Evangelical Review of Theology 48, 1 (February 2024)

The latest Evangelical Review of Theology is now online and available in its entirety as a pdf here.

Introduction: Good Theology Is Very Practical

Arie de Pater and Ville Hoikkala

Free Speech under Threat in Finland and Beyond?

In Finland, Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola and politician Päivi Räsänen have been accused of a crime for publishing material that allegedly threatened, defamed or insulted homosexuals. Both have been threatened with fines and even possible imprisonment simply for holding to the conservative Christian view on marriage and sexuality. Why has this case (currently on appeal to the Supreme Court of Finland) received so much international attention, and what impact is it likely to have on freedom of expression in Europe and beyond?

Ian Randall

Orthodox and Evangelical Missional Interaction: Insights from the International Review of Mission

Orthodox and evangelical Christians have frequently had a shared interest in encouraging traditional views of the gospel and mission within the modern ecumenical movement. In this article, one of Europe’s most respected historians of evangelical life traces Orthodox and evangelical engagement with mainline Protestants through articles in the ecumenical movement’s leading mission journal.

Narry F. Santos

Jesus’ Mission to the Vulnerable: The Power of Servanthood in the Gospel of Mark

Mark’s Gospel is carefully structured to highlight Jesus’ example of sacrificial servanthood. This article draws on sociological analysis of the first-century Jewish community to show how Mark illustrated Jesus’ mission to the low and powerless. It then pairs Mark’s key messages with real-life, parallel examples of servanthood to contemporary refugee communities.

Barry N. Danylak

A Biblical Theology of Singleness in an Increasingly Single World

All over the world, marriage rates are declining and more people have no partner. How should the church respond? This article, by a theologian and participant in the WEA’s singles initiative, elucidates Paul’s endorsement of the single life in the context of a broader argument that under the new covenant, marriage and family are not necessary to experience the full blessings of life in Christ.

Israel A. Kolade

Civil Government and Political Authority: Calvin’s Commentary on Romans 13

This article examines Calvin’s commentary on Romans 13:1–7, in contrast with early church and Reformation expositions of the text, to show how his conception of political authority provides nuance to the political theology expressed in his Institutes, particularly around the sticky question of obedience to an unjust or tyrannical government.

D.S. Martin

Poetry and Theology

Ted Turnau

The Case for Creative Cultural Engagement

What can Christians do in contexts where the culture seems to be moving away from the gospel? Ted Turnau, an expert on engagement with popular culture, argues – starting, appropriately, with a creative parable – for unleashing our imagination in ways that enchant others and attract them to oases of the imagination.

Esa J. Autero

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers and Migrant Labourers in India

Despite its simple story line, the parable of the vineyard workers (Mt 20:1–16) is difficult to interpret. This article compares the parable to a contemporary setting with remarkable similarities – the experience of India’s migrant workers. The comparison yields new insights into this parable and challenges churches to work for God’s justice in India and elsewhere.

Richard Howell

Faithfulness in an Asian Multi-Faith Context

This article, originally a presentation at a 2022 ecumenical consultation of the Global Christian Forum, reflects on the challenges Asian Christianity encounters, through the lenses of the author and other experienced observers and the testimonies of prominent Asian converts to Christianity.

Book Reviews

Themelios 47, 2 (August 2022)

The latest Themelios is online here (and available here as a single pdf), containing the below articles.

Editorial

Brian J. Tabb

The Pastor as Biblical Theologian

Strange Times

Daniel Strange

Dr Strange in the Multiperspectival Paradox

Peter Orr

Mark as the Backstory to the Gospel: Mark 1:1 as a Key to Mark’s Gospel

This article argues that the first 3 words of the Gospel of Mark… [“the beginning of the Gospel”] are best understood as the title of the book. Mark identifies his work as a description of the origin or backstory of the preached gospel that his readers were familiar with. The article examines what this implies for the relationship of Mark to Peter and Paul. It then explores the implications of this understanding for reading Mark.

William B. Bowes

Revisiting “the Time of Abiathar the High Priest”: Interpretation, Methodology and Ways Forward for Understanding Mark 2:26

Mark 2:26 has presented itself as a difficult textual and historical problem for interpreters. Mark narrates Jesus describing an action of David which is said to happen during the priesthood of Abiathar, but in the Old Testament source this detail appears inaccurate and is absent from the Matthean and Lukan versions. This article will first examine three types of problems that arise in interpreting this text and will then evaluate two types of solutions that have been proposed. The aim of this article is to highlight the limitations of previous approaches and to argue for a third type of solution as best option for understanding the text, which is based in a narrative reading of Mark’s Christology.

Scott D. MacDonald

Rejecting Syncretism: Paul and the Python

Syncretism – the blending of two or more religious paradigms – threatens Christian witness around the world. And the church in Africa continues to struggle with the popularity of local religious practices. In many locales, the ng’anga (an African religious diviner) prominently features in the lives of many church-going people. In response, Paul’s mission to Philippi, recounted in Acts 16:16–18, provides needed clarity concerning Christianity’s relationship to other religious powers and to syncretism. This article outlines the religious backdrop of Philippi, Paul’s missionary method in the Greek religious context, and the consequences that arise from Paul’s exorcism of the πύθων. In sum, Paul’s reaction to the divining spirit of Philippi leaves no room for syncretistic behavior among Christians today. Accommodation and any reliance upon other religious powers compromises the quality of the gospel and the reputation of the savior.

Allan Chapple

The Fantasy of the Frantic Apostle: Paul and the Parousia

There is a widespread belief that Paul understood his Gentile mission as the brief final chapter of salvation-history, preceding – or even triggering – the imminent return of Jesus. The first half of this essay discusses four major problems that make this view implausible: Paul’s understanding of the extent of the world, of God’s saving purpose, and of his specific task, and what his plans and activities reveal. The second half provides an alternative account of what the evidence discloses about the connections between Paul’s missionary convictions and activities and his beliefs about the end. The conclusion indicates where this discussion takes us.

EJ Davila

Love, Hope, Faith: Christopher Nolan and the Apostle Paul in Dialogue

This article examines Christopher Nolan’s three most recent films, Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017), and Tenet (2020), through the lens of Christianity’s preeminent theological virtues: love, hope, and faith, respectively. In dialogue with the apostle Paul, I argue that Nolan takes Paul’s cruciform theology of virtue (consisting of vertical and horizontal relationships) and intentionally flattens it to the purely horizontal, resulting in a presentation of these virtues that, while emotive, ultimately strips them of their significance.

Robert D. Golding

Give Honor and Vote? A Reflection on the Christian’s Voting Conscience and Romans 13:1–7

Paul’s instruction in Romans 13:1–7 can be applied to Christian voting behavior in the West. Since Paul tells the Romans to honor debauched pagans, Christians can vote for similarly debauched political candidates with clear consciences. There are clear distinctions between Paul’s teaching and the Western political context. However, the underlying continuities are clear and they are based in God’s sovereignty, not political structure. Furthermore, the ancient Roman practice of giving honor to rulers only regarded the office, not the office holder’s morality.

Leland Brown

The Standard-Bearer: Pastoral Suffering in the Theology of John Calvin

This article examines John Calvin’s theology of pastoral suffering, an overlooked but relevant aspect of his theology for pastors struggling with the trials and difficulties of ministry. Calvin pictured the pastor as the chief agent of edification for God’s people, and therefore, the primary target for the assaults of Satan. Pastors will therefore suffer in the ways that all believers suffer but also suffer peculiarly as pastors – especially from opposition in their churches, criticism, slander, and possibly martyrdom. Calvin encouraged pastors to prepare themselves for sufferings, to set their eyes on Christ, and to patiently and gently deal with those causing their sufferings.

Paul Dirks

Hell for a Single Sin: A Response to Robert Golding’s Asymptotic Theory of Those in Hell

This article is a response to Robert Golding’s recent essay, “Making Sense of Hell,” in which he contends for the logic of eternal punishment on the basis of a progressive and asymptotic conception of sin and sinners in hell. I will argue that this innovation is unnecessary and that both the Scriptures and the “infinite-obligation” proof by Anselm of Canterbury demonstrate that hell is just and necessary for even a single sin.

Edmund Fong

Gender Dysphoria and the Body-Soul Relationship

After presenting the phenomenon of gender dysphoria as a state of consciousness experienced by the individual, I explore how the two major anthropological frameworks of materialism and substance dualism account for the conscious state of gender dysphoria. In particular, the article addresses the extent to which materialism and substance dualism support what I term a “created but misplaced being” scenario, where it is claimed that an individual could be created with an “inner” self gendered one way but placed in a body of a different biological sex. Three theological insights into gender dysphoria that follow from the findings of this exploration conclude the article.

Luke Wesley

Church-State Relations: Lessons from China

This article delineates various biblical principles that circumscribe the church’s relationship to the state. In addition to more general principles, these include the recognition that the mission of the organized church is distinct from that of individual Christians, that political institutions tend to become anti-Christ and oppressive, and that our context will determine the extent to which the church can exercise its prophetic voice. In view of these principles and on the basis of his experience in China, the author highlights five theological truths that will inevitably be challenged by totalitarian governments. Our faithfulness or lack thereof will hinge on our response to these challenges.

Book Reviews

Anvil 28, 2 (2012) on Englishness and Britishness

The August 2012 issue of Anvil is available online, with essays on Englishness and Britishness:

Stephen Backhouse

Benign Indifference: Patriotism, Protest and the Theological Politics of Romans 13:1-7

Christians on all sides of the debate regarding place of patriotic affection and national allegiance invariably find themselves wrestling with Paul’s injunction to submit to the governing authorities in Romans 13:1-7. Patriots read in this passage a clarion call to civic participation in the best interests of their nation. Radicals see instead a moral judgement on all states and an ethic of suffering submission to evil that effectively pits Christians against their countries. The paper argues that when it comes to the question of the earliest Christian attitude towards nations and states as found in Romans a controlling motif can be discerned, and that motif is best described as benign indifference. As such Romans (and the indeed the wider New Testament) does not endorse the family of feelings best known as patriotism (love for country). At the same time, neither does it endorse a radical attack on national forms of life (hatred of country). The political ethos of Romans is socially subversive. However, this subversion is not the goal, but a secondary by-product of the sweeping re-orientation of values and Christian identity that Paul works out in Romans. Both the patriotic and the radical approaches to 13:1-7 make much of the passage as a guide to government and to the citizen’s towards their countries, yet both camps fail to consider the wider context of Romans and the Pauline corpus, which is remarkably sanguine about these things. The paper reads Paul’s treatment of submission to authority in light of his treatment of submission to evil and to the weaker brother. In each case, Paul is far less concerned with those on the receiving end of right Christian action than he is with the Christians themselves. Christians are to submit to state authority, but this submission derives from priorities other than those of the life of the state itself. Any reading of this text that focuses on states and nations distorts the ethical injunction of the passage, which is only secondarily concerned with the effect that submission might have on a country (positively or negatively), and primarily concerned with the attitude of Christ-like submission in its own right. Christian submission springs not from the supposed superiority of the state and its natural created function, as the patriots would maintain; rather the reverse is true. No longer bound by the old cultural and national markers, in effect Paul is telling the Christians that they can condescend to abide by the old system for a time, because these things are ultimately a matter of indifference. Yet this newfound ‘Christian superiority’ is not directed against the state either. Paul is not seeking to eliminate one’s country any more than he wants to wipe out one’s weaker brother. A theo-political ethos of benign indifference charts a new course between the traditional forms of protest and patriotism.

Sam Jackson & Charlie Pemberton

Patriotism? A Set of Questions...

This paper presents patriotism as a set of stories about national identity and loyalty rather than as something with an essential substance. Utilising presentations from a conference on patriotism, we provide three divergent understandings of patriotism and consider their theological basis. We then consider the issue of otherness as it relates to the theoretical construction of patriotism and in the creation of a political other, questioning the effect of simplistic patriotic sentiment on international conflict.

Doug Gay

On Englishness

In this article, Scottish practical theologian Doug Gay offers a personal and theological perspective on Englishness, tracking his own changing knowledges of it since childhood, before reading it in terms of a theological case for celebrating and protecting cultural diversity. The article offers trenchant criticisms of how Englishness is performed in public rituals and popular culture, while appreciating the dilemmas posed in the necessary work of reclaiming and decontaminating English identity. It challenges English theologians and churchpeople, in particular those within the Church of England, to accept responsibility for forging a new ‘ethical’ English nationalism, which can promote the common good internally and generate external relations of peace, respect and co-operation.

Martyn Percy

Ministering to the English? Sketching Some Challenges for Mission and Ministry

This article explores the interface between spirituality, religion and Christianity in England with particular reference to the Church of England. Martyn Percy argues that the secularisation thesis is more nuanced than we are often led to believe and that there never was a Golden Age of church attendance. He claims that religious observance is part of the ‘English cultural DNA’, that the clerical ministry is enduring and necessary and that religion continues to provide ‘enchantment’ for our contemporary world.

Hugh Kemp: Book Review

Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour, by Kate Fox

Hugh Kemp: Book Review

The Faith of the English: Integrating Christ and Culture, by Nigel Rooms