7 2 2 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 454

far-reaching (most disturbing) implications Otherwise Most Moved Mover may seemmuch more moving rhetorically and emotionally than what it packs in actual theological substance

A Boyd Luter and Emily K HunterThe Criswell College Dallas TX

Portraits of God A Biblical Theology of Holiness By Allan Coppedge Downers GroveInterVarsity 2001 432 pp $2999

This book has three purposes (1) to identify and examine the major portraits orroles of God in order to understand how they illuminate our knowledge of and relationship to him (2) to show how these roles connect biblical studies with systematictheology and (3) to show the centrality of holiness for understanding Gods natureCoppedge also hopes to create fresh dialogue across Christian traditions and show thepractical implications of theology

Coppedge argues that in using the language of this world to talk about a transcendent God the best way to describe God in relation to reality is by the use of analogicallanguage (using terms that are alike in some ways but not in all ways) (p 23) Metaphor is the analogical language used to describe God The personal metaphors used areportraits or roles they are helpful for understanding Gods being actions and relationships to humans Eight divine roles are primary creator king personal revealerpriest judge Father redeemer and shepherd Each role is described by explicating thetheological themes of the triune God (Father Son and Spirit respectively) man andwoman sin salvation atonement growth Church full sanctification and glorificationThe divine attributes that relate to each role are also introduced

Coppedge argues that holiness is the central and most pervasive concept of God inScripture While sovereignty is significant holiness better unifies the attributes androles of God Holiness is ceremonial and moral with six components of meaning separation brilliance righteousness love power and goodness These components correspond to the eight roles (separation and brilliance each apply to two while the otherfour apply to one role each)

Following two introductory chapters chapters three through ten unpack the rolesThe fourth chapter Holy God as Sovereign King provides a good example The roleof God as sovereign king relates to the concept of holiness as separation and the language figure for the role relates to royalty God the Father is understood as king overIsrael and one who institutes the monarchy in Israel Terms such as Lord and warrior king illuminate this metaphor The Son is Messiah Christ King Prince Lord andHead and the Holy Spirit is the executive of the Godhead Men and women are servantsor subjects of the king with Jesus as a model Sin as act is rebellion and rebelliousnessis the state of sin Salvation is pardon through repentance and faith and the satisfaction and governmental atonement theories fit here Growth results from increasingobedience but salvation can be lost The Church is the people of God under divine kingship sometimes referred to as a kingdom or nation Full sanctification is total submission and entire consecration to Christ s Lordship and glorification is seen as the eternalheavenly kingdom Omnipotence omnipresence and omniscience are the at tributes related to the kingly role Each chapter on the divine roles takes a similar course Thefinal chapter shows the theological and practical implications of the roles and admirably succeeds in showing how there can be a bridge between biblical studies and systematic theology

Does Coppedge accomplish his three purposes Yes in a very thorough fashionWritten with a distinctive Wesleyan flavor this book is useful across the Christian tra-

Written with a distinctive Wesleyan flavor this book is useful across the Christian tra-

DECEMBER 2002 BOOK REVIEWS 723

ditions and readers will find themselves increasing in intellectual and personal knowl-

edge of God regardless of tradition There is clear and nearly exhaustive biblical

material here for studying about God and it is a good starting point for systematic the-

ology Though there are some technical terms this book is accessible to informed laity

as well as ministers and scholars

Vincent Ε Β acote

Wheaton College Wheaton IL

The Clarity of Scripture History Theology amp Contemporary Literary Studies By JamesPatrick Callahan Downers Grove InterVarsity Press 2001 272 pp $1800 paper

The perspicuity or clarity of Scripture has been discussed and disputed since thefirst century but the Protestant Reformation asserted Scripture to be innately perspic-uous and perspicuously understandable as the sole rule of faith and practice preemi-nent over the Church By contrast the Roman Catholic Church via its commitment toan authoritative allegorical interpretive methodology interactive with its theologicaland philosophical Tradition asserted Scripture to be imperspicuous apart from theinterpretive framework that was the Catholic Church itself thereby affirming the pre-eminence of the Church over Scripture By the seventeenth century however the bur-geoning diversity of competing Protestant theologies arising from perspicuous Scripturemade clear the irony of variant theologies uniformly arguing for scriptural perspicuityin the midst of their contrasting and even contradictory positions The Clarity of Scrip-ture rehearses these and other developments in its historical survey of the doctrine ofscriptural perspicuity (part one) then attempts to develop a contemporary statementof scriptural perspicuity (part two)

James Callahans development of this irony begins with an attempt to clarify clarity by clearly defining his terms this includes an excellent analysis and later critique ofthe concept of authorial intent He argues for an interactive and interlocking unity oftext reader and reading that rejects the innate perspicuity of the textmdashwhat he termstextual clarity For Callahan the original meaningmdashwhat Scripture meant mdashis nomore important than what Scripture means to the reader With the truths of Scripturenot resident solely in Scripture but dependent on Christian readers (one finds clearlyin Scripture what is most congenial to the reader p 207) and their varying perspec-tives (our reading circumstances p 207) Callahans clear definition of terms resultsin a statement of scriptural perspicuity that is so obfuscated that each verse of Scrip-ture may have an infinite number of meanings and truths all relative to the readersand the readers response Obviously Callahan rejects the medieval and Reformationconviction that meaning and clarity reside innately in Scripture independent of itsreaders

Callahans historical survey provides a much983085needed framework for the theologicalstudy of the doctrine of scriptural perspicuity The weakness of this survey is that itis written in such a way as to obscure the differences and emphasize the correlativesthat support Callahans opaque contemporary statement of scriptural perspicuity Al-though the perspectival and selective use of historical theology to prepare the groundon which one builds a doctrinal position is not new to theology this approach lessensthe usefulness of Callahans historical survey as a framework for understanding the de- velopment of claritas Scripturae Sacrae and the role it played in the development of variant dogmatic biblical and systematic theologies within Christendom in generaland Protestantism in particular

An example of Callahans selective history is seen in his discussion of the lettersense of Scripture versus the spirit sense of Scripture He sees a growing de983085emphasis

sense of Scripture versus the spirit sense of Scripture He sees a growing de983085emphasis

^ s

Copyright and Use

As an ATLAS user you may print download or send articles for individual use

according to fair use as defined by US and international copyright law and as

otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement

No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the

copyright holder(s) express written permission Any use decompiling

reproduction or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a

violation of copyright law

This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permissionfrom the copyright holder(s) The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journaltypically is the journal owner who also may own the copyright in each article Howeverfor certain articles the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the articlePlease contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specificwork for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or coveredby your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement For information regarding thecopyright holder(s) please refer to the copyright information in the journal if availableor contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s)

About ATLAS

The ATLA Serials (ATLASreg) collection contains electronic versions of previouslypublished religion and theology journals reproduced with permission The ATLAScollection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association(ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc

The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the AmericanTheological Library Association

Written with a distinctive Wesleyan flavor this book is useful across the Christian tra-

DECEMBER 2002 BOOK REVIEWS 723

ditions and readers will find themselves increasing in intellectual and personal knowl-

edge of God regardless of tradition There is clear and nearly exhaustive biblical

material here for studying about God and it is a good starting point for systematic the-

ology Though there are some technical terms this book is accessible to informed laity

as well as ministers and scholars

Vincent Ε Β acote

Wheaton College Wheaton IL

The Clarity of Scripture History Theology amp Contemporary Literary Studies By JamesPatrick Callahan Downers Grove InterVarsity Press 2001 272 pp $1800 paper

The perspicuity or clarity of Scripture has been discussed and disputed since thefirst century but the Protestant Reformation asserted Scripture to be innately perspic-uous and perspicuously understandable as the sole rule of faith and practice preemi-nent over the Church By contrast the Roman Catholic Church via its commitment toan authoritative allegorical interpretive methodology interactive with its theologicaland philosophical Tradition asserted Scripture to be imperspicuous apart from theinterpretive framework that was the Catholic Church itself thereby affirming the pre-eminence of the Church over Scripture By the seventeenth century however the bur-geoning diversity of competing Protestant theologies arising from perspicuous Scripturemade clear the irony of variant theologies uniformly arguing for scriptural perspicuityin the midst of their contrasting and even contradictory positions The Clarity of Scrip-ture rehearses these and other developments in its historical survey of the doctrine ofscriptural perspicuity (part one) then attempts to develop a contemporary statementof scriptural perspicuity (part two)

James Callahans development of this irony begins with an attempt to clarify clarity by clearly defining his terms this includes an excellent analysis and later critique ofthe concept of authorial intent He argues for an interactive and interlocking unity oftext reader and reading that rejects the innate perspicuity of the textmdashwhat he termstextual clarity For Callahan the original meaningmdashwhat Scripture meant mdashis nomore important than what Scripture means to the reader With the truths of Scripturenot resident solely in Scripture but dependent on Christian readers (one finds clearlyin Scripture what is most congenial to the reader p 207) and their varying perspec-tives (our reading circumstances p 207) Callahans clear definition of terms resultsin a statement of scriptural perspicuity that is so obfuscated that each verse of Scrip-ture may have an infinite number of meanings and truths all relative to the readersand the readers response Obviously Callahan rejects the medieval and Reformationconviction that meaning and clarity reside innately in Scripture independent of itsreaders

Callahans historical survey provides a much983085needed framework for the theologicalstudy of the doctrine of scriptural perspicuity The weakness of this survey is that itis written in such a way as to obscure the differences and emphasize the correlativesthat support Callahans opaque contemporary statement of scriptural perspicuity Al-though the perspectival and selective use of historical theology to prepare the groundon which one builds a doctrinal position is not new to theology this approach lessensthe usefulness of Callahans historical survey as a framework for understanding the de- velopment of claritas Scripturae Sacrae and the role it played in the development of variant dogmatic biblical and systematic theologies within Christendom in generaland Protestantism in particular

An example of Callahans selective history is seen in his discussion of the lettersense of Scripture versus the spirit sense of Scripture He sees a growing de983085emphasis

sense of Scripture versus the spirit sense of Scripture He sees a growing de983085emphasis

^ s

Copyright and Use

As an ATLAS user you may print download or send articles for individual use

according to fair use as defined by US and international copyright law and as

otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement

No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the

copyright holder(s) express written permission Any use decompiling

reproduction or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a

violation of copyright law

This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permissionfrom the copyright holder(s) The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journaltypically is the journal owner who also may own the copyright in each article Howeverfor certain articles the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the articlePlease contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specificwork for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or coveredby your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement For information regarding thecopyright holder(s) please refer to the copyright information in the journal if availableor contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s)

About ATLAS

The ATLA Serials (ATLASreg) collection contains electronic versions of previouslypublished religion and theology journals reproduced with permission The ATLAScollection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association(ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc

The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the AmericanTheological Library Association

sense of Scripture versus the spirit sense of Scripture He sees a growing de983085emphasis

^ s

Copyright and Use

As an ATLAS user you may print download or send articles for individual use

according to fair use as defined by US and international copyright law and as

otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement

No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the

copyright holder(s) express written permission Any use decompiling

reproduction or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a

violation of copyright law

This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permissionfrom the copyright holder(s) The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journaltypically is the journal owner who also may own the copyright in each article Howeverfor certain articles the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the articlePlease contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specificwork for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or coveredby your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement For information regarding thecopyright holder(s) please refer to the copyright information in the journal if availableor contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s)

About ATLAS

The ATLA Serials (ATLASreg) collection contains electronic versions of previouslypublished religion and theology journals reproduced with permission The ATLAScollection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association(ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc

The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the AmericanTheological Library Association