Living Christianity endeavors to demonstrate how a theologian (Craigo-Snell) and a pastor (Monroe) can collaborate in co-creating pastorally sensitive theology. In doing so, each author contributes unique perspectives on five crucial theological themes: creation, Christ, sin, church, and heaven.

To begin, Craigo-Snell views the Genesis creation account as “neither science nor history” (p. 4), but a narrative conveying theological meaning such as the goodness and intentionality of creation (p. 17). She calls us to replace misguided, modernist quests for certainty and scientific objectivity with a robust theological foundation for “the relationship between humanity, cosmos, and Creator” (p. 18). Monroe writes more overtly regarding the possible harmonization of evolution and creation. She advocates an agnosticism regarding howGod created, preferring to focus on why: God desired to partner with responsible co-creators (pp. 22–25). Both authors make a compelling case that scientifically oriented creationists miss the whole point of the creation narrative.

In chapter 2, Craigo-Snell describes two christological approaches, hoping to demonstrate the communal and practical nature of systematic theology. The first takes one aspect of Jesus’ life as the theological center, such as the incarnation; the second develops atonement theories based on prominent biblical metaphors. Furthermore, she recommends the contemporary work of Delores Williams, who resists the substitutionary atonement metaphor given its association with surrogacy and the suffering of black Americans (pp. 42–47). Building on the first approach articulated by Craigo-Snell, Monroe distinguishes between resurrection-Christians, who emphasize Easter, interior piety, and the life to come, and life-and-ministry-Christians, who stress Pentecost, social action, and Christian community (pp. 51–53). Though Monroe aligns with the latter, she commends the coherence of either system rather than seeking to discover the most accurate biblical framework (p. 68).

With regard to sin, Craigo-Snell emphasizes the reality of fallenness overcome by the power of God’s grace as expressed in classic Augustinianism (pp. 72–76). She explores several contemporary approaches, including Roman Catholics, who emphasize sin as an act (pp 79–83), Reformed Protestants, who highlight the state of sin (pp. 83–87), and Liberation theologians, who underscore sin’s institutional nature (pp. 87–93). All of these traditions show the power of a doctrine of sin to explain, convict, and relieve (pp. 93–94). Next, both Craigo-Snell and Monroe take a pastoral angle, condemning the exclusion of others based on our prideful definition of sin. Instead, they advocate humbly welcoming others—even homosexuals—with open arms (pp. 96–100). Unfortunately, they fail to address when it may be loving and humble to exclude for the sake of purity, truth, or discipline. According to the life of Jesus, is tolerance always the greatest indicator of humility?

In chapter 4, Monroe unpacks Karl Barth’s interpretation of the church’s four marks: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Based on these marks, the church should strive to be united, in some way separate from the world (not just “the Rotary Club with sacraments”!), spanning all times and place, and faithful to apostolic teaching (pp. 111–19). Despite supporting Barth’s view of the church as a verb (p. 111), Monroe continues to refer to the church as a place where people should “show up,” causing moderate confusion (p. 121). Particularly fascinating, however, is Craigo-Snell’s constructive description of the church as performance in conversation with Peter Brook’s The Empty Space. She envisions a church both holy (the invisible-made-visible) and rough (connected to the messiness of life) by means of being immediate (personal, active participation). This creative analogy assists us to imagine the church as an empty space occupied by Spirit-filled performances (pp. 125–41).

The last chapter is a conversation about heaven, displaying the strength of the authors’ dialogical, pastoral method while also bringing several weaknesses to the foreground. On the one hand, both Craigo-Snell and Monroe address difficult theological questions and are willing to claim finite ignorance. On the other hand, Monroe in particular purposefully and disconcertingly dispels theological accuracy for the sake of pastoral sensitivity, such as praying to her grandmother (p. 171) or telling people they might turn into angels when they die (p. 153). In addition, it is difficult to reconcile their emphasis on salvation through Jesus with their overt universalism, either in its pastoral (Monroe, p. 159) or Rahnerian (Craigo-Snell, p. 157) variety.

Overall, evangelical readers will be distressed by the theological positions supported by Craigo-Snell and Monroe, whether liberation theology, universalism, theological pluralism, or the affirmation of homosexuality. In addition, the authors rarely voice an adequate defense of stated positions. For example, on what basis does Craigo-Snell claim that God’s salvation through surrogate suffering inevitably undergirds human surrogacy (p. 46)? Obviously, key elements of their thought process remain hidden. Regarding method, Craigo-Snell and Monroe demonstrate a laudable paradigm for “the way pastors do ministry and the way professors do theology” (p. 175). Living Christianity shows how theology can be practical and pastoral and how pastoral ministry can be theologically informed. The authors would have enriched their method, however, by including a biblical exegete in their conversation and interacting more thoroughly with the text of Scripture. Despite the importance of theological tradition, pastoral sensitivity, and cultural contextualization to the theological and pastoral task, living Christianity is possible only when Christian theologians, pastors, and communities are listening and responding to the Spirit speaking through Scripture.

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