Writing a book on the doctrine of God is a challenge at any time, and Professor Kärkkäinen deserves our warmest congratulations for having attempted such an all-embracing study and for having succeeded as well as he has in giving his readers an overview of the subject. He begins by devoting his first hundred pages to ‘classical theism’, a term which basically means the collected wisdom of those ancient and medieval theologians who took the Greco-Roman philosophical and cultural background for granted. He then proceeds to discuss developments since the Reformation, with a certain concentration on Europe and North America, which after another hundred pages or so this drifts into a consideration of the modern ‘third-world’ and other alternative theological approaches.

The first chapters, dealing with the pre-Reformation period, are a model of succinctness and avoid the standard temptation to rewrite the classical tradition in terms supposedly more acceptable to the modern mind. Professor Kärkkäinen wants his readers to understand the church fathers and the medieval theologians on their own terms, and to appreciate that their legacy cannot be reduced to some alien Hellenisation of the NT. Of course, this does not mean that the fathers left nothing more to be said, but given that most people who speak about ‘classical theism’ are mainly concerned to attack it. This book’s positive approach to the ancient tradition is genuinely refreshing and to be welcomed.

In dealing with the modern period, Professor Kärkkäinen admits that he is faced with something of a dilemma. European theology tends to develop around a series of great teachers who create schools of thought which then branch off in different directions, so that it is best studied by referring primarily to the work of certain prominent individuals. North American theology, on the other hand, is less person-centred and more concerned with issues, as also is most of the theology which is now coming out of the Third World. Studying it, therefore, demands a different approach, one in which particular groups and ideologies play a greater role than they usually do in European theological thought.

Professor Kärkkäinen is deeply impressed by the explosive growth of Christianity in the non-Western world, and is determined to see this reflected in his presentation of the doctrine of God, but here again he is faced with a dilemma. Whether we like it or not, most creative theology is still basically ‘European’ (including North American) in origin and it is still too early to say what long-term impact non-Western and alternative theologies are likely to have on the Christian world as a whole. Indeed, it is still still too early to say how many of the twentieth-century European writers whose work he examines will survive the test of time. This is the essential difference between ‘classical theism’ and modern alternatives to it. We can say with absolute certainly that in a hundred years’ time, the former will still be with us and will continue to be the foundation of serious theological education, whereas the latter is almost certain to change beyond recognition.

This is especially evident in the North American chapters. Some of the theologians considered are already decidedly dated—Harvey Cox, for instance, and Thomas Altiser, both of whom made their impact a generation ago and are now largely ignored. The same must be said for people like James Cone and most of the liberation theologians of Latin America. They created a certain sensation when they first appeared, but now that Marxism is discredited, it is hard to see that they will continue to exert much influence in the future. As for feminist theologies and the like, these have the air of fads which are likely to pass away before too long.

There are some technical errors in the book which the unwary should watch out for. For example, Gregory Palamas (not ‘of Palamas’) is described as an early second-century theologian (85) when he lived from about 1296 to 1359, and on page 169 we are told that Europe is ‘loosing its status’ as the centre of world theology. But given the range which Professor Kärkkäinen covers, these slips are minor, and it is a pleasure to be able to recommend his book as a valuable aid to students of this complex and ever-changing field of study.

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