Wyatt Graham

Faith | Books | Culture

Books

A Review of David Bentley Hart’s “That All Shall Be Saved”

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David Bentley Hart has faced the moral implications of the eternality of hell, found them wanting, and proposed that in the end, all shall be saved. At the heart of his argument lies, from his point of view, the moral hideousness of hell. 

Jason Micheli explains Hart’s moral vision well when recounting Hart’s experience of reading an article that detailed the death of a family:

The article highlighted a Sri Lankan father, who, in spite of his frantic efforts, which included swimming in the roiling sea with his wife and mother-in-law on his back, was unable to prevent his wife or any of his four children from being swept to their deaths. The father recounted the names of his four children and then, overcome with grief, sobbed to the reporter that “my wife and children must have thought, ‘Father is here . . . he will save us’ but I couldn’t do it.”

Hart wonders: If you had the chance to speak to this father in the moment of his deepest grief, what should you say? Hart argues that only a moral cretin would have approached that father with abstract theological explanation: “Sir, your children’s deaths are a part of God’s eternal but mysterious counsels” or “Your children’s deaths, tragic as they may seem, in the larger sense serve God’s complex design for creation” or “It’s all part of God’s plan.” 

This moral sensibility fills the pages of That All Shall Be Saved. Hart at once denounces the teaching of eternal conscious torment while affirming that in the end (even after a sojourn in hell) everyone shall be saved. 

Is he right?  [Read more…] about A Review of David Bentley Hart’s “That All Shall Be Saved”

Reviewing Martin Hengel’s Last Published Work

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Jesus and Judaism held my attention in ways that academic volumes rarely do. What makes Hengel’s and Scwemer’s work so engaging is its close attention to and citation of the sources that provide the historical context for Jesus. The skillful use of original sources wedded to a narrative presentation of the Jewish history and context around Jesus produces an engaging historical work.

Jesus and Judaism likely will be (and should be) a standard work on the history of earliest Christianity and Jesus in particular for the next decade.  [Read more…] about Reviewing Martin Hengel’s Last Published Work

The Elder Testament by Christopher Seitz. A Review.

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Professor Christopher Seitz self-consciously follows the canonical approach of Brevard Childs while also engaging in a theological interpretation of Scripture. In this way, Childs reads Scripture theologically and critically. This methodological mixture draws together two often competing ways of interpreting Scripture. 

To slightly exaggerate the case, Interpreters privilege either theological or critical tools depending on their social location (the church or the academy). Seitz attempts to do both. This attempt alone makes The Elder Testament an interesting and somewhat provocative read. 

I say “somewhat” because recent scholarship has made similar attempts. Seitz’s attempt, however, to my knowledge, most clearly builds on Brevard Childs’ canonical approach for the sake of theological understanding.  [Read more…] about The Elder Testament by Christopher Seitz. A Review.

Why You Should Read a 4th Century Bishop’s Letter Collection (Review of Bradley K. Storin’s Gregory of Nazianzus’s Letter Collection)

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Gregory of Nazianzus (329–390 AD) is one of three people to receive the epitaph “Theologian.” The others are John the Apostle and Symeon (949–1022 AD). The title certainly indicates a deep knowledge about God, but it underscores the experiential knowledge of the Divine. So Gregory is one who not only knew about God but also knew him. Gregory also presided over the famous council of Constinople (381) for a short time. Actually, it was after leaving this council (being somewhat embittered because of his experience) that he was able to sponsor the collection of his letters. 

The translation by Bradley Storin is excellent, and it was a pleasure to have a book that focuses on the author (Gregory) rather than the scholarly apparatus of the editor. The introduction is short and to the point while the notes carry the same kind of simplicity. Since the content here is king, consider these three reasons why you should consider purchasing this affordable collection of letters from a fourth century bishop.  [Read more…] about Why You Should Read a 4th Century Bishop’s Letter Collection (Review of Bradley K. Storin’s Gregory of Nazianzus’s Letter Collection)

Review of Truth We Can Touch by Tim Chester

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Tim Chester has skillfully written a short book on how baptism and communion should shape our lives. His easy communication style makes Truth We Can Touch accessible to a large audience—even to those who do not often read theological books. 

In this sense, the book could easily help churches teach their congregations the meaning of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It could also be a textbook at the college level. I recommend the work to anyone interested in the topic—I had only some minor quibbles with the work.  [Read more…] about Review of Truth We Can Touch by Tim Chester

How Did Early Christians Understand “The Works of the Law” (A review of Matthew J. Thomas’s “Paul’s ‘Works of the Law'”)

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Matthew J. Thomas contributes to an ongoing discussion that surrounds the meaning of “the works of the law” in Paul’s writings. Thomas demonstrates how early Christians understood Paul through the reception of the apostle’s teaching in the second century. It is obvious that the apostolic teaching would have an immediate effect on Christians who presumably understand what Paul meant when he spoke to them. Not only that, but they also lived in a similar word with a shared culture. 

Thomas quotes Lewis in this regard:

“The idea that any man or writer should be opaque to those who lived in the same culture, spoke the same language, shared the same habitual imagery and unconscious assumptions, and yet be transparent to those who have none of these advantages, is in my opinion preposterous. There is an a priori improbability in it which almost no argument and no evidence could counterbalance” (209, citing “Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism” in Lewis 1977).

This seems to be an imminently sane conclusion. And Thomas pursues this line of thought throughout his work, Paul’s ‘Works of the Law’ in the Perspective of Second Century Reception. His study concludes that second century Christians understood Paul’s works of the law along similar lines to the new perspective(s) on Paul rather than the old perspective (i.e., the 16th century reformed view).  [Read more…] about How Did Early Christians Understand “The Works of the Law” (A review of Matthew J. Thomas’s “Paul’s ‘Works of the Law’”)