Thoroughness of treatment, clarity of writing style, convenient format, helpful summary charts, transferable methodology, practical application, and a conservative evangelical perspective are the major reasons why introductory theological students will be attracted to David L. Smith’s With Willful Intent: A Theology of Sin. It is a fine incarnation of solid theological methodology involving exegetical, biblical, historical, systematic and practical theology.
Beginning with ‘A Historical Theology of Sin’, Smith presents an excellent overview of the Church’s thinking about sin from the Church Fathers, through the classical Catholic period, to the Reformers and later Protestantism, concluding with a chapter on contemporary approaches to sin. The treatment is thorough, sufficiently detailed for an introductory discussion. Sprinkled throughout are capsule summaries of the major figures discussed. Besides being useful for the reader, these make helpful transparencies for classroom teaching, with the instructor filling in the appropriate details.
Historical theology is followed by ‘A Biblical Theology of Sin’, with three chapters (following the Hebrew tripartite divisions) dedicated to a study of the OT and a fourth treating the NT. Given the massive amount of material to cover, Smith provides us with the highlights (lowlights?) of the biblical teaching. At certain points more depth is found, as exemplified in his exegesis of Genesis 3 and Romans 5:12–21. At times the criteria of selection are unclear and one questions, for example, me exclusion of one of the most dismal moments in Israel’s history: the refusal to go into the Promised Land (Nu. 14). Overall, however, Smith’s herculean effort pays off: the biblical teaching on sin, organized according to corpora, is set forth in its entirety.
With Section Three we come to ‘A Systematic Theology of Sin’. The nature of sin is conveniently organized under two headings: sin as ungodliness (treating our relationship with God) and sin as unrighteousness (covering our relationship with others). Some inadequate perspectives on the nature of sin (e.g. Schleiermacher’s view that sin is essentially sensuousness) are discussed along with the biblical data. The chapter entitled ‘The Origin of Sin and Original Sin’ moves from a discussion of historical views of the image of God to the historicity of Adam and Eve, and from an analysis of Genesis 3 to a thoroughgoing treatment of the results of the fall. Both historical and contemporary theories on the transmission of sin are discussed in the chapter bearing that name, followed by the author’s own proposal for sin’s transmission. The final chapter of systematic theology, ‘The Conquest of Sin’, is a fitting conclusion to this doctrinal discussion: having vividly portrayed the damnable plight in which all people find themselves because of sin, Smith provides the remedy in a discussion of the gospel of grace.
It may be that Smith saves the best for last: in his concluding chapter, ‘A Practical Theology of Sin’, the author’s compassion toward people weighed down by sin and his passion to warn those trifling with sin are appreciatively felt. Of particular note are his exhortations to abhor evil and battle temptation (how many Christians and churches suffer because of a tolerant attitude toward sin?), his pleas to avoid humanly engineered solutions for sin and placing the blame on others or other things (e.g. one’s environment or genetic composition) to escape personal responsibility for sin, and his reminder that ‘God is still ready, willing, and able to forgive sinful people today’ (p. 413).
In such a fine work as this, it is difficult to find matters with which one disagrees. Some people will object to Smith’s conclusion regarding original guilt: on the basis of Ezekiel 18, he rules out the concept of inherited guilt. He is overly and, at times, unjustly critical of Augustine, affixing much of the blame for the Church’s inability to establish ‘a reasonable doctrine of the transmission of sin’ (p. 358) on him, and attributing many people’s feelings that they are not responsible for their sins to Augustinian doctrine (p. 409). Since Smith follows the Hebrew tripartite divisions in doing his OT theology, some overlap (e.g. the theology of sin in Kings (prophetic corpus) and Chronicles (the ‘writings’)) is found. Overlooked is a comparison of OT concepts of sin with those found in the NT. All in all, however, the many strengths of this volume render it the best introductory work on the doctrine of sin from a historical, biblical, systematic and practical theological perspective available today.
