BOOK REVIEWS

Wesleyan Theological Pespectives. Volume I: An Inquiry into Soteriology from a Biblical Theological Perspective. ed. John E. Hartley and R. Larry Shelton. Anderson, Indiana: Warner Press, 1981. xiv and 263 pp. Reviewed by Charles N. Dillmann, Ph.D., Professor of Religion, Spring Arbor College, Spring Arbor, Michigan.

            In recent years the quality of books by evangelicals has been improving. The three Grand Rapids publishers, and a few other houses, have been vigorous both in cultivating writers and in developing - and expanding - markets for books with a conservative Biblical and theological orientation. For many of us, these publishers have been a mainstay: we have only wished that they were broader in their appeal, consciously seeking to meet the needs of evangelicals who are Wesleyan and/or Arminian, rather than assuming that to be evangelical is also to be in some measure Calvinistic as well.

            Many of us, therefore, have been aware of the need to publish a series of works which can be both informative in their own right and models of a style of Biblical interpretation characteristic of the best in Wesleyan scholarship. Current moves in this direction by the Zondervan Corporation seem promising. The present book, and two others in the Wesleyan Theological Perspectives series, are now in print. Within the past few months the series has been given a clean, matched, new look through redesigned dust jackets. In the bookstores, you should now look for the title Salvation, though I believe book catalogs and order listing will retain the more unwieldy full title An Inquiry into Soteriology from a Biblical Theological Perspective (edited by John E. Hartley and R. Larry Shelton).

            Within this volume are found articles by nine different writers, dealing with the doctrine of salvation as developed in seven separate divisions of Scripture. Articles are included dealing with three different aspects of Paul's thought on salvation, rounding out the line.

THE OLD TESTAMENT

            The article which begins this work seeks to describe practical and theological aspects of salvation in the entire Old Testament. Such a task cannot be accomplished in only fifty pages, and the wonder is that it is accomplished as well as it is. In this article Hartley takes first a philological approach, adds theological dimensions, and then moves to Isaiah 40-55 as representative of the best Old Testament thought on soteriology. This study is useful and well-designed; I wish, however, that it had given more consideration to the insights of the "salvation-history" approach to Old Testament study; that it developed the concept of soteriology in the Psalms; and that Covenant as a leading salvific concept had been explored. Still, this chapter is one of the best in the book from the standpoint of contemporary evangelical scholarship.

            Hartley's exposition of Isaiah 41, with its Trial Speeches, Oracles of Salvation, and formal Proclamation of Salvation, is technical but clear, making it possible for the layperson or the undergraduate student to follow the skillful use of the tools of Old Testament exegetical study.

            Hartley also includes a necessarily short treatment of the four Servant Songs in this section of Isaiah. "Each one details a specific role that the servant will fulfill: king, prophet, teacher, priest respectively" (p. 43).

THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

In some twenty-five pages Joseph S. Wang explores the soteriology of the Synoptic Gospels. He considers primarily the aspects of the topic which relate to sin on the one hand, and the Kingdom of God and eternal life on the other. Wang's discussion does not treat any distinctions of emphasis, focus, approach, or doctrine between the three synoptics. Surprisingly, Matthew is referred to more frequently than Luke. The wealth of relevant source-material from Luke's fifteen or so unique parables has been largely left unnoticed.

            As far as it goes, the chapter (the reader is really encouraged to see these as separate articles rather than chapters, for they are not given numbers) is basically accurate, with a minimum of redundancy. Its weakness is that it seeks to find only harmony - both within the synoptics themselves and between the synoptic Gospels and the remainder of scripture; it fails to look at these books to find their unique contribution to the teachings of the Bible. Aside from this, Wang's writing is reminiscent of a "proof-texting" approach, and thus not exactly apropos of the Biblical Theological perspective projected in the book's title.

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

            George Turner, in the section on soteriology in John's Gospel, sets a five-fold agenda right from the outset. It is a "problem"-centered article rather than one inductively developed from the materials in John: Turner nevertheless has such a feel for John's thought and pattern of expression that he is able to respond briefly but accurately to questions which have been raised by a selection of scholars.

            Rudolf Bultmann has pointed out that John omits any reference to the terms repent and repentance, suggesting the reason to be "an eagerness to avoid a 'moralistic misunderstanding.'" To this Turner responds, "For John the basic sin is unbelief; therefore, belief involves the turning that repentance involves. The 'coming' also involves repentance, or turning, and thus the idea of repentance, if not the terminology, is all-pervasive in the Fourth Gospel" (p. 89).

            I wish Turner's article were longer - it is only ten and one-half pages - both because there is much left unsaid. and because some of the topics addressed deserve more thorough treatment. In addition, as I have indicated, it does not seek to examine the soteriology of the Gospel of John either comprehensively or systematically. Nonetheless, readers will find this chapter instructive.

THE PAULINE LETTERS

            Three separate articles are dedicated to Pauline studies: "Justification by Faith in the Pauline Corpus," by Larry Shelton; "The Pauline Doctrine of Sanctification," by Bert H. Hall; and "Glorification in the Pauline Letters," by Robert Wall. By far the strongest of the studies is the one by Shelton. His concern is "to examine the foundations of Paul's doctrine of justification by faith and its relationship to union with Christ and ethical righteousness with a view toward suggesting Biblical implications for the Wesleyan theology of salvation" (p. 99).

            It seems to me an oversight, on the basis of Stephen Neill's argument (in Jesus Through Many Eyes) to continue to speak of justification in terms of "acquittal." It seems more in keeping with the definitive statement of Paul in Romans 3:25f, and incidentally more consistent with Wesleyan theology - including the very ideas Dr. Shelton seeks to develop - to discuss justification in terms of the concept of pardon.

            Shelton's article is the product of thorough research, a fact which is both evident in the study itself and supported by the quantity of supporting documentation: there are fully six pages of reference - notes at the end of the article, running to one hundred thirteen entries.

            Shelton has rightly emphasized the link between justification and righteousness - actualized righteousness - in the believer, accomplished through relationship with God and in Christ. He eschews the traditional "imputation-impartation" approach as being inadequate to express the reality of which Paul wrote, and shows that justification has not only to do with forgiveness, but also with "making one actually righteous in Christ" (p. 123).

            Bert H. Hall's article, The Pauline Doctrine of Sanctification builds much too strongly upon the idea that the "aorist is the Greek tense for punctiliar action, action of a moment, a crisis" (p. 139). This statement while true, cannot be made to mean that every use of the aorist is punctiliar in sense. We must take issue with the reference to the aorist particularly here, since the form he points to is not in the indicative (it is indeed aorist), but the significance of that most utilitarian of Greek tenses in the infinitive or the imperative, or as here, in the optative, [hagiasai] has more to do with the way the action is viewed than with its being "the action of a moment, a crisis." The standard - and generally trustworthy - Greek grammar-attempt to make this clear with such descriptions as: "the aorist imperative [or infinitive, or subjunctive] refers to the action without saying anything about its duration or repetition...." It seems to me to be time for us either to come to grips with the masters of Greek grammar and correct them, or stop making assertions about the grammar - and in particular about the aorist tense - which are out of tune with the matters.

Hall proposes that sin, referred to 90 frequently by Paul in the key passage Romans 6:1 - 7:6 is not a principle but a state of life. Using this interpretation, the study then interprets the passage as a series of metaphors or illustrations. These are (1) the old life, Romans 6:5-11; (2) sin as a tyrant, 6:13; (3) sin as a taskmaster, 6:16ff; and (4) deliverance from sin is also deliverance from the law, 7:1-6.

Dr. Hall develops his discussion along familiar lines, describing sanctification as process, as crisis, and as state. Though the argument is forced at times, at the conclusion of the study the following points are made. "From the passages we have cited it seems evident that no single definition of sanctification can be given that will be equally applicable to the variety and multiplicity of meanings that Paul gives to the word." "Paul never considers sanctification as a doctrine to be believed for its own sake." And one hopes it is with a bit of hyperbole that the author says in the final paragraph, "Paul views sanctification as a result of all that God does, can do, and will do for the Christian" (these three final references are all from p. 153).

The article loosely fits the purpose of the book, which is to present studies within the general topic "from a Biblical Theological perspective." However, it is not certain that the study is presented in such a way as to build bridges in the world of Biblical interest at large.

Robert W. Wall, in "Glorification in the Pauline Letters," focuses on the glory of Yahweh in the Old Testament as formative in Paul's thought concerning Christian life and the Church. "God's salvation and therefore his glory was revealed 'in Christ.' That is, the old 'glory of God' formula was recast into a new 'in Christ' formula . . . [which] is fundamental to the whole gospel of hope" (p. 158f.).

Paul attributes ultimate glory to God; Christ makes concrete God's transcendent glory; and the Church, through the Spirit also is to make the glory of God "known in the world and indeed [is to vindicated his reputation before the evil dominion" (P. 162).

Wall concludes with a rather labored argument intended to sharpen certain important distinctions (e.g. that between sarx and soma, or the Hebraic versus the Greek idea concerning the body). He succeeds in part in his clarification, but this portion of the discussion could have profited from a more thorough review prior to publication. It is possible that something fell out on the typesetter's floor, as for example footnote sixteen did. We note also the order of footnote references: 14, 17, 15, 16.

But in fact some of Wall's emphasis is choice, even though some of his actual wording is awkward and a bit of it is obscure. He is to be commended for raising our sights above certain key- and code-words to larger and overarching concepts of Pauline thought; and he is to be congratulated for tying these concepts together in creative and stimulating ways with major concerns in Wesleyan theological discussion.

THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS

Wayne McCown has provided a study of the soteriology of the Epistle to the Hebrews which would rank high in any collection of essays in N.T. Theology. McCown demonstrates a thorough mastery of the tools and techniques of exegetical research, and also of the style of argument in the epistle at hand.

McCown has divided his study into three parts. The main thrust of the work is contained in the first two sections: "the Person and Work of  Christ," dealing of course with the Christological foundation of the epistle, and " Provisions and Imperatives of Salvation, " which integrates the kerygmatic and the hortatory in the message of Hebrews, with emphasis on the practicable aspects of salvation theology. The final third of the article is entitled "Some Practical Questions and Problems." It is, as its heading would indicate, miscellaneous in nature.

The doctrine of salvation, particularly in a document as tightly-reasoned as Hebrews, necessarily begins with a clear development of Christological understanding. The epistle begins there, and includes one of the most formal expositions of the meaning of the life of Christ in the New Testament. McCown summarizes this teaching, organizing it under the heads (1) Pioneer of Salvation (total identification with humanity, incarnation, forerunner who has entered the inner shrine of God's presence on our behalf); (2) Source of Salvation (obedience, suffering, and death); and (3) High Priest (involving the reasoning in Hebrews 5:1-10 and that in chapter 7, as well as consideration of the significance of sacrifices in other passages, and finally moving to the topic of the new covenant).

In the central segment of the study McCown begins with the development in 10:19-25, with its three imperatives, namely, "draw near," "hold fast the confession," and "stir up one another to love and good works," based on the two great privileges mentioned, which are the confidence to enter the sanctuary, and the great high priest.

Also within this middle section of the study a concise outline of other exhortations is put before us and then expanded. The subjects treated are:

(1) Holding fast

(2) Growth unto maturity

(3) Persevering faith

(4) Subjection to the discipline of God

(5) The exercise of communal oversight for those who are weakening.

The third major portion of McCown's work ("Some Practical Questions and Problems") contains in straightforward question-and-answer format four questions of theological interest which relate to subjects like the absence of the word justification, the meaning of the terms sanctification and perfection in Hebrews; the doctrine of rest, and the teaching of the epistle on the possibility of apostasy and the possibility or impossibility of a second repentance after falling away. All of these questions are relevant to laymen and ministers, and have their bearing on the understanding of the soteriology of the epistle.

In twenty-two pages Wayne McCown has summarized concisely and with a good deal of clarity the approach taken toward salvation in the Epistle to the Hebrews. His penultimate paragraph is a quotation from John Calvin on the possibility of apostasy, which shows us Calvin at his sin-fearing best ("Thus gradually we slide, until at length we rush headlong into ruin. We may observe this daily in many"). The same quotation shows us two things in McCown: his ecumenical approach to evangelical scholarship, and his wry wit in selecting precisely this writer to quote on the subject of falling away from Christ.

THE GENERAL EPISTLES

Gilbert W. Stafford has written his study titled "Salvation in the General Epistles" fully aware that these seven N.T. books address varied concerns. Thus at the outset he explains, "Instead of considering the whole soteriological theme in each book, we will focus on those particular dimensions of each epistle's soteriological theme that uniquely contributes to the composite view of salvation found in James; 1 and 2 Peter; 1, 2, and 3 John and Jude" (p. 95). He terms this a "composite study," stating, "it is a matter of seeing Biblical salvation from the unique perspective of these seven epistles. The Christian canon of Scripture came into existence not in order to give a multiplicity of salvific options, but as the multidimensional proclamation of the one canonical doctrine of salvation" (pp.195f).

It is hard to see how these seven epistles from several different writers can offer a perspective on salvation which has quite the unity Stafford suggests: but if they do, it is even more difficult to set it forth as a "unique perspective. " Surely if we are reducing our statements to common ground - a not unworthy endeavor, surely - then we must be cautious in our claims to uniqueness.

From the Epistle of James, Stafford has selected six key themes. These are Obedient Faith; the Word (or Law) of Liberating Truth; the Wisdom of God; Persistence in Obedience; Hamartia, and Perfection of the Will. I found the last two enlightening in spite of much prior study of James.

The most significant part of the treatment of I Peter is entitled "Universal Ministry of the Holy Spirit" (pp.203ff.), dealing with the difficult passages in 3:18-19 and 4:5-6. Not all readers will agree completely with Stafford's theological construction here (in what he terms I Peter's "supraincarnational concept of salvation"), but his emphasis on the universal work of the Holy Spirit in the world of humanity, without regard to time, geography, or cultural connection, is a reasoned interpretation of the passages under consideration; and it is consistent with the idea of prevenient grace.

Stafford's treatment of I John focuses on the problem of sin: "some begin with the 1:7 - 2:2 passage about the inevitability of sin, and in so doing emphasize a life of continuing struggle, while others begin with the 3:4-10 passage about our sinlessness and emphasize the blessed victory that belongs to the believer."

On this problem, Stafford summarizes along the following lines. He distinguishes on the one hand between a sinful status and particular sins; and on the other between what he terms a "Christly" status and particularities of life which are consistent with that status. Then he says, "However, a person having a Christly status may nevertheless be afflicted with manifestations of unrighteousness in the particularities of life, just as those not of Christ can give forth externally righteous manifestations" (p. 215). One incidental note: Dr. Stafford seems to have a weakness for what I can only term "private cliches" - such as "Christly status," "Christly salvation," and Jesus Christ as "the victory person."

One further noteworthy portion in Stafford's study concerns his distinction between "sin unto death" and "sin not unto death" (hamartzapros thanaton and hamartia ou pros thanaton), found on pages 216-218.

Most readers will find in Gilbert Stafford's studies presented here stimulation for their own chought and reflection. He has thought carefully about the issues raised concerning soteriology in these epistles. My own observation is that his writing is more formed by the considerations and agendas of systematic theology than by those of exegesis, and thus while many of his conclusions are theologically worthy and philosophically stimulating, they have about them the ring of good illustrative material as much as of exposition.

THE REVELATION

"Most readers probably do not approach the Book of Revelation with the expectation of finding a well-defined doctrine of salvation within its pages." Thus begins Fred D. Layman's 30-page treatment of "Salvation in the Book of Revelation."

This study is in essence a careful analytical approach to the statements regarding salvation and their accompanying implications within the Apocalypse. Layman's work is thorough, and shows the Revelation to be thoroughly saturated with soteriological teaching which is doctrinally "well within the mainstream of N.T. soteriology."

The first section establishes God as sovereign Lord who has worked in the world decisively in the coming of Christ, and in his sacrifical death. "The Christology of Revelation . . . does not center in Christ's divine status and attributes although this is the background.... Rather, it focuses on his redemptive work carried out within the historical arena. The most representative Christological title in the book - used twenty-eight times - is the "Lamb" (p. 238). For John, all of salvation history from the Cross through the final, future eschatological conquest, is the outworking of this one decisive act. Though it may be hidden to the world, Christ's lordship and activity are over the Church: its "messianic world ruler is present in the midst of the people" (p. 239).

In the present age, salvation is an experience which involves liberation from sin, and holy living as both priests and servants of God and of Christ. There is a focus both on the present and on the future. God's eschatological work has begun; but it has not yet come to fullness. In the present there is much implicit warning against faithlessness and cowardice.

On the other hand, in the promised age of "final salvation" and triumph, there will be reward and reunion for faithfulness. Final salvation is not awarded for righteousness based on works: "[h]uman obedience is not the cause of God's grace in salvation - the cause is based in His sovereign love - but human obedience is the condition of its effective reception" (p. 246).

The greater share of Layman's study, as in the Book of Revelation itself, is concerned with future, "final" salvation. However, there is in both documents a surprising quantity of direct and indirect information concerning the act, the effect, and the life of salvation in the present age. Layman's study will serve as a reminder that no part of Holy Scripture is either accidental or incidental.

CONCLUSION

The editors have done an admirable job of assembling a book which represents a spectrum of Wesleyan viewpoints and methods without apology, and causes the reader to come to grips with the Scriptures as the appropriate source for the theological task. The editors have not screened out all typographical errors, nor have they sought uniformity of either expression or method. The quality, as in all collections of this nature, is uneven: but the strengths far outweigh weaknesses. This is a book which should have wide distribution, both within and outside of the Wesleyan theological family.

It is to be hoped that the publisher, Warner Press, will publicize this book and others in the series, and will give close attention to distribution. When one bookstore phoned to place an order for nearly two dozen copies the publishing house seemed to have lost track of the fact that they had even published it. The qualities of the volume deserve promotion.

A Theology of Personal Ministry: Spiritual Giftedness in the Local Church, by Lawrence 0. Richards and Gib Martin. Zondervan, 1981. 332 pp. Reviewed by Howard A. Snyder, Ph.D., Irving Park Free Methodist Church, Chicago, Illinois.

Larry Richards is always clear and usually helpful when he writes on practical church life. And as one who has thought deeply and Biblically about the nature and pattern of the church, he frequently comes up with insights which challenge traditional thinking. This latest book, written in cooperation with Gib Martin of Trinity Church in Seattle (where many of Richards' ideas have been put into practice) is one of Richards' best and most useful.

Thirteen years ago Richards' A New Face for the Church outlined an alternate (more Biblical!) vision of church life which was very helpful to many of us who at the time were seeking to rethink the church. His was one of the best and most balanced of the spate of "church renewal" books to appear in the late Sixties and early Seventies, and certainly the best by an Evangelical. Since then he has continued to elaborate his vision of the church and church renewal, most notably in A Theology of Christian Education, A Theology of Church Leadership, and now A Theology of Personal Ministry.

Many of Richards' ideas are quite radical when compared with contemporary church practice, especially in the area of leadership. A good example which goes to the heart of much that Richards and Martin say in the book is the following: "In this text we have purposely and consciously rejected the clergy/laity distinctions that have grown up in the church over the centuries. We have suggested that the whole laos is called to minister, that each believer is personally responsible to the Lord for developing his or her ministry. This teaching clearly challenges the understanding of authority and leadership in the congregation - at least as they have been traditionally perceived." From this base, Richards argues (among other things) for basing ministries in the church on the giftedness of all the believers, and for servant leadership whose function is to coordinate, guide, disciple, and help the local Body discern, by consensus, where Jesus Christ, the Head of the church, is leading.

The book is designed as a textbook. It is divided into two major parts, "Theological Core: The Identity of the Believer" and "Practical Implication." Both sections, however, include both theological reflection and practical suggestions. In the first part, Richards develops concepts of the

church as gifted, empowered, servant People of God and God's Kingdom. This part is extremely well done and, for the most part, is consistent with a Wesleyan theology or ecclesiology. It is especially encouraging to see a helpful and practical development of the theme of the Kingdom of God. Richards rightly insists that "we must treat the kingdom as a present reality," not just as future, and that "the works that the believer performs are in actuality the works of Jesus Himself in us, just as the Father expressed Himself in Jesus."

The greatest strength of the book, however, is in providing a theoretical base and practical teachings for developing "personal ministries" in the church - in other words, for actually "equipping God's people for ministry" (Eph. 4:12). "Equipping for personal ministry involves the creation of a context within which growth into personal ministries can take place in a natural and healthy way," Richards argues. He gives workable principles on how, for example, to guide believers into initiating and taking ownership of local outreach ministries.

The usefulness of the book is enhanced by a "probe" section at the end of each chapter giving case histories, discussion questions, and other resources.

I highly recommend this book as a training text, either for classroom use or within a local church which is seeking to operate on Biblical principles. I have only two reservations: The theology of the Kingdom is a bit narrow and seems at one point to identify the Kingdom too closely with the church. Relatedly, the over-all vision of the church is perhaps too comfortably middle-class, even though Richards does put some stress on ministry to the poor. I would have liked to see the concept of church and Kingdom developed a bit more radically and counterculturally, especially since most of what the book argues for is consistent with a Biblically more radical vision for the church.

Even with these reservations, I would hope to see this book used broadly in Wesleyan circles.

Edited by Brian Seidel