05-4 Theology of the..

REVIEWS 51
should be timeless, and how much should it reflect the concerns,
insights and context of a particular age and culture”
(169). Again they observe,
Interestingly, both Catholic and Protestant critics are
united in their suspicion of a watering-down of the more
demanding elements of Christianity in favor of a lowdemand
liberalism. Both sides would point to the comparative
absence from the new rites of contrition and wrath,
for example. In places the charge is a fair one. How far is it
possible to go in the direction of “user friendliness” without
sacrificing the scandal of particularity and a broad and
balanced doctrinal basis (170).
What about the dominance of the third and fourth centuries in
the Liturgical Movement Hippolytus and the Apostolic Tradition
have been influential, “perhaps to the point of nausea” (130). Further
negative reaction stems from the “loss of the transcendent”
so indicative of the new rites in which
The drama where heaven and earth meet has been
replaced by the dynamics of a committee meeting with
hymn. The westward celebration of the Eucharist creates a
closed human circle from which God is excluded. Those
attending now expect to be entertained, and their commitment
held with constant novelty. Features such as
liturgical dance smack of sensuality and exhibitionism.
The accusation of indulgent man-centeredness is often
made (173).
The book allows only eight pages for “Snapshots of the Movement
in North America” (chapter 18). Not bad, given the
immense amount of material it addresses. The authors write
from the perspective of the Church of England, yet it is amazing
how relevant the book is to the liturgical realities facing Lutherans.
One page is given to Lutherans in North America. The book
mentions the Missouri Synod withdrawal from the pan-Lutheran
production of the Lutheran Book of Worship, and correctly notes
that the LCMS “felt that the 1978 book [LBW] made too many
departures” from traditional Lutheran liturgy and doctrine in a
Rome-ward direction. ... Both books show the influence of the
Liturgical Movement, but Lutheran Worship is more conscious of
adhering to classical Lutheran forms and, for example, is more
reluctant to adopt eucharistic prayers resembling the classic pattern
of the fourth and fifth centuries” (193).
No denomination in America exists safely scaled off in a linguistic,
ethnic, theological, and liturgical ghetto. Like it or not,
the Liturgical Movement (as well as countless other movements—
Charismatic, Church Growth, Feminist, and Liberation,
to name a few) continues to effect the worship of local
congregations. For those willing to talk about it, Worship in
Transition makes an invaluable contribution to the fair and
balanced ongoing discourse.
Timothy C. J. Quill
Drew University
Madison, New Jersey
Remembering the Christian Past. By Robert L. Wilken. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995. 180 pages. Paper.
■ Robert L. Wilken is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of the
History of Christianity at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville.
Remembering the Christian Past brings together
eight of Professor Wilken’s essays for the stated purpose of
“remembering aspects of Christian tradition that have been
forgotten.” To accomplish this, Professor Wilken marshals
voices from the early church fathers whose words “touch on
issues that are currently under discussion.” In this fashion,
Wilken discusses such issues as religious pluralism, Christian
apologetics, the biblical roots of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity,
the integrity of biblical language and semantics, and the
role of the passions in religion.
While very much a collection of Wilken’s own thoughts on
these issues, what is most interesting and striking is Wilken’s use
of the early church fathers both to illustrate and carry forth the
discussion. Wilken’s scholarship and familiarity with the literature
of the fathers is impressive, and his writing provides a veritable
vade mecum of patristic thought as he ranges across his various
topics. Readers who delight themselves in the early church
fathers will find the book gratifying solely on this count.
Gratifying as well is to find in Wilken a sympathetic voice
from academia for the conscientious espousal of religious convictions
within scholarly circles. Wilken’s first essay in the collection,
“Who Will Speak for the Religious Traditions” is
refreshing in its assertion that “there is no reason for the
scholar as scholar to shed her or his convictions to exercise the
vocation of scholar.” He decries the modern phenomenon in
academia of “an intellectual climate that discourages, if not
prohibits, the scholar from speaking as a member of a religious
community.”
As with any anthology, the reader’s interest will likely vary
among articles. For this reviewer, selections four (“Not a Solitary
God: The Triune God of the Bible”) and eight (“Memory
and the Christian Intellectual Life”) were the most arresting.
Confessional Lutheran pastors and teachers will find Wilken’s
discussion of the church fathers in connection with the Holy
Trinity reinforcing, particularly with respect to the integrity of
biblical words for God in the face of inclusive language efforts to
neuter those terms. Similarly, confessional hearts will be
warmed by Wilken’s observation in selection eight that “As necessary
as it is to ‘translate’ the Bible into the thought patterns of
our age, it is also the case that Christians in every generation
must learn afresh how to think and imagine in the language and
idiom of the Scriptures.”
Remembering the Christian Past thus brings to current theological
discussions a voice steeped in the thought of the early
fathers so that reading Wilken offers the confessional Lutheran
pastor the opportunity to broaden his thinking toward the
issues discussed with Wilken’s depth of patristic insight and language.
Yet for all this, one misses what is often missed (at least
by this reviewer) in the fathers with rare exception, namely, the
forcefulness, directness, and scriptural connectedness of a
Luther, a Chemnitz, or a Walther. Although Wilken adds the
voices of the early fathers to matters of current discussion with