THE GOODNESS OF GOD. THEOLOGY, THE CHURCH, AND SOCIAL ORDER
Written by D. Stephen Long Reviewed By Andy DraycottLong previously contributed to Routledge’s Radical Orthodoxy series, and present publishers situate the author in the academic milieu of the like of John Milbank and Stanley Hauerwas. We find then a striving for a peaceful catholicity, a (non-?) foundational ecclesiology, and a confident mining of pre-modern theology for post-modern times. Any institution, if valid at all, is given to us as ‘gift’ and must not be defined ‘in terms of a brute facticity of nature’ lest it ‘take on a demonic proportion.’ Most significant for any reader to appreciate and evaluate is the impressive concern to reflect on Christian ethics within the non-negotiable social reality of the church.
The work is divided into two parts. We might quibble with Long that even ‘a few’ would be capable of reading both parts simultaneously! But at least he conveys his concern not to let abstract theory found practice or vice versa. Part one, ‘The Subordination of Ethics to Theology’, is the theoretical section, examining as it does the woeful Kantian legacy of modern ethics that Christian ethics must overcome if it is to be true to its task. Ethics should be based on the goodness of God.
Part two, ‘The Church and Other Social Formations’, displays a striving to confront our modernity-bound mindsets by the retro-artifice of its chapter titles: Ecclesia (church), Oikos (household/family), Agora (market place) and Polis (political community). Flowing out from the ecclesial centre, each chapter is nevertheless intermeshed as the public and political impact of each institution rightly and wrongly ordered is considered. For example, in his treatment of the family Long shows that the theological neglect of the family, precisely through its elevation to ‘nuclear’ and foundational status without accountability to the family of the church, can unleash racism, sexual licence; and co-operate, in eventual family failure, to the undue empowerment of the modern state.
The difficulty with the books stems form its laudably holistic concerns. These necessarily mean that the student will find himself thrown into the deep end of a wide pool of expertise without previous grounding. It is perhaps too easy to be dazzled by the author’s bold assertions. And post-modern confession is starkly bold at times. Really what is on offer is a different angle from which to engage in theological reflection and Christian practice—it is always received as gift (eucharistic) and not the possession of any one school, it is always political and public. We have much to learn about breaking out of our privatised forms of being that are more influenced than we realise by our modern capitalistic environment.
Long offers us much to chew on—it may require some distance and conversation to discern quite how much we will swallow as we accompany the author and those who share his persuasion. Despite the back cover assertion it is certainly not accessible to (even adult) Sunday School! (Do friends get carried away in these eulogies?) We are perhaps wise to do our thinking in our given church and academic context rather than be tempted to think we can jump into the learning and perspective of another. We must ask whether the theology offered is ultimately in tune with the Spirit’s testimony in our hearts and the gospel as we have received it.
Andy Draycott
Andy Draycott
Biola University
La Mirada, California, USA