Remembering Jesus: Christian Community, Scripture, and the Moral Life.

Remembering Jesus: Christian Community, Scripture, and the Moral Life. By Allen Verhey. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2002. xii and 526 pages. Cloth. $35.00.

In my judgment, this book represents the best attempt to link biblical studies with contemporary ethical issues from a Christian perspective. Verhey teaches at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. His study on New Testament ethics, The Great Reversal (Regent College, 1993), demonstrated his careful biblical scholarship and grasp of ethical themes. This volume continues his critical, creative use of scripture as the canonical witness of the church.

Verhey has written extensively in the area of medical ethics, his specialty. Yet he is an expert guide on all the topics discussed. Of special significance is his motif, "Remembering Jesus," as the way to do Christian ethics, coupled with his profound understanding of Jesus as the proclaimer of "the good future of God"--Verhey's marvelous translation of "the kingdom of God"--and the "not yet" of the good future. The biblical witness of both Testaments is central to "remembering Jesus," but the early church and the current ethical scene are in ongoing conversation. The author seeks to include the whole Christian community within the conversation, hence the subtitle "Christian Community, Scripture, and the Moral Life." There is good reason the Christian Century (January 2003) listed this study among the top in Christian ethics.

Part 1, "Choices, Churches and Scripture," provides an introduction for doing ethics "by way of reminder." Here the author provides a model for Christian communities to become places of moral discourse. His chapter 2 would be a useful resource for adult classes or pastoral studies. On the role of scripture, he is keenly aware of problems and abuses in its use. Nor is scripture the norm that silences other sources such as experience or natural science. He insists that biblical injunctions need to be tested and validated by the community's experience and discernment. He especially opposes the use of scriptural prohibitions as sufficient for the justification of a contemporary ethical judgment. His call is to enlist the whole community as the place for moral conversation.

In the remainder of the book Verhey focuses on four ethical topics: medicine, sex and gender, economy, and politics. Each subject is examined with care using the same format: opening chapter introducing the topic; scriptural survey of OT and Gospels; remainder of NT; current discussion of ethical topic. This format proves effective, though it tends toward repetition.

Part 2, "Remembering Jesus in the Strange World of Sickness: A Continuing Tradition of Care for the Suffering," explores a Christian approach to sickness and healing. Verhey creatively employs a conversation between a Christian physician dying of cancer and a chaplain to discuss life-and-death matters. Chapter 7 on "watchful caring" for the suffering, with its profound proclamation of Christian hope for the dying, should be read by all Christian caregivers. The author is also sensitive to the limits of medical care and the need to say No when that moment appears.

Part 3, "Remembering Jesus in Gilead: A Continuing Tradition of Liberation and Chastity," probes with courage and sensitivity the provocative topics of gender and sexuality. Verhey frames the discussion with Margaret Atwood's novel "A Handmaid's Tale in Gilead," a chilling vision of a patriarchal future. Against this background, he does an honest job of interpreting the all-too-patriarchal world of the Bible, including the NT. He sets forth the story of Jesus, "the handmaid's son," as the breakthrough moment. "Jesus challenged the patriarchal world of Palestine and envisioned a different future than Gilead" (p. 180). He recognizes the contributions of feminist scholarship. The chapter "A Continuing Tradition of Good Sex" builds on the creation story as the foundation for the mystery and mutuality of the one-flesh union of good sex.

He also looks at homosexuality with much honesty and sympathy. While not calling it good in light of the one-flesh union of male/female, he notes the need to consider the reality that some people have a sexual orientation to the same sex that they do not choose but discover. While singleness and chastity are options for both hetero- and homosexuals, it may not be a "gift" for all. He concludes: "If we allow divorce ... for the sake of protecting marriage and marriage partners, and if we allow remarriage ... then we must also consider allowing homosexual relations for the sake or protecting fidelity and mutuality and the homosexual partners" (p. 239). He rejects all homophobia in the church.

Part 4, "Remembering Jesus in the World of Adam Smith: A Continuing Tradition of Justice and Generosity," calls for a subversive vision against the dominant economic order. He knowingly surveys the oppressive world of patronage, peasantry, and Temple in the time of Jesus. He finds Jesus' call to the kingdom to involve good news to the poor; he taught no anxiety, to give generously, and to always remember the poor. The chapter on the NT and its attitude toward possessions concentrates on Luke-Acts, Paul, and James but is weak on the Pastorals and Revelation. The final chapter attacks the cult of affluence and the goal of creating wealth as the supreme economic good. The memory of Jesus lifts up a countervision: blessings for the poor, a sustainable quality of human life, and a sustainable natural environment.

Part 5, "Remembering Jesus in the Strange World of Politics: Revisiting Theocracy," argues at length for a revised understanding of Christian theocracy. Because God in Jesus is Lord also of politics, he thinks we have no other option. His chapter "Theocracy is a Four-Letter Word" recognizes the violent history of misuse in the name of God. A careful reading of the OT shows its ambivalent attitude toward authorities, both honor and suspicion.

The chapter on Jesus' theocratic politics sparkles with insights. He accepts a political reading of the exorcisms and finds Jesus to be neither a Zealot nor a pacifist. The politics of the early church examines the rest of the NT and their differing attitudes toward Rome and those in power. Here the writings of Walter Wink and Richard Cassidy and my own Uneasy Neighbors (Augsburg Fortress, 1999) would have strengthened his arguments. A closing chapter attempts to interpret a Christian theocracy in the context of a pluralistic culture. Verhey also provides a respectful critique of John Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas and pacifism. The book ends with a case history on universal health care that serves as a model for discourse, deliberation, and discernment in the church.

This study represents the best of a biblical theologian and Christian ethicist at work. Some important studies are missing, particularly on the Gospels. Written from a Reformed perspective, the author seems unaware of the Lutheran two-kingdom tradition, even though his thoughts express the dual world in which we live. Most unfortunate is the lack of a complete bibliography, something a revision should include. Otherwise, read and study and use this book with pleasure and profit.

Walter E. Pilgrim

Pacific Lutheran University 

Tacoma, Washington