 Book Reviews Eight vignettes in faith for conversations with God
Reviewed by Parker T. Williamson February 2002 |
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| How far away is God? How far
away is the moon? Those are ancient questions, reflecting a sense of
eternal distance. They are at least as old as the Psalmist who cries, “When
I consider the works of thy hand, the moon and the stars which Thou hast
established, what is man, that thou art mindful of him …?” The Greeks said this gulf between heaven and earth is too great to be crossed. We humans cannot climb out of our realm. And God would never sully himself with our space. Thus we cannot know God, because our thoughts about God are merely our thoughts, one religion is as good as another. Resurfacing during the Enlightenment, that ancient dualism found its way into modernity, where it has become a distinct challenge to the gospel. Even some Presbyterian leaders, who should know better, have embraced this pluralism, believing it is a pathway to peace. Theologian James Edwards knows better. Steeped in the Judeo-Christian faith, he identifies meeting places, moments of divine/human conversation. In The Divine Intruder, Edwards treats us to eight Scriptural vignettes, recounting in exquisite detail events in which humans of every stripe have been encountered by God. None of us sought such a meeting, but this is a God who “intrudes and interrupts.” Employing a narrative style, Edwards weaves his extensive knowledge of Middle Eastern culture through the telling of each story. Why does Abraham face his tent toward the crossroads? Pitch-filled bushes often burst into flame under the Sinai sun, but what was so strange about the one that Moses saw? Why would Israelites find odd the fact that Gideon thrashed his grain in a wine press? Treasures in hidden nuances Edwards uncovers treasures in hidden nuances. His characters spring to life, revealing their doubts and fears, hopes and haughtiness. This is no bathrobe drama. Edwards describes flesh and blood. But these stories are not mere past-tense narratives. Into each tale Edwards shares vignettes from his own life: a rock-climbing crisis in which the one to whom he was tethered reached into a hornet’s nest; his dismay when a publisher rejected his doctoral thesis; his prayers beside the seemingly impenetrable Berlin wall in 1988, and his amazement when, one year later, it fell; his sense of inadequacy when asked to debate a formidable opponent before a church assembly; and his bout with a level-four melanoma at age 32, when he was given five years to live. A God of grace and truth Refreshingly candid, this Whitworth College professor dares to share insights into his own loneliness, despair, anxiety and anger. And he introduces us to the God who penetrated each place, “full of grace and truth.” The Divine Intruder offers its readers high-powered theology in eminently readable form. The great themes of purpose and grace, duty and forgiveness come to us from the pen of a gifted storyteller. Listening, we hear the story as our own, and the One who seemed moons away becomes Emmanuel, God with us. |
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