Ebert, Daniel J

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Cedarville UniversityDigitalCommons@CedarvilleBiblical and Theological Studies FacultyPublications School of Biblical and Theological Studies2011Review of Christ as CreatorDaniel J. EbertCedarville UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/biblical_and_ministry_studies_publicationsPart of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought,Theology and Philosophy of Religion CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access byDigitalCommons@Cedarville, a service of the Centennial Library. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Biblical and Theological Studies FacultyPublications by an authorized administrator ofDigitalCommons@Cedarville. For more information, please contactdigitalcommons@cedarville.edu.Recommended CitationEbert, Daniel J., "Review of Christ as Creator" (2011). Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications. 63.http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/biblical_and_ministry_studies_publications/63journal of the evangelical theological society 54/2410counsel for actual Christian behavior is nonviolence,” Revelation must be read “in the context of the entire Bible,” and the “controlling metaphor . . . for the entire vision at Patmos is the slain lamb” (p. 135, italics his).In chapter 9 (Revelation 18–19), Kraybill argues that Revelation “focuses on struc-tural evil—in this case, vast networks of commerce and politics warped by greed, violence, and blasphemous ideology” (pp. 153–54). Every person will either worship empire or God. In chapter 10 (Revelation 2–3), Kraybill discusses the letters to the seven churches. The letters emphasize repentance and the need for both faith and faithfulness. Kraybill argues that because conduct is factored so large in the 3nal judgment, the seven letters put an accent on action (p. 166). He attempts to resolve the apparent tension between how Paul and John viewed engagement with pagan society by discussing their di4erent chronological contexts (pp. 163–64). The millennium simply indicates that “evil someday will su4er utter defeat, and followers of the Lamb will receive honor” (p. 165).In chapter 11 (Revelation 11; 20–22), Kraybill proposes that we understand the arrival of  the new Jerusalem progressively. It began to arrive in John’s day, continues arriving in our day as God restores the world, and will fully arrive with complete res-toration when Christ returns (p. 176). Worship “becomes the central means by which God orients individuals and congregations toward God’s future” (p. 179). In chapter 12, Kraybill concludes the book with further re5ections from Revelation on Christian worship and its life-changing results.Every reader will, of  course, 3nd points of  interpretive disagreement. It does not seem likely that the New Jerusalem is progressively descending throughout human history (p. 176), or that God’s seal (Rev 7:3) represents baptism (pp. 109–12). Kraybill seems to overemphasize the importance of  nonviolent resistance in Revelation (pp. 51, 86–87, 101, 121, 135), particularly by arguing that hypomonē (endurance) “connotes sustained nonviolent resistance” (p. 135; cf. the similar emphasis by scholars such as Loren Johns and Brian Blount). To be sure, Revelation seems to assume nonviolent resistance (p. 121), but John never explicitly argues for it, defends it, or exhorts believ-ers to it. There is no historical or textual indication that violent resistance to Rome, government o6cials, or hostile neighbors was a temptation or option for believers in the seven churches John addressed in Asia Minor. It was not part of  the rhetorical or historical exigence and was therefore not likely part of  John’s rhetorical goals in writing Revelation. Finally, the praiseworthy emphasis on Revelation’s historical context often leaves little room for discussion of  its canonical context and use of  the OT.In contrast to these minor critiques, there is much to commend in this brief  intro-duction. Kraybill’s sketch of  the historical background, based on primary sources, is unmatched for its relevance and accessibility. It is concise without being super3cial. The text is eminently readable and easily holds the reader’s attention. The structure of  the book innovatively highlights the historical background necessary for accurate interpretation. Finally, Kraybill is intensely practical throughout, calling God’s people to faithful obedience, witness, and most of  all, worship. He has produced a book that will pro3t pastors, church members, beginning students, and seasoned scholars.Alexander E. Stewart Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NCChrist as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine. By Sean M. McDonough. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, xi + 294 pp., $120.00.The confession that Christ played a role in creation was widespread in the early church (1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:15–20; John 1:1–3; Heb 1:2). This confession, embedded in early book reviewsjune 2011 411Christian worship, was so well established that it is not argued in the NT, it is simply assumed. McDonough’s goal is to reconstruct the theological framework within which such a confession could be made (p. 2).The starting point for the doctrine that Christ is the agent of  creation (his Schöp-fungsmittlerschaft) is to be found in what the .rst-century church remembered about Jesus. An over-reading of  Philo, with a relative neglect of  the stories about Jesus, was a fault in prior work, so Hegermann, Weiss, and Cox (pp. 4–7). McDonough also rejects the explanatory value typically given to Wisdom speculation (p. 10). Instead, the doctrine of  Christ’s role in creation was developed as the .rst believers re/ected on the memories of  Jesus in light of  the OT. This was primarily carried out within a  messianic matrix. Linguistic and conceptual parallels from the broader .rst-cen-tury religious context, where appropriated, were intended to serve this messianic confession.The author /eshes out his argument beginning with an exploration of  the Gospel stories (chap. 2). The “memories of  Jesus” that exhibit Christ’s power over creation include mighty works, wonders, signs/healings, exorcisms, and nature miracles. Theo-logical re/ection on these memories led the Gospel writers to embed a “creation theol-ogy” in their introductions. This is clear in John, and possibly Matthew, and arguably present though less evident in Mark and Luke (pp. 19–22).Jesus’ nature miracles not only exhibit Jesus’ power over the created order but echo OT texts concerning God’s rule over creation (pp. 24–26). Jesus calms the sea; the Lord God rules over the sea (Ps 89:8–9). Jesus walks on the water; God “walks on the sea as if  it were dry land” (Job 9:8). Jesus feeds the crowd; God spreads a table in the wilderness (Ps 78:19). The Gospel authors do not make the connections explicit; but re/ection on Scripture would lead the church to associate Jesus with the work of  creation.In a similar fashion, McDonough looks at Jesus’ healings and exorcisms (pp. 26–32). McDonough treats John’s stories separately, focusing on the turning of  water into wine, the healing of  the man born blind, and the raising of  Lazarus. John’s theology is more explicit, but the theological movement is arguably the same: there are memories of the events from the story of  Jesus, then there is theological re/ection in light of  the OT, and .nally comes John’s prologue with its explicit a0rmation of  Christ as creator (pp. 33–36).Chapter 3 develops the connection between recreation and creation, which serves as the theological bridge from Jesus’ redemptive power over creation to his involve-ment in the original creation. The redemptive and creative themes are intertwined in the central NT texts on Christ’s Schöpfungsmittlerschaft. This paradigmatic move from redemption to creation would make sense to the early Christian writers; it was already clearly established in the OT (pp. 49–53) and was a commonplace in the broader religious thought of  antiquity (pp. 53–64).McDonough provides the last major link to his thesis in chapter 4 where he develops the matrix within which the doctrine of  Christ’s role in creation emerged—the category of  messiah. While previous investigations played lip service to the messianic context, they were more interested in Wisdom speculation or Hellenistic philosophy. The NT doctrine on Jesus’ role in creation emerged within a messianic matrix of  re/ection (p. 64). The key texts on Jesus’ role in creation have a messianic focus (pp. 66–71). The other OT images for God’s agency in creation (word, wisdom, and Spirit) were all understood to be possessed by the messiah (pp. 72–85).Finally, McDonough argues that the “image” and “glory” of  God are comprehensive scriptural categories related to God and creation, and he teases out how these are applied to the messiah (pp. 86–94).McDonough draws four important conclusions: (1) Labeling creation texts as “Wisdom Christology” is inappropriate, since there are many contributory streams of  thought (word, Spirit, glory, image). (2) A precise account of  the process of  early journal of the evangelical theological society 54/2412Christological creation thought is unattainable. (3) The personal appearance of  Jesus as messiah was not an empty box, but rather radically reshapes the antecedent models for agents of  creation. (4) Creation as the beginning of  messianic dominion provides a suitable account of  Christ’s role (pp. 94–96).Chapters 5 and 6 are helpful treatments of  Hellenistic “prepositional” theology and of  Philo. These chapters provide useful introductions to the issues and clearly show how Hellenistic philosophy and the Jewish-Hellenistic mix found in Philo di2er from the early church’s messianic interests.With this interpretive background in place, chapters 7–10 examine the primary texts for Christ’s role in creation (1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:15–20; John 1:1–3; Heb 1:2). There is much here of  exegetical value. The concise but well-crafted summary of  his 3ndings on Colossians 1 nicely illustrates the fruit of  his approach (pp. 188–91). McDonough concludes his work by casting “a 4eeting glance at the dogmatic implications of  Jesus’ role in creation” (p. 236). He o2ers a sampling from six theo-logians: Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Athanasius from the early centuries, and then Pannenberg, Moltmann, and Barth as three German-language representatives from the modern period.This book is admirably clear and largely compelling. Researchers into Christian origins arguably move in the right direction when they turn from Greco-Roman reli-gion and philosophy to the 3rst-century Jewish context (Hengel, Meyer, N. T. Wright) and then from this Second Temple milieu to focus on the early church’s memories and experiences of  Jesus (Bauckham, Dunn). McDonough has contributed to this salutary trajectory. The book models how to situate ancient Near Eastern texts, Hellenistic philosophy, wisdom theology, the teachings of  Philo, the Qumran material, as well as Rabbinic writings in relationship to early Christology, and at the same directs students to “the intuitively sensible starting point” (p. 19)—the memories of  Jesus.What calls for further attention, both at the end of  McDonough’s theological journey as well as at the beginning, relates to his treatment of  Jesus as “the Son of  God.” In two of  the four texts that speak of  Christ’s agency in creation, the subject is explicitly “the Son” (Col 1:15–20; cf. 1:13; Heb 1:1–4). In John’s prologue the subject is “the Word,” which is expressly identi3ed in verses 14 (cf. v. 18) as “the Son.” Only in 1 Cor 8:6 does the text link the title “Christ” explicitly with the agency of  creation, and here it is “one Lord, Jesus Christ,”—yet even here this is set in the Shema-like confession that speaks of  one God, “the Father.” In his discussion of  these texts, McDonough consistently shifts the subject from “Son” to “Messiah.” The focus on the “messianic matrix” for the origin of  Christ’s Schöpfungsmittlerschaft is correct, but to bring these texts into sharper focus the Son-language needs to be more adequately explained. Why was Christian theol-ogy already explicitly highlighting the messiah as “Son of  God” in these early creation texts? Foregrounding this aspect of  the “messianic matrix” would bene3t the transition to dogmatics that McDonough helpfully explores in his last chapter. McDonough admirably argues for “the memories of  Jesus” as the starting point for the doctrine and agrees that the “divine sonship” motif  is traceable to the teachings of  Jesus. Yet he decides not to press this motif  (pp. 40–41; though see the intriguing footnote on p. 41, n. 37). Exploring the “intermediate exegetical and theological moves” (p. 41) that might have contributed to the development of  the doctrine of  the Christ’s role in creation as God’s Son merit further attention and would have strengthened an already 3ne monograph.Daniel Ebert Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH

Review of Christ as Creator

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