248 / Religious Studies Review Volume 32 Number 4 / October 2006

Philosophy of

Religion

GOD AND THE ETHICS OF BELIEF:NEW ESSAYS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OFRELIGION.

Edited by Andrew Dole andAndrew Chignell. New York: Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 2005. Pp. xii

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282. $60.00, ISBN0-521-85093-2.

Dole and Chignell’s fine collection containseleven new essays in the philosophy of religion,all written by major figures in the field. Thereare essays addressing metaphysical, epistemo-logical, semantic, ethical, and political issues inthe philosophy of religion. Nearly all of themare of high quality and advance the state ofdiscussion in their chosen topics. A. Plantingaexpertly critiques several reasons for thinkingthat God does not act in the world. Theologianswould do well to read the first section of hisessay, in which Plantinga criticizes the argu-ments of several theologians. D. Pereboomconstructs a theodicy for hard determinists.Although his arguments are impressive, hisrejection of free will theodicy makes it muchmore difficult to explain why God would allowthe evil that exists. It seems that God could havegotten most of the purported good conse-quences without allowing nearly so much evil.As a result, Pereboom must put more weight onthe skeptical theism response to the problem ofevil. P. Quinn’s valuable essay critiques andextends N. Wolterstorff’s argument that Chris-tians ought to support liberal democracies. AllChristians (not just philosophers) would benefitfrom digesting this essay. Although the book istoo eclectic to be useful as a textbook, it isessential reading for researchers. Many of theessays would also be profitably studied byundergraduates, theologians, and those in reli-gious studies.

Joshua C.

ThurowUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSO-PHY OF RELIGION.

By Brian Davies. 3rded. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.Pp. ix

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333. $29.95, ISBN 978-0-19-926347-9.The third edition of this book is almost

wholly new compared with its predecessors.The topics of the chapters have been com-pletely rearranged and each of the chapters isfollowed by a fairly extensive “Further Read-ing” list and a set of “Questions for Discussion”designed to help students continue to thinkthrough the issues raised (only on a few casesdoes the author come down on one or the otherside of a philosophical divide). Most impor-tantly is that one of the chapters from thesecond edition, on “Eternity,” has now beenexpanded into three chapters—on “Concepts ofGod,” “Divine Simplicity,” and “Omnipotenceand Omniscience”—to take into account the

development in the 1990s of a philosophicalposition Davies calls “theistic personalism”(which also goes by other names such as freewill theism, relational or open theism, or, pre-viously, process theism). This text now can beused with Davies’ edited

Philosophy of Reli-gion: A Guide and Anthology

, and will continueto be a standard introduction to the topic fromwithin the tradition of analytical philosophy.The fourth edition, if any, should take intoaccount the growing number of philosophersdoing work in the area of phenomenology ofreligion.

Amos

YongRegent University School of Divinity

LYOTARD AND THE POLITICAL.

ByJames Williams. Thinking the Political. NewYork: Routledge, 2000. Cloth, $104.95, ISBN0-415-18348-0; paper, $35.95, ISBN 0-415-18349-9.

While Lyotard gave up hopes for a Marxistrevolution after what he considered the failureof the Algerian revolution, William’s detailed,theoretical study finds continuing political sig-nificance in Lyotard’s thought in the hope fora (nondirected and non-controlled) resistancefrom within capitalism. Williams stresses Lyo-tard’s rejection of institutional politics and anti-politics in favor of the “political,” the artisticsensibility and drive to act that makes it possi-ble for one to live with institutions. Lyotard’spolitical arises from his understanding of life asan unstable relation of feelings, desires (inten-sities), and structures. Others have found polit-ical significance in Lyotard’s invocation of the(feeling of the) sublime to resist dominant ideasand metanarratives, a feeling that evokes thedifferend, that is, that which admits of no justresolution. There, the political is the call totestify to the differend, rather than to seek tobridge (falsely) conflicts. For Williams, this tra-jectory in Lyotard leads only to political nega-tion or to nihilism. Williams finds more positivepossibilities in Lyotard’s

Libidinal Economy

,which calls for an attempt to intensify desires,so that they will not be stabilized in capitalism’sstructure of equivalences. As no escape fromcapitalism exists and as capitalism effectivelyincorporates opposition, one best exploitsdesire through an active passivity that seekspowerlessness, multiplies principles, andinvites failure.

Richard

WalshMethodist College

Theology

MODERN CHRISTIAN THOUGHT.

ByJames C. Livingston, Francis SchüsslerFiorenza with Sarah Coakley and James H.Evans, Jr. 2nd ed. Volume 1: The Enlighten-ment and the Nineteenth Century; volume 2:The Twentieth Century. Minneapolis, MN:

Fortress Press, 2006. Pp. xv

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430 (volume 1);Pp. xvi

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544 (volume 2). $56.00, ISBN0-8006-3805-0.

This significantly expanded edition of aclassroom standard offers careful interpreta-tions of the seminal movements and thinkersthat define modern theology. Focusing onEurope and America, Livingston begins his dis-cussion of modern thought with the Enlighten-ment and ends with various figures oftendescribed as postmodern, thus leaving open thequestion of whether postmodernity marks awatershed in Christian thought or a deepeningof modernity’s questions. Individual chaptersfollow a similar format: broad descriptions ofintellectual movements that have influencedChristian theology followed by more detailedexplorations of these movements as epitomizedin a few representative thinkers. Because thetext includes extensive excerpts from thesetheologians, readers do not merely absorbLivingston’s interpretive skill but hear manyauthors in their own voices. Both Protestant andCatholic traditions are amply represented; newchapters written by Fiorenza, Coakley, andEvans adopt the format of earlier chapters andoffer astute readings of Vatican II, transcenden-tal Thomism, political and liberation theolo-gies, feminist theology, and Black theology inAmerica. The result is a text that exceeds theoriginal published in 1970, arguably the bestsurvey of modern Christian thought currentlyavailable. Ideal for college and seminary class-room use, the volumes are also essential forscholars of the modern period.

David H.

JensenAustin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

REDEMPTION. By Alister McGrath. Minne-apolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2006. Pp. viii + 87.Cloth, $15.00, ISBN 0-8006-3702-X.

It has become increasingly rare for aca-demic theologians to write substantive texts fornonspecialized audiences. McGrath’s recentseries, Truth and the Christian Imagination, ofwhich Redemption is the third volume, is a wel-come contrast to this trend. The book’s clearprose and careful theological judgment ismatched by its stunning visual imagery andincludes paintings by Dalí, Caravaggio, and ElGreco. McGrath begins his consideration ofredemption by claiming that we can “deepenour grasp of who Christ is by reflecting on whathe has achieved.” He explores these themes ofChrist’s benefits not by summarizing atonementtheories, but by allowing the reader to recon-sider human alienation and bondage in light ofJesus’ ministry and last days. The strategy, inother words, is to invite the reader into the storyof redemption, a story so complex that it defiestidy theological answers. Redemption is “com-posed of many elements, each of which needsto be identified and respected in its own right.”Among these elements, adoption, homecoming,bondage, judgment, and transformation leap tothe fore. Each of these themes is paired with a