Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine, The

The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine. Edited by Colin E. Gunton. Cambridge Companions to Religion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997. xix + 307 pp. $59.95 (cloth); $18.95 (paper).

The many volumes being produced as "Companions" to a particular field or discipline might well encourage readers to ask what publishers are attempting to say about a book by labeling it a companion. Typically, a "companion" is someone whose nearby presence sometimes comes in handyperhaps as a guide or a mentor, or perhaps merely as someone with whom to pass the time. So a book called a "companion" could be many different things: a teacher, a scholar, a ready reference, or a friend.

The Cambridge series of "Companions" is described (by its publisher) as providing "accessible and stimulating" introductions to various subjects "for new readers and non-specialists." In the present volume, this criterion seems to have been admirably met by a few of the essays, and met rather less well by a few others. But at least half of the essayists seem to have had some other sort of "companion" in mind. As a result, while almost every essay in the book does well what it sets out to do, the overall effect is one of a rather haphazard assembly of parts; as a result, it is difficult to imagine contexts (classroom, parish, or reference shelf) in which the whole book would prove useful.

The essays are presented in two categories: six general contextualizing essays are followed by eight more on traditional doctrinal loci. But to my mind, the essays seem to be of four different types, scattered randomly around the volume. First, there are broadly introductory essays that assume the aforementioned audience of "new readers and non-specialists. " Geoffrey Wainwright's chapter on the Holy Spirit is a model in this regard-setting out the biblical and historical background of the doctrine, attending to its role in prayer and praise, and pointing toward "open questions." Other essays in this category include Francis Watson's contribution on hermeneutics, Jeremy Begbie on the arts, and Stanley Hauerwas on ethics. While each author has his or her own perspective and does not fail to make it known, each offers an account that achieves both comprehensive breadth and adequate depth.

A few other essays aim at an uninitiated audience, but do not achieve the same level of comprehensive coverage. Trevor Hart's chapter on "Fall and Redemption," for example, attends to several classic theories of atonement, but provides little hint of the interesting work being done today in, for example, various theologies written "from the margins." Colin Gunton's essay on creation, though fairly broad, is marked by his trademark indictments of Augustine and Thomas as having led theology down the garden path. It will thus be found wanting by many (including, implicitly, two of the contributors to the volume-Hauerwas and Gerard Loughlin-who critique precisely the sort of reading of Thomas that Gunton offers). And David Fergusson's otherwise helpful chapter on eschatology is somewhat marred by its tendency to try to name every potentially relevant thinker, such that an adequate depth is sacrificed for the sake of breadth.

A third group of essays seem to stray from the mandate of "accessibility" in the opposite direction: they assume considerably more background than any new reader is likely to bring. For example, Ralph Del Colle's essay on the Trinity would seem to offer little solace to beginners (who are usually already intimidated by the topic); those who possess the conceptual apparatus needed to follow the argument will be disappointed that so little attention is given to those issues in trinitarian theology that are currently most contested, such as masculine language and ethical ramifications. Two other essays operate at a more advanced level, though with a more significant payoff, even though they will prove difficult for beginners, they at least offer an important and original perspective on current conundrums. These are Bruce Marshall's rich and sympathetic essay on Christianity and the Jews, and Robert Jenson's characteristically erudite and precise meditations on the Church and the sacraments.

These last two pieces might just as easily be placed among the members of a fourth category: those essays that break new ground and offer significant and original methodological insights (but for that very reason, seem out of place in this introductory volume). Kevin Vanhoozer develops a new perspective on theological anthropology through the creative use of speech-act theory. Kathryn Tanner's chapter, ostensibly on the person of Christ, seems more directed at the methodological inadequacies of modernist Christology; it also offers some initial pointers toward a postliberal alternative. And Gerard Loughlin's wide-ranging essay on "the basis and authority of doctrine" furthers his narratological approach in Telling God's Story (Cambridge, 1996), suggesting a powerful alternative account of Christian doctrine (but one which is not explicitly sustained in most of the other essays in the volume).