(Part 1)

JBTM Book Reviews
139
doctrine. In this sense, the Chicago theologian is a revisionist. Gerrish’s writing is thoughtprovoking,
clear in his expression, and of a unique persuasive tone. The book’s outline focuses
on contrasting and balancing the thoughts of John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion)
and Friedrich Schleiermacher (Christian Faith).
The structure of the work is simple, but its content is not simplistic. The major parts
of Christian Faith include Creation and Redemption. Within those major headings, Gerrish
provides discourse on God, certain christological aspects, the Trinity, and eschatology. In
addition, Gerrish approaches doctrinal items concerning Christian living such as faith,
justification, and baptism. The chapters are not exhaustive. However, Gerrish usually includes
valuable historical information dealing with the treatment of the doctrine as discussed
throughout the last two millennia, as well as subtle transitions into his own opinions and
evaluations.
Gerrish believes in modernity and thus favors a modern “voice” that attempts to
balance the Christian faith and modern thought. He claims the enemy is not the modern
mind, but sometimes it is the perplexed believer in the pews or, worse, in the pulpit (32).
Unfortunately, Gerrish is highly critical of believers whose religious experience is led by a
sense of piety (precritical interpretation of Scripture) instead of a modern worldview. That
is, the worldview that integrates the developments of science regarding creation (theories of
human origins) and theology (biblical criticism) in general.
Gerrish endorses a non-traditional conception of God as Creator. Gerrish asserts a
created moral order, but separates himself from the belief that God caused the world to exist
out of nothing. For the author, God as Creator should be understood as a or the “creative
principle of cosmic order” (45). The reason Christians refer to God as “Father Almighty” and
“Creator” is simply because this “creative principle” acts in ways that remind one of parental
care.
Gerrish’s heart might appear to be orthodox in regards to saving faith through Christ.
However, he affirms a theory of human origin divorced from Scripture. He does not attempt
to balance the topics of the age of humanity and age of the earth with God’s Word. For the
author, humans simply come from apes, though now the theory is highly discredited by the
scientific community (61). Gerrish’s “modern” understanding of the doctrine of Creation
and God leads him to also endorse a distorted concept of sin (77). As Gerrish believes
in “possibilities” of the “stories” of creation and the first sin (85), his doctrine of sin is
amalgamated with modernity including depth psychology, Freudianism, and existentialism.
With a persuasive tone, he attempts to make readers accept that sin is simply “mistrust.”
However, the traditional view encompasses more than mistrust, and sees sin as disobedience
and rebellion against God.
To an extent, conservative Christians might accept the scholarly and sophisticated flavor