Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future (I)
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 55, No. 2 – Spring 2013
Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
By Andreas J. Köstenberger. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011. 270 pages. Paperback, $17.99.
We live in a day in which superlatives are sometimes wasted on the ordinary. Sports figures are lauded as heroes and the common is elevated to the level of the exceptional. The danger of such exaggeration is the possibility of overlooking the truly extraordinary among the sheer volume of the common. Andreas Köstenberger has issued a passionate challenge to strive for more.
The book appertains to any audience, but targets scholarship, particularly young and aspiring scholars (44). Though the book is a charge to scholars, the author consistently reminds the reader that excellence extends beyond the realm of academia. Excellence, according to Köstenberger, must pursued in vocationally, morally, and relationally (232). As such, excelling in an academic setting, but failing in other areas (like the home) falls short of excellence (28, 232).
The author’s goal is not just excellent scholars, but scholars of excellence. The book, in large part, seems to be the author’s response to the claim by Michael Fox that faith and scholarship are incompatible (62). Köstenberger ardently denies and adeptly defeats this claim. He asserts that “believing scholarship is not only possible but in fact is more virtuous than critical, unbelieving, or supposedly objective academic work” (24). Indeed, he maintains that God is the source of all excellence (33).
The outline of the book grows out of 2 Peter 1:5-7. Peter begins this pericope by admonishing his readers to add to their faith virtue. Köstenberger proposes that the term often translated “virtue” is best translated “excellence” (45). From that, the author begins by building a foundation for excellence. He describes the excellence of God and demonstrates the pursuit of excellence as a calling that believers share based on a consistent translation of the same word above used in 2 Peter 1:3. To complete the foundation, Köstenberger adds the virtues of holiness and spirituality.
For Köstenberger, excellence relates to the concept of holiness. As holiness expresses that which is set apart, excellence carries a similar denotation. Then, completing the foundation for excellence, Köstenberger addresses the issue of spirituality. He asserts that the primary disciplines of the Christian life are prayer and the study of God’s Word (76, 84). Spirituality, moreover, compels the believer to active engagement with the world under the direction and leadership of the Holy Spirit and his work in our lives (75).
Building on that foundation of excellence, the balance of the book addresses those ingredients that the author argues comprise vocational, moral, and relational excellence. A consistent strength of the book is not only the author’s consistent personal witness of his own faith, but his defense of Scripture and the application of Biblical truth to the academic world.
With each ingredient, Köstenberger addresses how they are revealed in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and how they related to excellence in scholarship. The book is filled with practical advice, relevant concerns, passionate challenges, and personal integrity. Its relevance to the academic world is apparent, though even the author undersells its relevance to other areas as well (148). This book is a challenge that aspiring Christian scholars should take to heart and seasoned scholars should apprehend and regularly monitor.
The translation of aretē as “excellent” seems well-founded and clearly articulated. Though, allowing that point, and conceding the remainder of the ingredients as “necessary for academic excellence” (27) as the author suggests, one wonders why Peter would be encouraging his readers to add anything to excellence (2 Peter 1:5), if in fact excellence would already encompass the remaining ingredients that Peter espouses.
Köstenberger should be commended for his clear refutation and debunking of Fox’s unfounded conclusion. Indeed, the irony that Fox once served as the president of the Society of Biblical Literature is not missed.
In the end, the book is a summons. Like a watchman, Köstenberger has issued a call to all Christian academicians present and future. One can be a committed believer and a competent scholar. It’s not an unreachable goal; instead, it is one that must be met. Moreover, this book serves as exhibit A. We must not settle for mediocrity when excellence is within our reach. The character of God demands it, our calling requires it, and our world needs it.
