Reviewed Title: Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Hearing the Call: Liturgy, Justice, Church, and World. Eds. Mark R. Gornik and Gregory Thompson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011. 440 pages. ISBN 978-0-8028-6525-0

Henderson, Roger

English

Dordt College

Volume 40 Number 1 Article 5 September 2011 Hearing the Call: Liturgy, Justice, Church, and World (Book Review) Roger Henderson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege  Part of the Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Henderson, Roger (2011) "Hearing the Call: Liturgy, Justice, Church, and World (Book Review)," Pro Rege: Vol. 40: No. 1, 40 - 41. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol40/iss1/5 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. 40     Pro Rege—September 2011Book ReviewsYears ago I was convinced for quite some time that there were two authors with the name N. Wolterstorff, one writing on art and aesthetics and another on theories of  knowledge and rationality. Now this collection of  thirty-nine articles written over a period of  forty year shows that there are six or seven—at least as far as breath of  inter-est and depth of  insight go. Two editors, in consultation with the author, have put together a well arranged, coher-ent collection of  essays—some previously unpublished [See end note]. The collection contains revealing words of  a father writing in grief  over the death of  a son; a son being instructed by a father out on the Minnesota plains; a brother speaking for the poor; a disciple spreading the message of  the master; a political philosopher speaking for the rights of  the oppressed; and a husband arguing on behalf  of  women in church office. Remarkably enough, the collection remains the work of  one writer, the voice of  one speaker! You may not like or agree with everything said—I don’t—but the author speaks with an honest voice on hard topics. The book discusses real and difficult, not ephemeral or luxury, issues. There is a down-to-earth and direct quality to much of  the writing. Its style shows care for clear communication and contact with the reader. Most of  what is written intimates uprightness and a sense of  goodness that is hard to resist. Two of  the sections in the book are about the author himself; they give the reader some of  the background and context of  the articles. They reveal that he was taught to seek what is good and right and demonstrate how he, as a long time professor of  philosophy, taught others to do the same. These qualities and this carefully conceived collec-tion put a burden on the reader to face various challenges, for example, to seek justice, to care for or about the poor, to seek beauty or aesthetic fittingness in architecture, ordi-nary life and worship. However, the labor of  reading this collection is light, and the reward potentially great. The book contains valuable stories, observations, and morals and demonstrates by example how to put together an argument and make a persuasive point. It makes some of  Wolterstorff ’s other more technical writings easier to understand. A good place to start is at the front or the back of  the book, reading these sections first. “The Grace That Shaped My Life” and the “Afterword” are personal stories about a writer who is reticent to talk about himself. Yet from them much can be learned and many insights gained.Most of  the book’s contents are within the reach of  the ordinary reader; few presuppose technical training or expertise though some do have technical sections. The es-says contain many valuable quotations from both modern and ancient authors, including Augustine, Aquinus, Calvin, Weber, H.R. Niebuhr, A. MacIntyre, and Walzer, as well as some lengthy passages from the Bible. It is fascinating to observe Wolterstorff ’s unfamiliar way of  formulating fa-miliar Christian doctrines and beliefs. The article “Seeking Justice in Hope” gives valuable glimpses into what real faith is, true Biblical hope in contrast to mere secular “op-timism.” It advises doing our work in hope even when the outcome is very uncertain. “The Political Ethics of  the Reformers” lays out a clear and revealing contrast between Medieval ideas about human fulfillment and the sixteenth-century Reformers’ ideas about the human responsibility to hear and live by the word of  God. There are discussions that engender real appreciation of  liturgy and music and invite deep reflection on their place in life and worship. A consideration of  different approaches to church archi-tecture, based on the author’s own experience, is given in two articles.“Letter to a Young Theologian” offers a fascinating glimpse into what is expected of  a Christian theologian—and an academic quite generally. It is instructive and shows some of  Wolterstorff ’s own theological leanings and theo-retical proclivities. It is one of  the most revealing essays in regard to his own scholarly work and practice. The ar-ticle “Has the Cloak Become a Cage? Love, Justice, and Economic Activity” offers informative commentary on current economic realities and moral dilemmas created by them. In this 2006 article, Wolterstorff  as much as predicts, in a very general way, the 2008 economic bank collapse. He also provides a short but valuable characterization of  some of  Max Weber’s most influential ideas about secularization, economics, and modern society. Besides commenting on these public issues, the book contains some personal reflections on Wolterstorff ’s own grief  and his thoughts about the nature of  lamentation as presented in the Bible. It argues for the propriety of  hon-est grieving over a loss and against trying to cover up or an-alyze away our suffering into steps and phases identifiable by therapists. Wolterstorff  ‘s reflections here are informed by the writings of  John Calvin on suffering—in his “The wounds of  God: Calvin’s Theology of  Social Injustice.” This and other essays in the collection are written in the shadow of  the loss in 1983 of  his own son Eric. Calvin’s Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Hearing the Call: Liturg y, Justice, Church, and World. Eds. Mark R. Gornik and Gregory Thompson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011. 440 pages. ISBN 978-0-8028-6525-0. Reviewed by R.D. Henderson, PhD, now researching and writing in The Netherlands.Pro Rege—September 2011     41 criticism of  the Stoic negation of  grief  is presented, and following him, Wolterstorff  advocates “giving voice to the suf-fering that accompanies deep loss” (81). He explains lament as “the bringing to speech of  suffering.” In the Bible, he says, there are many examples of  upright lamentation. He quotes Calvin again, arguing that rather than being indifferent or apathetic towards our suffering, God is moved, sharing our sadness and is Himself  pained. At the end of  his “If  God is Good and Sovereign, Why Lament?” he wrestles with Calvin’s thought that “the suffering that comes our way is for our good and that we must, accordingly, endure it with grateful patience” (92). But “what about my son?” Wolterstorff  asks. Didn’t God want continued earthly ex-istence for him? Like many people in Scripture, he does not understand why things have gone awry. “So I join the psalmist in lament,” he says, and “I voice my suffering, naming it and owning it,” yet endure in faith.An issue written about in many contexts and with great passion is justice, or love and justice; it has occu-pied Wolterstorff  for many years, and the book chronicles various times and places he has spoken up for people who were being wronged. Wolterstorff  conceives of  justice in terms of  all people possessing natural human rights. “Every human being,” he affirms, “has a natural right to genuine and fair access to adequate means of  sustenance” (391). The basis of  rights is that all human beings are made in the image of  God and are objects of  God’s love and care. Wolterstorff  sees justice and natural human rights as inextricably linked. In a number of  articles including “Why Care About Justice?” Wolterstorff  cites many familiar Biblical passages demonstrating God’s enduring concern for justice. He believes that Scripture from cover to cover drives home the message that we too are to care for and to work to lighten the burdens of  the poor, the blind, the oppressed, the captive. In his article “The Troubled Relationship between Christians and Human Rights,” the lack of  an explicit language of  rights in Scripture is mentioned. The link between justice and rights, to Wolterstorff, is the Biblical teaching about being wronged and being forgiven; these, he says, presuppose a notion of  human rights, “even though the concept itself  may not be employed” (151). Wolterstorff  believes the cause of  justice (for all) is well served by thinking and speaking in terms of  human rights, and that failing to do so is a serious error. On this difficult subject I beg to differ with Wolterstorff. To my mind, the absence in Scripture of  a language of  rights is significant. In the gospels the (second) command to “love your neigh-bor as yourself ” is always linked to and follows from the first, namely, to “love God with your whole heart . . . .” Speaking of  a human “right” or “rights” alone loses this connection. Is there ever a right without a corresponding responsibility—to God?  To my mind, “rights talk” is one-sided. It conjures up a universe of  discourse foreign to Biblical religion, positing the basis of  a claim in man him-self  alone. It also has the problem of  implying that we do not need to say “thank you” to anyone because what we enjoy is ours by right.One clue to the idea of  human rights concerns this question:  what and who make up a community?  “Natural human rights” seems to imply that all people are one com-munity. And, while in a limited sense this is true, still clear-ly, not all people are of  one nationality, one family, one faith, one language, etc. Important distinctions are rightly made based on such membership. As a member of  the human race I am universally forbidden to murder any (and every) fellow human being. But am I thereby equally legally bound to provide “genuine and fair access to adequate means of  sustenance” to everyone?  All of  this, including the idea of  “access,” seems ambiguous to me. The need for discretion and good judgment are also strangely lacking in the picture here suggested.As I see it, the idea of  universal human rights con-fuses a universal ethical with a particular legal notion. Wolterstorff  affirms an ethical connection that imposes a legal obligation on and between all people. However, legal obligations depend upon (something like) a constitution or set of  laws spelling out legal ties, rights, and responsibili-ties within some specific community. Am I legally obliged to provide for one or more impoverished communities in India or China?  Two minor shortcomings of  the book are its lack of  index and system. The conclusions drawn in one article that could be applied in a similar context in another are often missing. Although unpopular today, isn’t giving voice to your own system of  thought still a philosopher’s duty, espe-cially for a gifted one like Nicholas Wolterstorff?Given its broad scope and practical character, this book has a wide educational value and can be read fruit-fully in either a casual or a studious way. It discusses some of  the most difficult, basic human problems in a careful, committed, and elevated manner. It reflects the beauty and pain of  a many-faceted reality discussed with insight—conceived and spoken about in a single voice. In it I have found myself, and I suspect many others will also find themselves, hearing the call.[Note: One of  these, “The Political Ethic of  the Reformers,” is undated, but the author comments, “I would guess, from the 1970’s.” That was indeed a guess, since two books discussed in this very valuable article were not published until 1981 and 1982.]

Hearing the Call: Liturgy, Justice, Church, and World (Book Review)

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