The last several decades have witnessed an onslaught of literature applying philosophy in the analytic tradition to traditional Christian doctrines. But, as editor Oliver Crisp notes, “until now there has been no single volume that gives the student and scholar a sample of this literature. This book,” he says, “is an attempt to remedy that lacuna” (p. 2). Indeed, this void has been filled by the present volume as well as two additional volumes released in 2009 through Oxford (edited by Michael Rea). The two-volume Oxford reader is over twice as long as Crisp’s and lacks a section devoted to the doctrine of sin; it does, however, discuss two doctrines that Crisp’s volume omits: providence and the resurrection. Of course, no one volume (or two, in the case of the Oxford reader) can account for the vast amount of literature in the field of philosophical theology, nor is that the intention of either of these books.
Crisp begins each section in the book with a brief introduction to the topic at hand followed by a brief summary of each of the articles to follow. These short, helpful forewords orient new students to the central problems in the various loci of philosophical theology before immersing them in the deluge of arguments to follow. Moreover, following each section-introduction is a list of suggested reading that will point the reader to other essential works on the various topics contained in the volume.
The first section of the compendium is comprised of essays discussing the inspiration and authority of Scripture. Alvin Plantinga’s article looks at the pitfalls of historical criticism and shows that objectivist critiques of Christian revelation do not stand on as strong a foundation as they claim. Stephen T. Davis and Nicholas Wolterstorff both write essays that are related to the truth of Scripture, and Paul Helm argues for a certain conception of the infallibility of Scripture.
The second section of the reader deals with the doctrine of the Trinity. Cornelius Plantinga proposes a model of the Trinity that, in his assessment, accounts for the witness of Scripture by emphasizing the threeness of the Trinity as a community of distinct persons. Some critics will see this view as a clever (or not so clever) form of ditheism. In contrast, Brian Leftow argues for what is (on his understanding) a “Latin” version of the Trinity that emphasizes divine unity (numerical sameness), so much so that some will wonder if the charge of modalism applies to this model. Moreover, some will question whether Leftow’s Trinity is truly “Latin.” Finally, Peter van Anlagen intriguingly argues that employing the logic of relative identity yields the explanatory force to eliminate the most common objection to Trinitarian doctrine, namely, that it is self-contradictory to say that God is both three and one.
Next, the doctrine of the incarnation is handled by several capable philosophical theologians. First, Peter Forrest proposes what he sees to be a strict “kenotic” version—as opposed to “quasi-kenotic” versions—of the incarnation wherein the Word “gave up” some of his divine powers in his coming to earth. Eleonore Stump recounts Thomas Aquinas’ account of the incarnation, by which the logos assumes a human body and soul, thereby forming a composite individual. Thomas Flint and Thomas Morris make use of Muslimism and “two-minds” Christology, respectively, in order to deal with objections to and problems in Christology.
The doctrine of sin is the focus of the fourth section of the reader. Robert Adams’s discussion of original sin uses various conceptions of the doctrine in the history of Christian thought as a sort of case study regarding the interplay between philosophy and theology in Christian tradition. Next, Marilyn Adams sees sin as a specifically theological concept and argues that, fundamentally, sin is uncleanness. And finally, Keith Wyma discusses original sin as it relates to divine justice.
The last section of the reader is devoted to the atonement. Oliver Crisp’s excellent article attempts to reconsider the governmental theory of the atonement as an (incomplete) alternative to satisfaction and penal substitution theories of the atonement. David Lewis takes a closer look at penal substitution, and Philip Quinn seeks to do justice to the deeply profound Abelardian theory of the atonement by arguing that most treatments of this view quickly dismiss it as “exemplarist” without showing that it truly is so. Finally, Richard Swinburne sketches his own view of the atonement, making use of Thomas Aquinas and the book of Hebrews.
One could criticize this volume as a whole only by taking issue with the specific articles chosen to be included in it. However, the articles chosen represent a fair sampling from the fields contained in the work. For instance, the section on the Trinity contains an article from each of the major explanatory options available in contemporary philosophical theology: Social Trinitarianism, Latin Trinitarianism, and Relative Trinitarianism.
Yet, some theologians remain suspect of the renewal of “analytic theology.” While there are certainly questions that need to be and are being asked and while there are issues of prolegomena with which to deal, this volume offers a sampling of the fruit of rigorous analytic argumentation applied to the discipline of theology. It should be the individual proposals that receive criticism, not the discipline itself.
Overall, this volume is a welcome addition to the burst of recent literature in the field of philosophical theology. While no newly published essays are contained in the volume, Crisp has done students, professors, and educated pastors and laymen alike a favor by compiling these must-read articles in the blossoming field of philosophical theology into one accessible, low-priced volume.
