The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World

Rating:
Summary: Creative and Provacative
Review: In this volume, which represents something of a distillation of Douglas John Hall's three-volume systematic theology we are presented with a theological contribution that seeks to take seriously the theologia crucis in all areas of it's investigation. Hall seeks to examine the central topics in Christian theology from a perspective that is self-consciously grounded in and informed by the reality of the "theology of the cross" in contrast to a "theology of glory." These two terms are derived from Martin Luther's Heidelberg Disputation and essentiallu, a theology of the cross begins with Christ, his sufferings and thus gives place to the ambiguity, uncertainty and pain inherent in all of life. A theology of glory, on the other hand is grounded in certitude, independence and effectiveness. Hall notes how theologies of glory have for the most part dominated the church throughout Christendom. However, given the current disestablishment of the church and the breakdown of Christendom, Hall contends that it is a fruitful time for the church to return to the theology of the cross for it's doctrine and practice.

What undergirds much of the book is Hall's concept of contextual theology. He is careful at all points to stress that theological refelction is informed by and almost determined entirely by the context in which it takes place. Hall does not want to dismiss Scripture and the tradition for the sake of a theology grounded purely in contemporary culture, however he takes with utmost seriousness the ways in which the context in which theology takes place determined the meaning and significance of that theology. This owes much to his being quite indebted to Paul Tillich and liberal theology in general. This is, perhaps the key weakness of the book, in that it tends at crucial points to smother the voice of Christ, Scripture and the Tradition in favor of the voices of contemporary culture. This is particularly seen in Hall's treatment of homosexuality and mission. His overall tenor on such points is distinctly liberal. Given what "a twenty-first-century educated person" (p. 106) knows about the world, much of the biblical narrative must be discounted in favor of insights gleaned from the modern scientific worldview. This I think fails to recognize the mythological and religious character of the modern worldview itself. As scientists, Michael Polanyi and Thomas Kuhn, along with Lesslie Newbigin, Roy Clouser, John Milbank and other important postliberal theologians have shown the modern secular worldview is not "neutral" but is shaped by definitively (anti-Christian) theological presupositions. This being the case, I am skeptical of Hall's simple accomodation to the modern scientific worldview evident throughout much of this book.

Nevertheless, my overall assesment of this book is positive. Hall is a brilliant thinker in his own right and is careful to avoid many of the pitfalls of the liberal tradition. His discussions of the church (as ecclesia crucis) and the role of the church after Christendom are quite excellent and should be welcomed. Likewise his discussions of descipleship and the mode of the church's engagement with the suffering world is quite helpful. His brief forray into the field of ethics is also quite well thought out. While his ethical positions tend toward uncritical liberalism, his insistence that we must avoid the temptation to simple answerst to ethical problems and be willing to engage in the painful process of truly exploring these questions as the church in community, is right on.

In sum, this book is a very helpful contribution to contemporary thelogy. It takes seriously the centrality of the cross and Jesus Christ for theology and offers a fascinting look at how at least one thinker in the liberal tradition is reforming his own tradition in a manner that reflects the spirit of theology of the cross. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The Cross in Our Context
Review: Rarely would a book as scholarly as Hall's The Cross in Our Context be labelled "accessible", but this one is. You need not have read widely in theology to understand his arguments and appreciate his writing. Hall here lays bare the cancer that has eaten the modern Western church from within over the past several centuries: the Baal of materialism and the seduction of triumphalism. There is rebirth coming and it will be a re-forming to what both pre-Constantinian Christianity and Luther saw as the essence of The Way, the theology of the cross. I would highly recommnend this book to all who claim to be disciples and especially to those of us who rarely read theology because it "does not really connect with my every day world." Hall will show you it does.