Selected Spiritual Writings of Anne Dutton, Eighteenth-Century, British-Baptist, Woman Theologian.

Selected Spiritual Writings of Anne Dutton, Eighteenth-Century, British-Baptist, Woman Theologian (Volume 4: Theological Works). Compiled and with an Introduction by Joann Ford Watson, Macon: Mercer University Press, 2007. 321 pp.

Thanks to the work of Joann Ford Watson and Mercer University Press, I have become acquainted with the life and ministry of an extraordinary woman. The publication of her letters and other writings in volumes one and two were insightful and interesting, and the reprinting of her autobiography in volume three tied everything together nicely. Now in volume four we have the opportunity to dig our teeth into the meat of her intellectual work.

The first work in volume 4 is Dutton's commentary on Song of Solomon 5:10-16, which she titled "Hints of the Glory of Christ." She assumed the text is meant to describe not just the relationship between Solomon and his bride, but also the deeper relationship between Christ and his bride, the church. Her goal was to engender greater devotion to Christ and to speak to his glory reflected in the images of this poetic text.

The work, "A Treatise on Justification," was originally reprinted in its third edition in 1778, thirteen years after Dutton's death. In this work, she taught that justification, which is imputed by God to those who have faith, brings peace, righteousness, and obedience. She dealt with objections against the idea of justification by faith alone, and she argued the impossibility of a sinner to be justified by works. Her conclusion was noteworthy. Such a gift from God of justification by grace through faith, wrote Dutton, "lays [the sinner] under the highest obligation to live to his praise" (178).

The third discourse is "A Discourse concerning the New Birth." In it, Dutton defined the term and spoke to why this doctrine was once known but is now foreign to many in her day. She then sought to prove its validity from scripture and pointed out what one may learn from this important doctrine.

The fourth discourse, "A Discourse concerning God's Act of Adoption," addressed the wonderful imagery of being adopted as God's children--when that adoption was accomplished, how it is settled upon us, and how we may take possession of the gift and come to enjoy it. The final three letters spoke to specific topics regarding the marks of a child of God, the soul diseases of a child of God, and God's prohibition against unbelieving fear. All are practical and useful topics for the spiritual formation of her readers.

Most interesting among these primary sources are Dutton's prefaces and introductions that provide a glimpse into the challenges of being a female theologian in the cultural context of eighteenth-century England, which was not easy. Dutton's work was published at times anonymously or under a male pseudonym. Some works included recommendations from male clergy to validate her work. But the fruit of her labor has endured.--Reviewed by Deirdre LaNoue, adjunct professor and author, Irving, Texas.