McKinion, Randall L

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Cedarville University DigitalCommons@Cedarville Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications School of Biblical and Theological Studies Winter 2013 Book Review: Mapping Modern Theology Randall L. McKinion Cedarville University, rmckinion@cedarville.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/biblical_and_ministry_studies_publications Recommended Citation McKinion, Randall L., "Book Review: Mapping Modern Theology" (2013). Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications. 495. https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/biblical_and_ministry_studies_publications/495 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Cedarville, a service of the Centennial Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Cedarville. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@cedarville.edu. 234 SOUTHEASTERN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW Second, it seems that McClymond and McDermott at times overempha-size Edwards’s unpublished “Miscellanies.” One clear example is in their un-derstanding of Edwards’s theology of world religions. McDermott in particu-lar has argued for Edwards’s openness to other religions for many years, es-pecially in his book Jonathan Edwards Confronts the Gods: Christian Theology, En-lightenment Religion, and Non-Christian Faiths (Oxford University Press, 2000). The authors do not claim Edwards was an inclusivist, but they suggest Ed-wards was at least moving in that direction, making their case primarily from his unpublished writings that were constantly being revised and refined. Ed-wards may have indeed been a proto-inclusivist; my principle concern is not with Edwards’s views of the unevangelized. My discomfort is with the meth-odological problem of relying on unpublished, ever-changing, half-formed private musings such as the “Miscellanies” to illumine what Edwards really thought. It seems like the better route is to allow unpublished works to con-textualize, but never control the interpretation of Edwards’s published works, especially when they seem to contradict one another. Despite my personal demurrals on some points, I am deeply impressed with The Theology of Jonathan Edwards. It will certainly become the starting point for those interested in Edwards’s thought, much as George Marsden’s Jonathan Edwards: A Life (Yale University Press, 2003) has established itself as the first stop for those interested in Edwards’s life. McClymond and McDermott demonstrate comprehensively that Edwards’s theology offers a rich feast for us to embrace, adapt, and perhaps, at times, even debate. I have no doubt their important new book will encourage many readers, especially pastors and students, to dive into the writings of Jonathan Edwards for themselves. Highly recommended. Nathan A. Finn Wake Forest, North Carolina Kelly M. Kapic and Bruce L. McCormack, eds. Mapping Modern Theology: A Thematic and Historical Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012. x + 421 pp. Paperback. ISBN 9780801035357. $34.99 Paperback. The purpose of the volume edited by Kapic and McCormack is to sum-marize the development of classical doctrines over the last couple of centu-ries. After an introduction, which discusses the concept of modernity and lays out the task for the writers, there are fourteen essays written by highly quali-fied theologians moving through each of the major theological categories normally discussed in a systematics curriculum. Thus, the most valuable con-tribution of this volume lies in its structuring its summaries around the doc-trine instead of the individuals. As such, the book exposes the student to the broader scope of the modern path through which the doctrine grew, while at the same providing categories by which Schleiermacher and Barth, among others, can be understood.  BOOK REVIEWS 235 The nature of the task given to the contributors has at least three limita-tions. First, while providing a great service to students and teachers of theol-ogy, the scope of a doctrine’s development within modernity deserves much more elucidation than a 20-page summary can provide. By necessity, then, the authors truncate aspects of the development of the doctrine. For example, in his article, “The Person of Christ,” McCormack—fittingly a Barthian schol-ar—ends abruptly with Barth’s theology, telescoping all approaches that fol-low Barth as either extension or permutation on paradigms culminating in him. As such, McCormack places the burden of evaluating recent develop-ments upon the shoulders of the contemporary student with the expectation that his summary provides the necessary framework for such a task. Though his summary of the doctrine proves valuable and perhaps fits well with the pedagogical purpose of the book, a summary of the reception of Barth and others by more recent theologians would be most welcome. A second limitation appears when the authors attempt to do too much. In some sense, the reader will feel such a tension throughout the book as the authors attempt to summarize (albeit many times in helpful categories) intri-cate developments of doctrinal positions and movements. For example, the articles by Kärkkäinen and Horton on “Ecclesiology” and “Eschatology,” respectively, suffer acutely from this drawback, even though they have pro-vided a valuable resource for starting to study these doctrines in modernity. Third, the strength of the book—namely, its structure around a doctrine and not the players in the discussion—also contributes to an inability to come to a complete grasp of certain trains of thought within the development of the doctrines. More specifically, although great time and effort is given in many of the articles to Schleiermacher’s (or Barth’s) contributions, the im-pression exists that much more could be said. This is due to the fact that one’s theology does not simply develop within a clear set of categories delin-eated by classical discussions. In other words, despite a noble effort by the contributors, the professor and student will need to demonstrate the overlap in the theologians’ thinking regarding these categories. Kapic and McCormack have provided the theology professor with a valu-able resource to bring a student up-to-speed regarding the path of theological studies in modern times. This is so even if the professor views it primarily as a launching point to discuss differences of opinion on modernity and a doc-trine’s development within modern times. With the priority that the authors give to the contributions of Schleiermacher and Barth, however, a work elab-orating specifically on their contributions would be invaluable to such in-struction. For many students, the names and approaches will need further elaboration and perhaps more in-depth study to arrive at a full understanding of the ramifications and adaptations for one’s theology. At the same time, the book provides the student with a fitting introduction to a lifetime of studying theology. As such, it is here that the book may be poised to make a contribu-tion to the church, namely in influencing how present and future ministers will think about classical doctrine categories within the context of modern 236 SOUTHEASTERN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW culture. The book will thus fulfill its purpose of instructing students in how the church has thoughts about its doctrine, even when such thinking parts ways with the traditions of which the student may have been a part. Randall L. McKinion Holly Springs, North Carolina Miles V. Van Pelt. Biblical Hebrew: A Compact Guide. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012. xii + 210 pp. Paperback. ISBN 9780310326076. $19.99 Paperback. Alongside the Zondervan Biblical Hebrew lineup of grammars, work-books, vocabulary lists, flashcards, and sundry charts and study aides, Van Pelt has added Biblical Hebrew: A Compact Guide [BHCG]. This self-described “little book” (the size of a half package of 4x6 inch note cards) appears to be a consolidation of his introduction, Basics of Biblical Hebrew (2nd Edition, Zondervan, 2007) written with Gary Pratico, and is presented without the accoutrements of a beginning text—vocabulary, exercises, etc. The content is a compendium of Biblical Hebrew grammar written from a synchronic perspective. It includes sections on phonology, orthography, and syllabification as well as nouns, pronouns, pronominal suffixes, numerals, prepositions and other particles. Nearly eighty pages are dedicated to charts and prose detailing all of the major Hebrew stems plus the strong and weak verbal conjugations with interspersed biblical examples and morphosyntactic notes. The text is appended by a verbal paradigm and a Hebrew-English lexi-con numbering approximately one thousand lexemes. For most English-language speakers, the grammatical vocabulary will be familiar and not overly linguistic with limited Hebrew terms confined mostly to niqqud (“Qamets”, “Daghesh”, etc.). The grammatical descriptions are written in clear prose and exemplified sufficiently. Biblical examples are nu-merous and aptly chosen, but references are regrettably absent. The Hebrew text is presented in square script and Tiberian vowels without description of or marking of cantillation. The font size is sufficient; the layout is well con-ceived; and the printing legible. Typographical errors are relatively few—negligible peccadilloes are conspicuous with the rendering of doubled mem (at point four, 9), replacing patah for qames in ןֵקָזַּה (18), and omitted linking vow-els with 2fs and 1cp “Type-1” pronominal suffixes (46). Variation in font color—black, red, and gray—is used cogently but suffers from inconsistency within several paradigms (e.g. with the II-Guttural 3mp form [86]) and in other places (cf. the pronunciation charts of the consonants [2] and the vow-els [3–4]).  BHCG proves beneficial regarding raw data and portability, but much of the information, particularly pertaining to verbal inflection and lexis, is more readily and comprehensively accessible in other reference materials. Whereas basic phenomena are attended to, the limited grammatical descriptions may lead to frustration as the pedagogic space between a beginning and interme-diate grammar appears small even for a compact guide. These issues accom-

Book Review: Mapping Modern Theology

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Book Review: Mapping Modern Theology

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