Atonement, Christology and the Trinity: Making Sense of Christian Doctrine, By Vincent Brummer

Atonement, Christology and the Trinity: Making Sense of Christian Doctrine, By Vincent Brummer. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Company 2005. Pages, 125. Paper, $29.95. ISBN 0-7546-5230-0.



Review of: Brümmer, Vincent. Atonement, Christology and the Trinity. 134 p. Aldershot : Ashgate, 2005

Book Reviews 283

In Atonement, Christology and the Trinity, Vincent Brummer, professor for philosophy of religion at the University of Utrecht, proposes an interpersonal
view of God and Jesus Christ. He contends (chapter one) that the church's ancient doctrines are no longer readily intelligible because of their "Platonic categories," and that they should be re-formulated in existential or personalist categories. His starting point (chapter two) is a theological anthropology that highlights the human aspirations to fulfill one's self, to enter into communion with others, and to become united with God. But (chapter three) these primary desires are frustrated by factors that are inherent in human beings, their societies, and their physical circumstances. This struggle between humanity's deepest longings and its frustrations is the result of our estrangement from God. In order to move toward wholeness, people must open themselves to God's grace. When they do, they find that God is intent on healing the alienation in human life, and, in response to God, men and women can undergo a change of heart and mind that re-orients them toward God, self, and neighbor. This dynamism of divine forgiveness and human repentance constitutes "the matrix of faith" (p. 60) which exists at the heart of Christianity. According to Brummer (chapter seven), because this matrix or movement also operates in Judaism and Islam, it can serve as the common ground for interreligious dialogue among the Abrahamic religions. In Brümmer's judgment (chapter four), the Christian conviction that God extends forgiveness to all people should anchor Christian reflection on God's saving work in Jesus Christ. Indeed, this conviction calls into question theologies that speak of Jesus Christ paying humanity's debt to God, or propitiating God's anger, or becoming the sacrifice that satisfies God. Christians must remember that God "would rather suffer at our hands than to turn his back on us" (p. 78). This soteriological idea leads to a christological one (chapter 5): Jesus Christ is the revealer of God's love for us and also of our most appropriate response to God. Hence, "we are called upon to identify in love with the will of God in the way [Jesus] did and thus to emulate his moral and spiritual perfection within the limits of our own finitude and historical situation" (p. 92). This view of Christ shows (chapter six) that salvation in Jesus Christ is trinitarian;"the creating
and sustaining Father, the revealing Son and the inspiring Spirit are . . . 'three basic types of action' in which [God] manifests his true self in relation to us" (p. 109). Atonement, Christology and the Trinity is a succinct, overarching account of the central doctrines of Christian faith. It is shaped by the claim that "religious beliefs are always existential in the sense that they are directly connected with the ways in which we relate to God, in the actions and attitudes in which we respond to God and to the ways in which God relates to us" (p. 65). This book combines the wisdom of Augustine of Hippo, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Denis (the Areopagite), the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre, the philosophical ideas of John Macmurray and P. F. Strawson, and the theologies of John Calvin, Karl Barth, Austen Fairer, Sally McFague, Cornelius Plantinga, and Maurice Wiles. However, it does Book Reviews 284
not delve into the Patristic motifs of Christ's "ransoming" us from Satan and being "victorious over" Satan. Unfortunately, it conflates Anselm's "satisfaction theory" of atonement with Calvin's "theory of penal substitution."
Although the book lacks a discussion of Abelard's sacramental view of salvation, it proposes a soteriology similar to Abelard's: that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection reveal and impart God's grace to the human family. This constructive work shows the resources, challenges, and insights available to theology in heritage of John Calvin. University of Notre Dame

Robert A. Krieg Notre Dame, Indiana Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines: A Commentary.