B.H. Carroll’s Pastoral Theology
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 58, No. 2 – Spring 2016
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
Edited by Paul M. Gould & Richard Brian Davis. Chicago: Moody, 2014. 264 pages. Softcover, $19.99.
J. P. Moreland once said of his Biola University colleague William Lane Craig that Craig is one of the finest Christian thinkers of the last half-century. It seems that something similar ought to be said of Moreland, and this book is a testimony to the life and scholarship of a man who has set the bar high in philosophy, theology, apologetics, spiritual formation, and church ministry.
In the Introduction, general editors Gould and Davis note that the Christian academic landscape looks much different after three decades of Moreland’s service (13); indeed, this edited volume serves as a primer “to the rich intellectual resources of J. P.’s thinking” (15). The contributors are “J. P.’s colleagues, former students, and partners in ministry.” Moreover, “[t]hey are friends who deeply love and admire the man—just for being J. P.” (15).
Loving God with Your Mind is divided into three main parts, all of which represent various aspects of both Moreland’s academic and practical contributions. Part One is concerned with his metaphysics. Since Moreland is primarily a metaphysician, in Chapter One Gould and Stan Wallace show how his view “is an explanatorily powerful and satisfying view of reality” (22); Chapter Two, by Robert K. Garcia, explains Moreland’s critique of naturalism; certainly, Moreland’s Platonism “makes atheism less plausible than it otherwise would be” (48). Chapters Three and Four, by Timothy Pickavance and Stewart Goetz, respectively, attempt to explicate Moreland’s substance dualism, while in Chapter Five R. Scott Smith provides a helpful essay on Moreland’s work on both truth and postmodernity.
Part Two, roughly, is devoted to Moreland’s epistemology and apologetics. In Chapter Six, Douglas Groothuis explains that Christianity is a “knowledge tradition” (97), a theme that is taken seriously throughout all of Moreland’s work. Of course, as Paul Copan notes (Chapter Seven), Moreland is also an esteemed natural theologian, particularly savvy on the argument from mind/consciousness, yet Copan points out that Moreland’s winsome argumentation never neglects special revelation. Davis and W. Paul Franks, in Chapter Eight, describe Moreland’s apologetics, disclosing that followers of Jesus are obligated to engage in it. They include a helpful exposition of Romans 1:18-20 in the spirit of Moreland.
Mike Keas in Chapter Nine discusses epistemic virtues in science and theology, noting that a certain theory’s strength is not dependent upon expert opinion but rather on how that theory “embodies epistemic virtues” such as “scope,” “elegance,” “universal coherence,” and the like (152). These virtues, of course, are part and parcel of a Christian worldview, something Moreland has always demonstrated in his ministry. Scott Rae contributes a helpful essay (Chapter Ten) on pro-life activism, covering topics such as abortion, infanticide, infertility, genetic testing, stem cell research, etc. Moreland’s attention on substance dualism provides a theistic framework for reflecting on these important issues (170).
Part Three is dedicated to spiritual formation and church ministry topics. In Chapter Eleven, Tim Muehlhoff fleshes out cultural apologetics—the notion that believers ought to “be real by going public with personal struggles” (173). Authenticity and vulnerability, writes Muehlhoff, form a powerful apologetic. Chapter Twelve, by Klaus Issler, describes spiritual formation shaped after Jesus’ example, which, per Moreland, is important to a believer’s intellectual life. Issler provides a relevant model for Christians to follow (awake, admit, ask, act). Chapter Thirteen discusses virtue and happiness: Michael W. Austin writes there that “those who follow . . . Jesus” must “become evidence for the reality of God in Christ” (211). Chapter Fourteen, by Mike Erre, is devoted to examining the main contents of Moreland’s Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit’s Power (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007) since his chapter coordinates with the three legs of that book’s subtitle. Erre calls the church to consider Moreland’s proposals as we share Christ with “a culture that is progressively suspicious and antagonistic of the gospel we proclaim” (224).
Lastly, Moreland offers a thoughtful afterword. He reflects on cultivating the Christian mind, and discusses topics such as theistic evolution, neuroscience and the soul, and doctrine and ethics. In noting that some Christian thinkers have recently embraced non-traditional views on these issues, Moreland urges caution in that “ideas have consequences,” for “if there is a robust defense available for the traditional position,” he asks, “why not stick with it?” (236). In the final pages, he exhorts Christian thinkers to engage in spiritual formation, shares some personal stories of how God has worked in his own life, and ends with a gentle (but firm) word of encouragement for the church to be “filled with overtly supernatural, spiritually formed, intelligent and articulate ambassadors for Christ” (241).
Apart from the awkwardly bolded words in Pickavance’s chapter, as well as the unfortunate choice of endnotes over footnotes, this is an important work on behalf of one of today’s most esteemed evangelical thinkers. The essays strike an elegant balance between academic, intellectual topics and practical, ministerial concerns, for such balance has been exemplified in Moreland’s own work. The chapters are fairly short and the writing is accessible. Both a helpful timeline and a bibliography of Moreland’s publications are provided; moreover, each author gives a personal anecdote of Moreland’s impact on their lives. Gould and Davis ought to be commended for editing this fine volume.
