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. 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…

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Snodgrass, Klyne R. You Need a Better Gospel: Reclaiming the Good News of Participation with Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022, pp. 174, $24, paperback.   The author is professor emeritus of New Testament studies at North Park Theological Seminary. He posits two chief problems facing ministers in today’s America: “our society has little interest in a gospel, and the church has failed miserably to do justice to its own message” (p. 2). Snodgrass maintains that the church desperately needs to recover its own gospel, what he calls “a better gospel,” a gospel better than simply a ticket to heaven when you die. Here is the author’s short explanation of the gospel: God is for us and loves us, and God intends to have a people, a “family.” Even when people ignore God, go their own way, and do what is wrong, God will still have a people. God grieves over the world, filled as it is with suffering, sin, and evil. That God is for us is demonstrated—revealed—powerfully through Jesus, the promised Deliverer. In Jesus, God identified with human suffering and evil, confronted sin, demonstrated how humans should live, in his own being took on our sin and…

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Spencer, Mark K. The Irreducibility of the Human Person: A Catholic Synthesis. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2022. 448 pages. $34.95. The Irreducibility of the Human Person: A Catholic Synthesis is a rich philosophical exploration of the foundations for a theological anthropology. Mark K. Spencer covers tremendous ground that provides a unique contribution to the literature in the philosophy of theological anthropology—closely aligned with theological anthropology proper. Spencer’s treatment of the human person is less like a well-prepared steak and more like a buffet, but a themed buffet where the master chef has carefully chosen all the dishes, arranged them, and done so in a way that each mutually inform one another providing the palette with a variety of related dishes that make one both full and artfully satisfied. Let me explain what I mean by this by highlighting some of the features of The Irreducibility of the Human Person. Spencer contributes a novel reflection on the human person, but unlike most treatments that are largely coming from this or that tradition he blends the worlds of philosophical discourse in a harmonious way. It is analytic in that it prizes clarity, logical rigor, conceptual clarification, and drawing from…

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JBTS 7.2 On Critiquing Social Trinitarianism: Problems with a Recent Attempt by Andrew Hollingsworth On Critiquing “on Critiquing Social Trinitarianism”: A Response to Andrew Hollingsworth by Samuel G. Parkison A Philosophical Analysis of J.R. Daniel Kirk’s A Man Attested by God by Timothy J. Pawl In Other Words? the Difficult Question of Jesus’s Divinity in Schleiermacher by Matt Jenson Theology in Missional Mode: Harvie Conn’s Contribution by Michael W. Goheen A Rose is Not Just a Rose: Re-integrating Faith with Learning in the Post-Christian Academy by Peter Rasor Book Reviews Share this on: FacebookTwitterLinkedin

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On Critiquing Social Trinitarianism: Problems with a Recent Attempt Andrew Hollingsworth Andrew Hollingsworth (PhD, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) is Assistant Professor of Theology and Christian Philosophy at Brewton-Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia. Abstract: In his recent book, Simply Trinity, Matthew Barrett argues that Christians need to retrieve the pro-Nicene doctrine of the Trinity, as articulated by the fathers in the patristic, medieval, and reformation periods of the church’s history. He also argues that social trinitarianism is beyond the boundaries of pro-Nicene orthodoxy, and that many Christians today who have accepted some version or another of social trinitarianism have accepted a false Trinity. In this paper, I object to Barrett’s characterization of social trinitarianism, arguing that he misrepresents the positions and agendas of several thinkers who identify as social trinitarians. I also argue that Barrett does not develop a clear argument demonstrating that social trinitarianism is unbiblical, nor does he develop a clear argument against the social-trinitarian views of those individuals that he lists and critiques. As a result, Barrett’s critiques of social trinitariansism in Simply Trinity ultimately fall flat. I conclude with some practical steps for moving the discussions surrounding social trinitarianism forward. Key Words: Doctrine of the…

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On Critiquing “on Critiquing Social Trinitarianism”: A Response to Andrew Hollingsworth Samuel G. Parkison Samuel G. Parkison (PhD, Midwestern Seminary) is Associate Professor of Theological Studies and Director of the Abu Dhabi Extension Site at Gulf Theological Seminary in the United Arab Emirates. Before coming to GTS, Samuel was assistant professor of Christian studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and pastor of teaching and liturgy at Emmaus Church in Kansas City. Abstract: This brief essay is a response to Andrew Hollingsworth’s article, “On Critiquing Social Trinitarianism: Problems with a Recent Attempt.” In his article, Hollingsworth canvases Matthew Barrett’s third chapter in Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit, which surveys the recent history of social trinitarianism, describing its major figures and their divergence (or, “drift”) from the historic and orthodox trinitarianism of Nicaea. Hollingsworth argues that Barrett’s critique fails on account of (a) inadequate engagement with the proponents of social trinitarianism he names, (b) an inadequate definition of social trinitarianism, and (c) inadequate justification for his presuppositions regarding the relative authority of tradition on hermeneutics and dogmatics. In this essay, I will argue that each of these criticisms fail when we consider (a) the nature of Simply Trinity, (b) Simply…

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A Philosophical Analysis of J.R. Daniel Kirk’s A Man Attested by God Timothy J. Pawl Professor of Philosophy, University of St. Thomas (MN) Abstract: In his recent book, A Man Attested by God, J. R. Daniel Kirk argues that the Synoptic Gospels are best read through a paradigm in which Jesus is not a divine person, but rather an exalted non-preexistent human person. In what follows I set out Kirk’s argumentation in a precise logical structure, then assess it from a logical and philosophical point of view. My conclusion is mixed. The logical structure of Kirk’s argumentation against the Divine paradigm is good. If the texts he marshals against his early high Christology opponents are exegeted correctly—I give no assessment of Kirk’s historical or exegetical work—then he has succeeded in showing that his opponents’ arguments are in dire shape. On the other hand, Kirk’s own argumentation in favor of the Ideal Human paradigm is itself lacking in an essential component–—he does not support a necessary part of that paradigm, Christ’s alleged nonpreexistence. Keywords: Divine paradigm, Ideal Human Figure paradigm, Early High Christology, The Synoptic Gospels, Preexistence. Read the full article: A Philosophical Analysis of J.R. Daniel Kirk’s A Man Attested by…

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In Other Words? the Difficult Question of Jesus’s Divinity in Schleiermacher Matt Jenson Matt Jenson (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is associate professor of theology for the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University. Abstract: The apparently straightforward question of whether Friedrich Schleiermacher believed that Jesus is God proves surprisingly complex. As a teenager, he confessed to his father that he had lost his faith; but later he claimed to have become a pietist again, if of a higher order. He sharply critiqued Chalcedonian categories but spoke of “an actual being of God in [Christ].” Perhaps Schleiermacher offers an orthodox Christology in other words, one that purifies philosophical categories while retaining the central biblical witness to Jesus as God in the flesh. In the end, however, I argue a cumulative case on the basis of epistolary, exegetical, and dogmatic evidence that Schleiermacher persevered in his unbelief “that He, who called Himself the Son of Man, was the true, eternal God.” Read the full article: In Other Words? the Difficult Question of Jesus’s Divinity in Schleiermacher * Portions of this article appear in Matt Jenson, Theology in the Democracy of the Dead: A Dialogue with the Living Tradition (Baker Academic, 2019). Used by…

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Theology in Missional Mode: Harvie Conn’s Contribution Michael W. Goheen Michael W. Goheen is professor of missional theology at Covenant Theological Seminary and director of theological education for the Missional Training Center Systematic Theology Under Attack Today systematic theology is under attack in many circles. It has been knocked off its privileged perch for a variety of reasons. John Goldingay speaks for many that “if systematic theology did not exist, it might seem unwise to invent it.”[1] We are in a new postmodern climate that distrusts both reason and all totalizing systems structured by human rationality. There is suspicion that the systems of theology are less systems found in Scripture and more products of creative human construction. Moreover, there has been a recovery of the storied shape of the Scriptural canon accompanied by a deepened awareness of the diversity of literary genres. The Bible is not simply a data dump of theological propositions,[2] nor a storehouse of isolated theological facts waiting to be arranged coherently by the systematic mind, nor a book with theological pieces of a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be assembled.[3] The Bible is in its overall shape a story of redemption with many genres that equip us…

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A Rose is Not Just a Rose: Re-integrating Faith with Learning in the Post-Christian Academy [1] Peter Rasor Peter Rasor (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Senior Pastor at Lilburn Christian Church in Lilburn, GA and serves as Adjunct Professor in Philosophy at Grand Canyon University Abstract: The integration of the Christian faith with learning has been a subject of discussion in Christian higher education for several decades. One pressing question is exactly how to accomplish this integration in every discipline of the Christian university, from the humanities to the sciences. This has proven to be somewhat difficult. A primary reason for this difficulty is due to the acceptance of what George Marsden calls “methodological secularism.” This paper offers four suggestions for overcoming methodological secularism seemingly entrenched in Christian universities in order to integrate successfully Christian faith with learning across all disciplines. Read the full article: A Rose is Not Just a Rose: Re-integrating Faith with Learning in the Post-Christian Academy [1] The phrase “a rose is not just a rose” is taken from Arthur Holmes, Building the Christian Academy (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 44. Emphasis added. Share this on: FacebookTwitterLinkedin

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