Living and Active: Scripture in the Economy of Salvation (Sacra Doctrina: Christian Theology for a Postmodern Age)

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Summary: Recommended by N. T. Wright
Review: Anglican Bishop Tom Wright mentions and recommends this book is a recent lecture, as a good resource for those who are trying to understand the role of the bible in the modern church and in Christianity. I take that as pretty high praise in itself!

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Summary: Takes crucial steps toward a Theology of Scripture
Review: In his opening chapter, Work argues for a trinitarian ontology of Scripture. In arguing this he interacts extensively with Athanasius, Augustine, Karl Barth and Urs Hans Von Balthasar. In critical engagement, appreciation and critique of these theologians, Work argues for a trinitarian ontology of Scripture that sees Scripture as participating in the will of the Father, the kenosis of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit (35-36).

In this chapter, Work persuasively argues that Scripture must bee seen as having its source and character in the triune life of God. He argues this by entering into dialogue with the trinitarian and christological theologies of Athanasius, Augustine, Karl Barth and Urs Hans Von Balthasar, and then extending those insights into the sphere of bibliology. Athanasius, he argues offers a theology of the Word's self-involvement with the world, which when applied to bibliology yields a theology of God's investment of himself in the world through Scripture (36-39).

Augustine, he argues offers the key insight of seeing not only how God involves himself with the world through the Scriptures, but also how he literally invests himself in the very words of Scripture, in effect putting himself at risk (63-67). He expresses this with the idea of linguistic kenosis. In involving himself with the world, God puts his word at the risk of being distorted (66). This is in effect the participation of Scripture in the mission of the Son.

Work engages in a sustained and pronounced interaction with Karl Barth's bibliology, noting its more explicitly trinitarian structure as exemplified in his concept of the "three-fold God" and the "three-fold Word" (67-69). While appreciating the insights of Barth's bibliology, particularly the Barthian emphasis on the Scripture as witness to the Word (76). However, Work is highly critical of Barth's bibliology as well, critiquing its structure as essentially modalist, rather than trinitarian (71). He also critiques the Barthian theology of revelation as an encounter as it relates to bibliology (79-80).

Finally, Work engages the work of Balthasar, drawing on his pneumatological insights to move beyond merely a christological theology of Scripture to a more distinctly trinitarian one. This is done through the appropriation of a Spirit-Christology to supplement the Barthian emphasis on Word (110-111). This lead to a "bibliology of Word and Spirit" (122) that gives place to all the persons of the Trinity and the ontological ground for Christian Scripture.


In chapter 2, Work tracing the role of Scripture in the economy of Salvation focusing on its role in the history of Israel and in the life and ministry of Jesus. He argues that the role of Scripture in relation to Israel prepares for the coming of Christ and that in Christ Scripture meets its fulfillment and achieves its unity.

Work begins by tracing the role of Scripture within the history of Israel. He charts the beginnings of Scripture in the primordial beginnings of Israel with God establishing covenant with the world through his Word, his speech. He then traces the role of Scripture through the Patriarchs, the Exodus, the Sinaitic Covenant, the primacy of the Ark of the Covenant in the early history of Israel, the monarchy, the exile and return to the land (138-147). He also moves beyond the history of canonical Israel to examine the role of Scripture in Israel, looking at the formation of the Tanakh (147-148) and the rise of the Wisdom and Apocalyptic genres (154-158). He also examines the Septuagint's development (164-166).

After examining the role of Scripture in the history of Israel, Work moves on to describe the climax of Scripture in the coming of Jesus Christ. He explicates how Jesus forms and is formed by scripture. It makes him intelligible, and yet he makes it intelligible (167-168). He proceeds to analyze how Scripture participates in the ministry of Jesus. Work again locates this within the divine life of the Trinity as the ground for Scripture's participation in the work of the Son (170-171). He proceeds to construct a soteriology of Scripture, showing how Scripture participations in God's plan of salvation. He examines Scripture in light of doctrines such as sin, grace, election and atonement (178-194).

Work concludes this chapter through a look at how Jesus in effect transforms Scripture and through the apostles and prophets sets the hermeneutical paradigm for interpreting Scripture within the church.


Work's final chapter focuses on the relationship between Scripture and the Church. In delineating an "ecclesiology of Scripture" Work addresses issues such as Scripture's role in the eschatological time-between-times, the relation of Scripture and Tradition and inter-ecclesial disagreements over the interpretation of Scripture.

In his final chapter, Work articulates the eschatological and ecclesiological dimensions of a theology of Scripture. He focuses largely on the role of Scripture in the church community. He opens his chapter with a discussion of Scripture's role as the mediator of God's "presence-in-absence" (221) during the eschatological time-between-times. He connects the idea of the presence-in-absence of God in the Scriptures to the issue of the Lord's Supper and Baptism (221-222), situating the sacramental role of Scripture alongside the ordinances of Baptism and Eucharist.

He then goes on to discuss the issue of rationality and the nature of Christian truth-claims (236-238), arguing against both relativism and fundamentalism (which owes its epistemological framework to Enlightenment conceptions of rationality). In conversation with Alasdair MacIntyre, Work articulates a form of "traditioned-rationality" that he argues is superior to the problems of fundamentalism and relativism (238-240).

Finally, he goes on to discuss the issues of Scripture and Tradition, examining theologians from Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and all varieties of Protestants (261-287). Finally, he concludes with his own proposal that attempts to avoid facile answers the problem of Scripture and Tradition in the abstract (297). He argues for a more ecumenical and in some respects open-ended view of tradition and Scripture allowing for all the visions of Scripture and Tradition to contribute. According to Work, we need the contributions of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant understandings of tradition.


In evaluating Work's contribution to the field of bibliology, the general sentiment from an evangelical that seeks to move beyond fundamentalism to a form of postconservative theology must be one of significant appreciation. Work has set and excellent standard for theological discussions of Scripture that move beyond the "prolegomenal ghetto" (9) that has plagued evangelical treatments of bibliology. Work, by arguing that Scripture must be seen as authoritative on the basis of its participation in the triune economy of salvation is a brilliant move, liberating the discussion from passé issues that many conservative evangelicals cannot seem to get beyond. While much of evangelical reflection on bibliology remains captivated to questions that are simply no longer interesting, Work imaginatively sets Scripture within a trinitarian context.

His basic thesis, that bibliology should show forth a trinitarian ontology of Scripture, a soteriology of Scripture and an ecclesiology of Scripture I think is quite sound and well argued. Work imaginatively draws on Scripture itself (a necessary prerequisite for a work such as this) and the theological resource of the Christian tradition, both ancient and contemporary. This foundational argument decisively situates the doctrine of Scripture within a profoundly Christian theological context.

Work's strong emphasis on the category of participation as the linchpin for his understanding of the role of Scripture in the economy of salvation is also salutary. Particularly with reference to how Scripture participates in God's redemptive workings in the history of Israel and supremely in the mission of Jesus is very helpful. For all their emphasis on the inerrancy and indispensability of Scripture, conservative evangelicals have done little to stress how God has ordained Scripture to function within his divine plan of Salvation. Work, however has done exactly that. His section on Scripture's participation in the work of the Son is particularly fascinating. His discussion of Scripture as not merely bearing witness to realities like the atonement and election, but actually participating in them is a theological project that has not been pursued in any significant way by either evangelicals or postliberals.

Also, Work's contribution is to be welcomed for its ability to avoid capitulation to false alternatives such as Lindbeck's threefold typology of religions. Work avoids the nebulous fear of anti-realism that surrounds the postliberal ethos and also the wooden foundationalism that characterizes conservative evangelicalism. His interaction with MacIntyre and the appropriation of a nuanced tradition-based form of rationality is very helpful and well argued, echoing in some respects the work of Leslie Newbigin. Work's is a truly postconservative theology of Scripture that offers fruitful theological resources for further reflection and exploration.

However, there are some shortcomings to Work's presentation as well. One is that his language is at times very freighted with heavy theological terminology which makes it difficult to follow for any but the most seasoned academic. His first chapter and the section on Karl Barth in particular are examples of this. Often, paragraphs are steeped in trinitarian and Christological language, but the reader is let unsure if anything of substance was said. While such issues may be shortcomings on the part of the reader, not merely the author, this is still an issue that seems to be of some import in this book and as such must be considered a demerit.

Another such issue lies not so much in what is said throughout the course of the book, but what is left unsaid and unengaged. In particular it is worth noting some of the key theological players that work does nor engage, whose work could arguable be brought fruitfully to bear on his project. While, Work interacts with Lindbeck to some degree, there is no interaction with Stanley Hauerwas, who may very well be a more pronounced voice in postliberalism than is Lindbeck himself, especially with regard to the issue of Scripture, epistemology and the church. In addition to the neglect of some of the elements of postliberal theology, Work also fails to engage some of the best theologians of the postconservative persuasion such as Kevin Vanhoozer and John Sailhammer. The works of both of these theologians would have been decisively interesting had work engaged with them. Vanhoozer's development of speech-act theory and Sailhammer's fascinating theological work on the formation of the Tankah are both issues that could have greatly enriched Work's project.

There are other peripheral issues that surround Work's project that could be argued against such as his description of inner-biblical exegesis, the role of Jesus in relation to the Tanakh and the concept of linguistic kenosis. However, such arguments definitely lie at the margins of the overall thrust of Work's project. The force of his argument for a trinitarian bibliology, stressing the role of Scripture in the economy of salvation and its role in the church is an excellent argument that sets new standards for Christian theological treatments of the doctrine of Scripture.


Rating:
Summary: Not a New Paradigm
Review: Telford Work bites off more than he can chew with this book. His basic premise is that the Christian church must have a new ontological paradigmatic model through which to view the Bible. According to Work, the old (and "out of date") concept of seeing the Bible as inerrant is in error. He suggests rather that we should toss out the "inerrancy" paradigm and start seeing the Bible as a book which reflects the Trinitarian ontology found within the Character of God Himself. This "new position" that he promotes is a fine addition to the principles of hermeneutics but to suggest that it should be the new ontological paradigm is simply too much. First, he never seriously establishes the "error" of inerrancy nor the need to do away with it. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Until he can prove that inerrancy is "broken," it is gratuitous of him to ask us to accept his new paradigm.

Rating:
Summary: Not a New Paradigm
Review: Telford Work bites off more than he can chew with this book. His basic premise is that the Christian church must have a new ontological paradigmatic model through which to view the Bible. According to Work, the old (and "out of date") concept of seeing the Bible as inerrant is in error. He suggests rather that we should toss out the "inerrancy" paradigm and start seeing the Bible as a book which reflects the Trinitarian ontology found within the Character of God Himself. This "new position" that he promotes is a fine addition to the principles of hermeneutics but to suggest that it should be the new ontological paradigm is simply too much. First, he never seriously establishes the "error" of inerrancy nor the need to do away with it. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Until he can prove that inerrancy is "broken," it is gratuitous of him to ask us to accept his new paradigm.

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Summary: a challenging and thoughtful "work" on Scripture
Review: telford work's first book (originally his doctoral dissertation from his fellowship at duke) rightly challenges the paradigm and dialect used by Christians to speak of their Holy Scriptures. rather than a simple reaction to recent scholarship on the doctrine of the Scripture, work (who modestly insists that his undergraduate students call him by his first name, telford) narrates the Bible's conception, mission, canonization, and ongoing life within the Church through the lens of the history of the Triune God's chosen community. to do this properly, telford work interacts with each of the many stages involved in Scripture's formation, including the beginnings of the Tanakh through the Sepuagint, as well as in the life and formation of Jesus through the post-ascension Church. by locating the use of Scripture in the life of God's Community - what he terms "the gathering" - he shows how the paradigm of inerrancy is fatally flawed. thus, telford fittingly presents a new ontological paradigm for the discussion of Scripture. he works alongside the giants of doctrine, including (but certainly not limited to) athanasius, augustine, barth, and barr. this is a profound and substantial book that will soon become a staple in colleges and seminaries, written by a man who is shaped not simply by ivory towers reaching into the sky, but infinitely more importantly, by the God to Whom such towers unknowingly point.