Beyond Resurrection

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Jun 2001 by Bibza, James

At another point Wedderburn exclaims, "Here it seems to me that Paul's logic simply cannot hold water today" (p. 154). Paul's teaching that one's fate in the afterlife depends upon one's relationship to Christ scandalizes Wedderburn. He says that Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 15 "devalues and disregards much that is of worth in other human lives than that of Jesus: countless individuals have lived valuable and admirable lives, regardless of whether their services to humanity and to the God in whose image humanity is made have been performed in the name of Christ or not" (p. 155). In the end Wedderburn gives us a God who is viewed as "an organizing principle which is not omnipotent, but which must struggle to achieve its goals despite the resistance of the workings of nature" (p. 218). Yet this "God" is also somehow personal and Wedderburn gives numerous analogies to show how these two apparently contradictory ideas of impersonal order and a personal God can co-exist in our lives.

Unfortunately unless one shares Wedderburn's skepticism about the historicity of the Gospel accounts, there is little that is useful in this book. It is an interesting exercise in the futility of trying to create God according to "reason" and our experiences rather than according to his self-revelation in the Scriptures.

James Bibza

Grove City College, Grove City, PA