Reviewed Book: Reid, Patrick V. Readings in Western Religious Thought: The Ancient World. New York: Paulist Press, 1987

Remus, Harold

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 14Issue 1 Essays: Historical and Theological Article 175-1-1988Readings in Western Religious Thought: TheAncient WorldHarold RemusFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationRemus, Harold (1988) "Readings in Western Religious Thought: The Ancient World," Consensus: Vol. 14 : Iss. 1 , Article 17.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol14/iss1/17126 ConsensusReadings in Western Religious Thought: The AncientWorldEdited by Patrick V. ReidNew York and Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1987viii -|- 395 pp., U.S. $12.95 paperbackOf the making of textbooks there is no end, as Koheleth might saytoday. This one, by an assistant professor of religious studies at ProvidenceCollege, Rhode Island, is intended for courses in Western civilization or inthe history of Western religious thought (l). “The ancient world” in thesubtitle is defined as the period from ca. 3,000 BCE (“the beginnings ofcivilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt”) to ca. 450 CE (“the collapse of theRoman Empire”) (1). The author expects readers to use the Hebrew Bible(i.e., the Old Testament) and the New Testament in conjunction with thebook because “the Judaeo-Christian tradition has had the greatest impacton the religious consciousness of the West” (1) and (presumably) becausetranslations of both are readily available and therefore obviate the need toinclude extensive excerpts in the book.In choosing sources to include, Reid looked for those that “best reflectthe basic religious values of the culture or movement and their adaptationduring the course of history” (1). He makes the usual observations aboutlength (“long enough to give the flavor of the work”) and variety (“wide”)(1). For each section he provides an introduction and a “minimal [read:one to three titles] bibliography” (l). Readers will have to compile theirown index (es).The author’s introductions represent mainstream scholarship, i.e., in-formed and with no lurches to “right” or “left”. There are few surpriseseither in the sections: (I) Ancient Near Eastern Religions (Mesopotamiaand Egypt); (2) Israel and the Hebrew Scriptures; (3) Ancient and ClassicalGreek Religion; (4) Hellenistic and Roman Religions; (5) The New Testa-ment; (6) The Christian Fathers and Early Christological Councils. The se-lections are also fairly standard, e.g., Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh Epic, Hymnto Aton, excerpts from representative biblical books, Homer, Plato, Stoics,Cicero, Vergil, mainstream Christian fathers, councils. Surprising, how-ever, is the length of the excerpt from Vergil’s Aeneid^ eighty-nine pages,counting Reid’s lengthy introduction, which fails to explain why he dishedup flavour so generously in this case. One wonders if the fact that one of hiscolleagues had an unpublished translation of the Aeneid ready to hand (2)may have had something to do with it. However, if in Edward McCrorie’svery readable translation students and others discover Vergil, should onereally complain?I do lament, however, that the immediate milieu of Israelite religion, i.e.,Canaan, is not represented, except very briefly in introductory comments,and that non-mainstream Christians aren’t allowed to speak viva voce. BaalBook Reviews 127still lives in the West, as do gnostics, Montanists, and Marcionites, and it’sinstructive to observe their original manifestations.But, of course, one book can’t do everything, and this one, if not used asa textbook, would serve as a gift you might give yourself for bedtime reading(I’d take it over ugh! Stephen King any day) or for a program of study thatputs “all that ancient stuff” together in an orderly, not overwhelming, way.Harold E. RemusWilfrid Laurier UniversityThe Anonymous Christ: Jesus as Saviour in ModernTheologyLee E. SnookMinneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986191 pp.The rising tidal wave of contemporary Christology has begun the pro-cess of charting a new course for theology. Professor Lee Snook, whoteaches systematic theology at Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary,has published a helpful (but at the same time problematic) introduction tothe contemporary Christological scene. This is an introduction addressedto a very particular audience. Snook is speaking to “all those who have dif-ficulty taking the traditional churchly confessions of Jesus as their startingpoint” (7).According to Snook, soteriology is the ultimate measuring-stick thatdetermines the authenticity of any Christology today. An authentic Chris-tology must demonstrate how Jesus saves humankind from the multidimen-sional forms of lostness. Lostness refers to: idolatrous unbelief, hopeless-ness, anxiety and alienation, oppression, ecological disaster, isolation, falseand distorted consciousness.For Snook, there is no one, absolute, definitive Christology. EveryChristology has its bias, whether or not its proponents are conscious ofit. An authentic faith in Jesus as Saviour today will review reality as:openness, multidimensional, dialogue, complex, and pluralistic.Snook employs two major methodological categories to interpret con-temporary Christologies. First, he borrows, in a modified form, the cate-gories of George Lindbeck. Snook presents the Christologies of Karl Barth,Hans Frei, Paul Tillich, the liberation theologians, and Thomas J.J. Al-tizer as “Cultural-Linguistic”. The Christologies of Wolfhart Pannenberg,John Cobb, Edward Schillebeeckx, John Hick, Karl Rahner, and WilfredCantwell Smith are presented by Snook as “Experiential-Historical” . The

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