place in the religious and communal identity of the people of the Old Testament and first- century Mediterranean world. In the Old Tes- tament, fasting served as a “means of humbling the soul” (31) before God, both individually and corporately, for expressing “sorrow, repen- tance, [and] moral urgency” (47), rather than as an act of devotion intended for developing “personal moderation and self-control” (49). Chapter three is the longest section of the book, in which Mathews examines fasting in the New Testament from a social-scientific perspective. He attempts to interpret instances of fasting in the Gospels and Acts in their theo- logical, social, and cultural setting. Mathews emphasizes the importance of giving due con- sideration to the influence of the Jewish tradi- tion (OT and extrabiblical Jewish tradition) in an interpretation of New Testament texts. Ac- cordingly, fasting can be interpreted as a deep response to a personal or national suffering expressed in dishonoring oneself with the purpose of putting moral obligation on the observers and attaining honor through ex- hibiting higher devotion to God and one’s na- tion. Copyright © 2017 by Word & World, Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota. All rights reserved. 197

Transcript of CHRISTIAN FASTING: BIBLICAL AND EVANGELICAL PERSPEC-...This book aims to analyze fasting in the New...

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CHRISTIAN FASTING: BIBLICALAND EVANGELICAL PERSPEC-TIVES, by S. H. Mathews. Lanham, MD:Lexington Books, 2015. Pp.157. $80.00(cloth).

This book aims to analyze fasting in theNew Testament in its historical, social, andcultural contexts. This involves examinationof the matter of fasting in the cultural set-ting of the first-century Mediterranean world,which sets a background for the practice offasting in the New Testament. S. H. Mathews,who teaches New Testament courses atFruitland Baptist Bible College, describes thetwo general principles of religious fasting: fast-ing as nearly universal phenomenon and fast-ing as a means of identifying oneself with alarger community. He aims at interpreting thephenomenon of fasting in the Gospels and Actsby using the social-scientific critical method asa means of comparing it to the practice of fast-ing in evangelical Christianity today.

In chapter one, Mathews presents an an-thropological approach to the New Testament,with the purpose of scrutinizing the biblicaltexts within their first-century Mediterraneansociocultural context using social-scientificcriticism as a major tool. In favor of treatingthe biblical texts within their original culturaland social setting, Mathews argues, “Textswithin their cultural environment are notviewed as one-dimensional; rather the so-cial-scientific critic attempts to take into ac-count the interplay of factors…which togethercomprise the text in its social, canonical, andtheological context” (7). Thus he gives a briefanalysis of the social institutions of the earlyMediterranean world, including honor and

shame, individualism and collectivism, kin-ship, and limited good. He then turns to a veryshort and comparative discussion of herme-neutical methodologies, namely, social- scien-tific criticism and historical criticism.

In chapter two, Mathews reviews fasting inthe Old Testament literatures and the socio-cultural life of the ancient Mediterraneanworld, which he considers a proper site tosearch for the theological, social, and culturalcontext if one is to understand fasting in theNew Testament. Fasting had a significantplace in the religious and communal identityof the people of the Old Testament and first-century Mediterranean world. In the Old Tes-tament, fasting served as a “means of humblingthe soul” (31) before God, both individually andcorporately, for expressing “sorrow, repen-tance, [and] moral urgency” (47), rather thanas an act of devotion intended for developing“personal moderation and self-control” (49).

Chapter three is the longest section of thebook, in which Mathews examines fasting inthe New Testament from a social-scientificperspective. He attempts to interpret instancesof fasting in the Gospels and Acts in their theo-logical, social, and cultural setting. Mathewsemphasizes the importance of giving due con-sideration to the influence of the Jewish tradi-tion (OT and extrabiblical Jewish tradition) inan interpretation of New Testament texts. Ac-cordingly, fasting can be interpreted as a deepresponse to a personal or national sufferingexpressed in dishonoring oneself with thepurpose of putting moral obligation on theobservers and attaining honor through ex-hibiting higher devotion to God and one’s na-tion.

Copyright © 2017 by Word & World, Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota. All rights reserved. 197

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Although Jesus’s “forty-day fast” (Matt4:1–11) would place him into the lineage of theprophets of Israel, he fasted with an intentionto remain loyal to God rather than to gainhonor for himself, even when his status as Sonof God was challenged. Unlike the practices ofother Jewish sects (Sadducees, Pharisees,Zealots, and Essenes), Jesus’s fasting and hisinstructions regarding fasting in the Gospelsprovided the apostles and his followers with analternative to Judaism. Thus the church ap-peared “as the alternative community withinJudaism” (54–55). The Greek term nestia,which means “a fast” or “not eating,” indicatesthat the New Testament fasting is intentionaland religious in essence, and a practice ofhumbling oneself for worship, service, andprayer. Mathews argues that prayer and fast-ing help the followers of Jesus to establish aholy lifestyle and spiritual authority. Yet, fast-ing cannot lead to righteousness or justifica-tion. Although fasting was practiced by theearly church occasionally in the context ofprayer, it is not normative, but can be practicedindividually or corporately based on a feltneed.

In chapter four, the author explores thepractice of fasting in the context of contempo-rary evangelicalism, focusing on historical,theological, and spiritual perspectives. Unlikemedieval Christianity, which emphasizedmysticism and asceticism as the operative dy-namics in medieval spirituality, evangelical-ism belongs to the tradition of Reformationspirituality, which views grace and faith ascentral factors for salvation and sanctification.Evangelical spirituality promotes the teachingthat a believer’s union with Christ can only beachieved by the work of the Holy Spirit basedon faith rather than dependent on the believer’sworth. Thus, contemporary evangelicals en-courage a wider practice of prayer, repentance,and fasting as a spiritual discipline that al-

lows access to divine power, not as a state ofgrace.

Mathews brings evangelical and New Tes-tament theology of fasting into dialogue inchapter five. To that end, he asks and respondsto specific questions intended for comparingand contrasting the two fasting traditions.Fasting in the New Testament and in evangeli-cal theology is a voluntary individual or com-munity practice, rather than being mandatoryfor Christians. Fasting in the New Testamentalso has eschatological significance. He de-votes more pages to the interpretation section,in which he discusses two anthropological di-chotomies: the shame/guilt dichotomy and theritual/ceremony dichotomy. Evangelicalismpromotes the guilt-based perspective offasting, which is private and spontaneousrather than ritualized. Mathews concludesthat “evangelical Christians have liberty, un-der the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and withthe use of good judgment, to interpret fastingin ways that make it meaningful for the culturein which they live” (146).

The significance of Mathews’s work is un-questionable. Besides the misuse of other spir-itual gifts, the nature and practice of Christianfasting is the most misunderstood in some Af-rican church contexts. Although there aresome inconsistencies on the text, Mathews hasprovided the church with a very important toolfor addressing the challenges related to thepractice of fasting. In short, the book is the out-come of a thorough analysis of a topic thatseems neglected by evangelical Christianstoday. It is relevant and worth reading.

Wondimu L. SonessaLuther SeminarySaint Paul, Minnesota

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GLOBAL GOSPEL: AN INTRODUC-TION TO CHRISTIANITY ON FIVECONTINENTS, by Douglas Jacobsen.Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015. Pp.xiv + 249. $24.00 (paper).

Looking back at the history of Christianityin the twentieth century, the most importantstory of that century for Christians was theshift in their “center of gravity,” and the glob-alization of this religious community. In 1900,trans-North Atlantic Christianity (Europe andNorth America) accounted for two-thirds of allChristians in the world, with almost half theworld’s Christians in Europe. There was along-standing (though stagnant) Christianmonopoly in Latin America, and very smallnumbers of Christians in Africa and Asia. Bythe year 2000, this situation has been abso-lutely reversed, with two-thirds of all Chris-tians living in the Global South (Africa, Asia,and Latin America). But these statistics aloneare not the whole story; in Europe, Christianbelief and practice are on a precipitous decline,while in North America they are stagnant atbest. But Christianity is booming in the GlobalSouth, Latin American Christianity is thriving,and there are now 325 million Christians inAsia (China is a miracle of its own). The num-bers of Christians in Africa have gone from 10million in 1900 to 365 million by 2000, perhapsthe largest growth of Christianity in a singlecontinent in a single century in all of Christianhistory. This is not to say that things are uni-formly well, but the vigor and the potential ofChristianity, especially in the Global South, isremarkable.

This has meant, to say the least, a majortransformation in Christianity, one that likelywill continue well into the twenty-first century,and one with major implications for all Chris-tians, and for our world in general. For Chris-tians in North America these developmentswill define the future of our religious lives, andwill be important to our own religious vitality if

we pay heed to them. Good, bad, or otherwisewe will have to look to the Christians of theGlobal South and learn from them anewabout the Christianity that we, ourselves, hadbrought to them through the remarkableChristian missions of the past 200 years. Theworld has dramatically shifted, and we need tomake sense of it.

One great place to start is this book.Douglas Jacobsen, who teaches at MessiahCollege in Pennsylvania, has written an ex-tremely good and readable introduction toChristianity in its historical contexts and pres-ent global realities, one that can be of great helpto its readers in understanding and digestingall these changes. This book is concise, inci-sive, and very well-organized, in a short narra-tive telling the history of Christianity and itspresent realities in each of the earth’s five con-tinents. Jacobsen describes these events, tak-ing each continent in turn as the focus for hisnarrative. Besides the very well-crafted text,the book contains useful images, graphs, andmaps, along with a good bibliography at theend for further reading.

This is a compact introduction to the sub-ject of global Christianity, but for a relativelymodest book it still contains a trove of infor-mation, knowledge, and analysis that can beuseful to many different levels of readers. Per-sonally, I learned a great deal from the book,even though I have read in this area before, andI also appreciated the fine way in which he or-ganized these materials. If you wanted onebook to help you make sense of the whole of theChristian community in the twenty-first cen-tury, this would be the one to choose. It wouldbe excellent for your own personal reading andreference. This is also the kind of work thatmight be useful in a congregation for bookgroups and study groups, and adult educa-tion—groups could work through one chapterat a time, or at their own pace. I will be usingthis book with my students at Luther Semi-

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nary, to make sure they have a sense of whereChristianity is now, and where it may well beheaded.

In sum, an excellent and supremely usefulbook—I highly recommend it.

Mark GranquistLuther SeminarySaint Paul, Minnesota

KIERKEGAARD IN THE PULPIT: SER-MONS INSPIRED BY HIS WRIT-INGS, by Ronald F. Marshall. Yakima,Washington: Cave Moon Press, 2016. Pp.428. $35.00 (paper).

Readers of this journal may rememberKierkegaard for the Church, a collection of es-says and sermons this scholarly pastor pro-duced in 2013. Robert Perkins, the generaleditor of the twenty-six-volume InternationalKierkegaard Commentary, hailed that book as“a high-water mark in Kierkegaard research.”Marshall is well known in the Kierkegaard aca-demic community for his many articles, and inNovember will deliver the prestigious JuliaWatkin Memorial Lecture at St. Olaf College,mission central for Kierkegaard scholarship inthe United States.

Marshall has announced his Watkin Lec-ture subtitle as “Luther’s Thought as theMatrix for Kierkegaard’s Writings.” Thatphrasing catches the tone of this new book aswell. The heart of the book is a collection oftwenty-seven sermons, actually preached atFirst Lutheran Church of West Seattle, whereMarshall has served since 1979 and whereKierkegaard has been remembered everyNovember since 1980. Martin Luther andKierkegaard, “Luther’s best student orreader,” are constantly present in this newbook’s pages, prodding the reader to hear theliving word and act on it.

The sermons are bookended by essays wellplaced to introduce the aggressive sermons

and to reflect on their reading or “hearing” asthe author invites (393). In the Introductionwe find ourselves facing what Kierkegaardcalled “the Bottleneck,” where “intensity” (thecrucifixion, and the single individual) and“extensity” (Pentecost and the community)meet and oppose each other. Kierkegaard,facing a Danish state church, stressed the se-verity of intensity. Marshall surely does that aswell but tells us that “in this book I want toshow that it is possible to preach with intensityand extensity,” then adding, “in spite of thecomplacency of extensity.” There follows quitenaturally a chapter “On Judging Others,” inwhich the author locates “a positive place forjudging in Christian living.” But if we are to“judge rightly” (John 7:24), the biblical stan-dards must apply to us as well and our judgingmust be “revisable,”“constructive,”and seek con-firming “collaboration.” Thus Marshall equipsthe reader to evaluate the preaching he offers.

The six appendices critically engage otherreaders of Kierkegaard such as Kyle Robertsand Daphne Hampson. The first, “On Juda-ism,” may be of particular interest in this Lu-ther year for its defense of the Reformer’s TheJews and Their Lies as evangelically motivated:“arguing against the religion of Judaism andnot against the Jews in any anti-Semitic way”(301). He grants that “we may repudiate theharsh tactics Luther proposed” (310). Thereare also close studies of two biblical topics ofgreat interest for Kierkegaard: Mary andMartha, and the Lilies and the Birds. The finalpieces summarize the author’s “oppositionto theological innovation” (380) and declarethe author’s intention actually to live in TheHotel Kierkegaard (388–394). Finishing thebook, one does not doubt that he does.

The beef of the book of course is in the ser-mons. Citing the Book of Concord, Marshallfollows what he finds in Kierkegaard’s ownsermons: “the Lutheran threefold format: con-demning sin, proclaiming Christ, and leading

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to good works” (23). As to the first, Marshalldisplays a rich contemporary tapestry of de-pravity and error, including the self-esteemmovement and the defenders of doubt. Instrongly employing the second use of the lawhe very much includes himself, and the firstperson plural prevails throughout the book.With regard to proclaiming Christ, the book’spreface, “Preaching the Atonement,” alreadysounds the predominant themes: the demandsof the law, the requirement of punishment,and the Son, sent as substitute, paying theprice his Father’s justice entails. Some varietyis present in the details: “Jesus moves God tomercy” (92) and/or “stabilizes God’s love forus” (139). Thus the Christian, called to forgiveothers (part of that Lutheran third point), hasthe assurance that God is “already waiting inthe wings with his absolution on the tip of histongue” (84). Throughout there is a strongcalling to repentance and faith, for while “onlyhis [Christ’s] death makes salvation possible,”“what makes it actual…is our faith in it”(163). Yet, “[R]egardless if we believe in it[Christ’s sacrifice for us] or not, it still stands”(70).

There is a punctiliar quality to this first-or-der speech, featuring short particular passagesin the Bible, Martin Luther, and Kierkegaard.Indeed Marshall agrees with the observationthat “Kierkegaard well understood that like aZen koan, the truth expressed in a line or threecan glisten as a legitimate object of reflectionand appropriation” (391). Perhaps a reviewermay be offtrack in assembling the particularsin some second-order structure of under-standing. Yet one hungers for such a structure.Encouraging suggestions can be found: the af-firmation of Augustine’s credo ut intelligam(199), the appropriation of Fear and Trem-bling’s criteria for distinguishing faith from fa-naticism (363), Kierkegaard’s recognition of“a new how of the old what” of Christianity,and Marshall’s own six-point response to the

identification of substitutionary atonement as“divine child abuse” (258). Pastor Marshallseems glad to “have assiduously avoided”making an effort “to bring Kierkegaard’s reli-gious thought into dialogue with postmodernexpressions of Christianity” (320–321). Doesdiluting accommodation threaten there? Whatif dialogue includes mutual critique? Kierke-gaard’s massive production included worksdone with the left hand (the pseudonymouswritings) and the right (the veronymous writ-ings, emphasized here). Is there a sense that inthat ambidexterity there was a dialogue underway between the Christian and other “stageson life’s way”? Could we hope for a third Kier-kegaard book from Ronald F. Marshall?

Paul R. SponheimLuther SeminarySaint Paul, Minnesota

ON RELIGIOUS LIFE: WILLIAMJAMES AND I. AN AFFECTIONATERUMINATION,by Cordell Strug.Eugene,OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016. Pp. 154. $31.00(paper).

Cordell Strug has written an odd yetstimulating and charming book. The latterdescriptor is one Strug himself frequently ap-plies to his subject, the American philosopherand investigator of religious experience, Wil-liam James. But Strug’s James is more than anaffable interlocutor. A deliberately provoca-tive, dubiously reliable guide to religious in-quiry, he is no less illuminating and valuablefor his flaws. Indeed, he is a worthy companionfor Christian pilgrims whose commitment togodly living spurs a restless curiosity aboutGod and life—and a formidable but charitableadversary for militants whose jealous regardfor their faith precludes its rigorous examina-tion.

Strug’s “affectionate rumination” on

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James’s value for religious life frankly re-capitulates his own intellectual and spiritualjourney. The book is organized in four dispro-portionate parts: (1) a brief introduction; (2) alightly revised lecture delivered while Strugwas a student at Luther Northwestern Theo-logical (now Luther) Seminary in the mid1970s; (3) the analytical and rhetorical meat ofStrug’s doctoral dissertation for Purdue Uni-versity’s department of philosophy in 1972;and (4) a brief conclusion, “Ave Atque Vale,”quoting Catullus to bid James and his spirit offearless yet generous inquiry a sad, even de-spondent farewell. The result both narratesand demonstrates Strug’s evolving view anduse of James: first as potential herald of a mod-ern, inclusive, socially responsible, anti-dogmatic theism; then as intellectuallyslippery, spiritually vapid supernaturalist; andfinally as dearly missed and desperatelyneeded rebuker of the American social con-science.

Though he demonstrates an impressivegrasp of his subject’s diverse oeuvre, Strug’sfocal text is James’s classic Varieties of Reli-gious Experience (1902). As that title implies,the object of religious consciousness inJames’s view—and thus the essential datumupon which any claim to a specifically reli-gious truth must rest—is an immediateexperience of the divine rather than a clearconception (much less a theology or creed) de-fining or explaining it. Such an experience can-not be reduced to psychology in the sense of apsychic need or drive, though the subcon-scious is its likely channel and perhaps marksthe near side of its ultimate source. Individualreligious experiences are too diverse (and fre-quently perverse) to be explained solely interms of the evolved neurophysiology of therace, and their collective effects too character-istically disruptive and generative. As a classthey represent the greatest known spur to whatJames called “the strenuous life”: a life devoted

not to dominating, adapting to, or evensurviving one’s given environment, but tochallenging and expanding the boundaries ofhuman moral potential.

Here it becomes clear—though Strugmight have made it more so—that God isessentially a warrant for, and ally in, our ef-forts to extend James’s pragmatist or “radical”empiricism beyond directly observable or so-cially transmitted experience to those mysteri-ous forces knowable only through the behaviorthey appear to influence. Such forces do notdetermine that behavior; James was an impla-cable defender of free will. Rather, againstwhat he called the “scientistic” view that re-duces every meaningful human activity toan epiphenomenon of physical laws, Jamesviewed the widespread human experience ofcommuning with and channeling a supernatu-ral good as evidence that we have a personalclaim on reality; a reason, in other words, tobelieve we can make reality better (or worse)than we find it. Whether we do well or not byreality depends on our actions, which dependon our judgments, which depend on our idealsand inspirations as well as our careful reflec-tion on their implications. Ultimately, James’sdefense of religion is a defense of any experi-ence that brings home the power, gravity, un-certainty, and inescapable responsibility ofhuman choice.

Strug’s able explication of James’s religiousinvestigations will interest Word & Worldreaders and their congregants for several rea-sons. Among the most interesting to this re-viewer, though unremarked by Strug himself,are some surprising parallels between James’stheism (such as it is) and Luther’s theology(such as this reviewer understands it).

Both thinkers, for instance, were constitu-tionally opposed to dogmatism. Certainly,both acknowledged sources of authority be-yond the purely subjective—experience forJames, Scripture for Luther. Still, both ap-

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proached their respective texts not so much assources of answers but inspirations to action:Ask, ye seekers, what each particular encoun-ter with creation demands of you—and damnsystematics! Consequently, both James andLuther encouraged their readers to live lifedialectically, turning again and again to expe-rience or Scripture to retest previously es-tablished conclusions and formulate newhypotheses to guide conduct. As a result, boththinkers typically conceived of virtue in socialterms: James’s notorious “will to believe” didnot imply solipsism any more than Luther’s“priesthood of all believers” meant “every manhis own church.”

At certain points in his analysis Strug isskeptical of this last claim. More than once heaccuses James of ignoring religion’s character(for most people) as a communal phenome-non, or at least as something mediated (andoften generated) by social experience. Thecharge has merit, but more attention toJames’s ethical writings would have revealedthat James’s focus on rehabilitating thetruth-value of the personal and mystical was astrategic gambit in his war against scientism.

One senses Strug would sympathize withsuch a reading, for his most recent thoughtslinger on James’s empathy, tolerance, andepistemic humility—in short, his practice ofwhat Strug considers genuine yet endangeredvirtues of Christian ethics. Strug is as scandal-ized by the moral absolutism of today’sevangelicals as James was by the intellectualabsolutism of his own day’s materialists (andupdated deists). Strug makes a persuasive andpassionate case that although James did notbelieve in any God that most Christians wouldrecognize, his respect for those who did shouldshame Christians who assert a monopoly ontruth, virtue, or grace even while proclaimingthe Good News of our deliverance from suchfatal pretensions. James knew better than suchself-styled true believers that “all have sinned

and fallen short of the glory of God”—even ifhe conceived that glory in ideal rather than realterms. Appropriately, Strug leaves one withthe impression that Luther’s injunction to “sinboldly,” while baffling to some, would strikeJames as a worthy motto indeed.

Trygve ThrontveitCollege of Education and Human

DevelopmentUniversity of MinnesotaMinneapolis, Minnesota

EMBLEM OF FAITH UNTOUCHED: ASHORT BIOGRAPHY OF THOMASCRANMER, by Leslie Williams. GrandRapids: Eerdmans, 2016. Pp. 200. $18.00(paper).

At a time when many people are thinkingabout the 500th anniversary of the LutheranReformation it is instructive to read about thathistorical movement in England. Leslie Wil-liams provides an insightful biography writtenfor those interested in Thomas Cranmer(1489–1556) and the English Reformation. Itis a book, she says, for seminarians, priests,and lay students of English history and theol-ogy. It contributes a fresh insight into the de-velopment of the Anglican/Episcopal Churchfor the general reader, not for professionalscholars in the field (1).

The book’s cover claims it is “A Short Life ofThomas Cranmer”; but in truth it is a pro-foundly compact and moving story of a personknown perhaps only by those who may haveseen a movie or a BBC production of this com-plex clergyman and his times. In politicallytreacherous waters, Cranmer served Christ,the Church, Henry VIII, and subsequentmonarchs, a vitiating journey which requiredtremendous skill, adroit footwork, and astrong sense of commitment. By all accountsCranmer often shifted with the wind; but hepossessed a strong sense of survival. Knowing

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how and when to compromise without forsak-ing basic principles made it possible for him toserve the unpredictable Henry for nearlytwenty-five years.

As the narrative unfolds, one comes to real-ize that for the first 100 pages this book is reallya dual biography. We learn that Cranmer wasable to survive only because of his relationshipwith the protective, quixotic, and often cruelking Henry VIII. It does not stretch historicaltruth to say that the archbishop and the kinghad a symbiotic relationship. That is, neithercould have achieved what he did without thepresence and maneuvering of the other.

In early years Cranmer was an academic, aNew Testament scholar at Cambridge. He hadno ambition to be anywhere or do anythingother than where he was. But almost by acci-dent he casually posed a solution to Henry’smarital problem with Catherine of Aragon.Cranmer subsequently found himself favored

by Henry; and eventually he was elevated to theposition of archbishop of Canterbury.

But Cranmer always walked a tightrope inthe nearly quarter century he served king,church, and country. In the political and reli-gious hothouse of the time, Cranmer had manybitter, even lethal detractors, rivals, and ene-mies, many of whom were fellow clergymen—and they were ruthless. Yet the canny arch-bishop had a strong sense of survival; throughluck and pluck he was able to stay just a littleahead of them because of Henry’s (often du-plicitous) support.

Even though Williams regards this book asa short life of Thomas Cranmer, she packs agreat deal of detail and depth as she unspoolsthe narrative. We learn of Cranmer’s daily lifeand the tortuous routines of court life. Welearn that Cranmer did not like Luther, thoughhe took some theological cues from the conti-nental Reformer, particularly with regard to

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justification and Eucharist. Moreover, on sev-eral occasions he tried to reach accord with theGermans, though things did not work out.

The archbishop was not always consistentand often had to compromise. For instance, hefound himself in the unenviable position ofpersonally opposing, yet having to endorse theinfamous Six Articles of 1539. Among otherthings, these articles maintained the doctrineof transubstantiation, withheld the cup fromthe laity, and enforced clerical celibacy. Thislatter was especially nettlesome to Cranmersince he was secretly married.

The book is a sprightly and compellingdrama for as long as the unpredictable king isalive to set the agenda. After Henry dies (ingreat pain), the book seems to lack a certainzip. Once Henry died, Cranmer allowed him-self to grow a snowfall of a beard. Ever loyal, hesupported the teenage King Edward. And hefound time to revise what eventually becamethe Book of Common Prayer.

The rise of Queen Mary, however, was like aprotracted kiss of death for Cranmer. Thequeen never forgave him his part in the divorceof her mother, Catherine of Aragon, from theheadstrong Henry. In three heartbreakingchapters Williams details (almost day by day)the persecution, degradations, and fiery deathof Archbishop Cranmer.

Williams’s writing has a tense “you arethere” quality as she dramatically describesthe moment when Cranmer held out his handto be burned, for in writing that hand had oftenbetrayed Cranmer’s inner convictions. Thesefinal chapters of the book are haunting. Theymight remind Lutheran readers that Luthermight have stood in a similar pyre, except forluck and providence.

Emblem of Faith Untouched is a beautifullywritten book, rich in detail. In a book like this,however, the publishers ought to have allowedsome illustrations to complement the text. Apicture of Martyrs’ Monument in Oxford and

of the fully bearded Cranmer would add visualvalue to the written word. Fortunately, one cansearch the web and see the difference in artists’conceptions of Cranmer as he appears, beard-less on the cover of the book, and later heavilybearded after Henry’s death.

One also wishes that among the vast cast ofcharacters who appear in the book Williamsmight have referenced Robert Barnes, whoplayed an important role in the doings of theday. It is satisfying to see that Williams notesCranmer’s role in revisions of the prayer book:1549 and 1552, the latter with the assistance ofMartin Bucer. A more linear telling of that ven-ture might have given added literary value toan otherwise rich narrative.

However, there are a number of compen-sating features near the end of the book. Wil-liams has included a postscript and an excellentseries of questions for thought and discussionon Key Issues in the Reformation: Polity, Prac-tice, Worship, Doctrine (154, 155, 156). Andshe has included a pithy outline of Reforma-tion Eucharist Theology (157), which can helpclear up some of the knotty issues in the book.

One puts down this book having learned agreat deal about Cranmer’s life and times.There is a touch of understandable hagiogra-phy in Williams’s final assessment of the cou-rageous but fallible archbishop. But it is amoving testimony to someone who stood firmin the trials and flames when many otherscaved in. “This, then, was the end of thelearned archbishop of Canterbury, whosestand at the end is more memorable because ofthe vacillations he made through his only-too-human weakness. The indelible image of hishand in the flames carried the Reformationthrough Mary’s bloody reign, and establishedCranmer as one of the great heroes of theEnglish faith” (151).

Robert BrusicLuther SeminarySaint Paul, Minnesota

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THEOLOGIAN OF RESISTANCE: THEL I F E A N D T H O U G H T O FD I E T R I C H B ON H O E F F E R , byChristiane Tietz. Minneapolis: Fortress,2016. Pp 132. $23.99 (cloth). Translated byVictoria J. Barnett from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.Theologie im Widerstand, Munchen, C. H.Beck, 2013.

Finally! A concise, contextual biography ofDietrich Bonhoeffer is now available in theEnglish language for virtually every level ofreadership; in fact, for anyone interested in thelife and thought of this Christian pastor, theo-logian, and martyr. Christiane Tietz, currentlypresident of the German Section of the Inter-national Bonhoeffer Society and professor ofsystematic theology at the University of Zu-rich, has given the world (first in 2013 in Ger-man and now in 2016 in English) what hasbeen lacking for over forty years. Bonhoeffer’sgood friend and biographer, Eberhard Bethge,authored Costly Grace (Harpercollins) in 1980,which is now out of print, as a concise counter-part to his (Bethge’s) larger, definitive, Die-trich Bonhoeffer: A Biography (Fortress Press,2000; revised edition). Further, Theologian ofResistance has the advantage of almost fortyyears of additional insights from volumes ofmore recently unearthed primary source ma-terial.

The completion of the Dietrich BonhoefferWerke (1986–1999) and its translation, TheDietrich Bonhoeffer Works English (1996–2014) edition, has resulted in the publicationof virtually all of the extant materials—pri-mary and some secondary—of the Bonhoefferlegacy. Christiane Tietz has devoted her pro-fessional career to focusing on understandingand perpetuating the legacy of Bonhoeffer. Be-ing chosen to lead the German Section of theInternational Bonhoeffer Society indicates thehigh esteem in which she is held among hercolleagues. Tietz’s impeccable scholarship isevident in her careful selection of historical

and theological material for this volume. Da-vid Gushee (Mercer University) captures thequality and appeal of Theologian of Resistancein his jacket endorsement: “this book shouldbecome the new standard concise biography ofthe towering German theologian of Christiandiscipleship and resistance.”

One could reasonably ask why this bookabout Dietrich Bonhoeffer is needed, given theplethora of books already available. Is this notsimply “one more book”? In fact, Tietz’s con-cise volume is currently one of a kind and verytimely. Since the appearance of Bethge’s Bon-hoeffer biography in 1970, a number of histori-cal novels have been written about Bonhoeffer:Theodore Gill’s Memo for a Movie: A Short Lifeof Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Macmillan, 1971);Mary Glazener’s Cup of Wrath: A Novel Basedon Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Resistance to Hitler(Smyth & Helwys, 1993); Denise Giardina’sSaints and Villains: A Novel (W. W. Norton,2010). Many books have focused on specificaspects of his legacy (e.g., ministry, ethics, the-ology, resistance) and several biographieshave been published: Charles Marsh’s StrangeGlory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Alfred A.Knopf, 2014); Ferdinand Schlingensiepen’sDietrich Bonhoeffer 1906–1945 (T. T. Clark,2010); Eric Metaxas’s Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Mar-tyr, Spy (Thomas Nelson, 2011).

While every attempt to tell Bonhoeffer’sstory—or unfold his contributions—aims atobjectivity and authenticity, some succeedmore than others. Don’t we all have our agen-das and biases? Whereas Mark Nation, An-thony Siegrist, and Daniel Umbel (Bonhoefferthe Assassin?: Challenging the Myth, Recover-ing His Call to Peace, Baker, 2013) see—andsincerely write about—Bonhoeffer throughtheir lenses of Mennonite pacifism, and An-drew Root (Bonhoeffer as Youth Worker,Baker, 2013) authentically reads—and thenwrites about—Bonhoeffer through his lens ofyouth and family ministry, the conservative/

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evangelical theology of Georg Huntemann(The Other Bonhoeffer: An Evangelical Re-assessment of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Baker,1993) and Eric Metaxas (Bonhoeffer: Pastor,Martyr, Spy, Thomas Nelson, 2011) clearlycolors their interpretation. Christiane Tietzdescribes today—as objectively and authenti-cally as anyone has—the real Dietrich Bon-hoeffer. And, she has done this in one hundredforty-one pages! Tietz has carefully selectedthe biographical, historical, and theologicaldetail necessary to tell Bonhoeffer’s story, con-cisely and contextually. So, yes, this volumehas a very important place among today’splethora of books about Dietrich Bon-hoeffer.

It is in her epilogue in Theologian of Resis-tance that Tietz speaks about Dietrich Bon-hoeffer’s ongoing influence. While con-textualizing “The Reception of Bonhoeffer af-ter 1945,” Tietz displays her understanding of

more recent Bonhoeffer scholarship, andstates where she believes his legacy is focusedtoday. Asking why Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s nameand life continues to attract people’s attention,often people of quite divergent religious per-suasions, she discusses how Bonhoeffer’s leg-acy has been useful in places as different as theformer German Democratic Republic, SouthAfrica, and South Korea. In stating how “Al-most all his (Bonhoeffer’s) contemporariesand the first generation of Bonhoeffer scholarsare gone, and the second generation has nowretired” (117), she points to a time now whenscholarship is more “critical” and “shaped bythe moral and social positions of today” (117).The author rightly points out that Bonhoeffer’sinfluence and importance today should findexpression less with people asking “Whatwould Bonhoeffer do?” and rather in seeing hisauthentic life and particular responsible ac-tions as inspiration for the way we authenti-

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cally and responsibly engage our particularsocial and religious challenges (i.e., less heroworship and more shared responsibility).

Although I routinely assign my own bookon Dietrich Bonhoeffer for the undergraduatestudents and parishioners I teach, I am verytempted henceforth to use Christiane Tietz’snew volume, because it is as readable as it is

objective and authentic. I believe her book willbe of significant value to persons new toBonhoeffer’s legacy as well as seasoned schol-ars. I highly recommend Theologian of Resis-tance.

John W. MatthewsGrace Lutheran ChurchApple Valley, Minnesota

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