American Academy of Religion

Review: [untitled]
Author(s): Barry L. Whitney
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 45, No. 3 (Sep., 1977), pp. 390-391
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1463183 .
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In this and the two earlierworks-Philo and The Philosophyof the Church
Fathers-Wolfson set out to show that the theologians of the three Abrahamic
faiths were confronted with some of the same philosophical problems such as
God'sattributes,creation, predestinationand free will. The entireproject,which
included several other books and articles, demonstrates a well-catalogued
storehouse of information and familiarity with original sources. Scholars
interestedin comparativetheology will find much that is lucid and suggestivein
Wolfson'saccount of the history of "themeeting of Scriptureand philosophy."
The Philosophy of the Kalam poses many problems for the Islamist,
however.Wolfsontriedto show, e.g., that the Islamicdebate over whetheror not
the Koranwas eternalwas derivedfrom Patristicdiscussionsof the Incarnation.
Throughout, he leaned heavily on statements like "there must have been . . ." in

the absence of supportinghistorical evidence.

More serious perhaps is the almost complete lack of reference to the
theologicalliteratureof the BasraMuctazilitesexcept insofaras it is mentionedin
the heresiographiesof theiropponents,the AshCarites.Theseshortcomingsdo not
diminishthe high achievementof The Philosophy of the Kalam,however.If read
critically,it standsas an importantcontributionto the historyof the theologiesof
the Abrahamicreligions.
RICHARDC. MARTIN

Arizona State University

CONTEMPORARY

CHRISTIAN

THOUGHT

God, Power, and Evil: A Process Theodicy. By DAVID RAY GRIFFIN.

Philadelphia:The WestminsterPress, 1976. 336 pages. $17.50. ISBN 0-66420753-7.
Griffin'sbook accuratelyclaimsto be the firstfull-scaletreatmentof theodicy
from the perspective of the "process"phil sophical and theological thought
inspiredprimarilyby Alfred North Whiteheadand CharlesHartshorne.Such a
book is welcome, for despite the insistenceof process thinkersto have dissolved
the traditionalChristianproblemof evil, theirwritingshavehad little impactupon
the modern discussions in theodicy.
The major portionof the text is devoted to briefexpositions and critiquesof
traditional Christian theodicies. Chapters are given to Augustine, Aquinas,
Spinoza, Luther,Calvin, Leibniz, Barth, Hick, Ross, Fackenheimand Brunner,
and to some Personal Idealists. Griffin's thesis is that these theodicies are
unconvincing because of their inadequate understandingof divine power as
"actuallyor potentially having all the power there is." Process theodicy offers a
more viable understanding of divine power which, while not sacrificing a
religiouslyadequateobjectof worship,rendersmorecoherentGod'somnipotence
vis-a-vis creaturely freedom and moral responsibility for evil. God exerts a
persuasivelure ratherthan a coercive force.
The traditionaltheist will object here that Griffin (and process thinkers in
general)have not understoodthe subtletiesof the traditionaltheodicies. Griffin's

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book, unfortunately, will not settle this dispute, for while his treatment of the
traditional theodicies is informed, it is largely programmatic.
The title, furthermore, is somewhat misleading. Only two of the eighteen
chapters deal with process theodicy per se, and Griffin avoids critical discussion of
many of the Whiteheadian scholastic issues which are involved.
BARRYL. WHITNEY
University of Windsor
Historical Transcendence and the Reality of God: A Christological Critique. By
RAY SHERMAN ANDERSON. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1975. xxii+328 pages. $9.95. L.C. No. 75-33737.
Originally a dissertation, this book contains extended discussions of Karl
Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Roger Mehl, Kornelis Miskotte, and Ronald Gregor
Smith. The general thesis is that a return to historical transcendence (God's
otherness) is required to restore our apprehension of the reality of God lost
through the acceptance of immanent transcendence (God's non-separateness).
Historical transcendence is understood through a study of the "inner logic" of the
Incarnation. And that leads to lived transcendence. In lived transcendence "the
reality of God impinges upon the world through the historical existence of the man
who lives in the Spirit of God" (p. 229).
Although kenosis (the idea Christ restricted his use of divine attributes) is
used as "a 'way into' the inner logic of the Incarnation" (p. 150), Anderson does
not accept the usual kenotic position. His position seems to grow out of a
quotation from R. G. Smith's Collected Papers: "The answer which is contained
in the interior logic of the Incarnation is that God is disclosed in and through the
ordinary situations of our life and nowhere else. We encounter transcendence not
as a theory of understanding the universe but as the very nature of our encounter
with things and persons in this world" (p. 107).
Anderson presents a challenge to both the Incarnationist and usual kenotic
Christologies. His talk of confrontation and commitment make him resemble a
Kierkegaardian existentialist, although he does not so label himself.
When not molded by the constraints of dissertation, Anderson has a clear,
vigorous style. We should expect good things from him.
DAVID E. PFEIFER
Principia College