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Book Review: The Sophiology of Death: Essays on Eschatology: Personal, Political, Universal, translated by Roberto J. De La Noval by Sergius Bulgakov

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unified and settled position’ (p. 2). The book’s most valuable contributions are the points where the authors explain how these streams are ‘merging and diverging’. Nonviolent theologies are so often… Click to show full abstract

unified and settled position’ (p. 2). The book’s most valuable contributions are the points where the authors explain how these streams are ‘merging and diverging’. Nonviolent theologies are so often contrasted with violent theologies that the subtle but significant disagreements among nonviolent thinkers get overlooked. The Field Guide helps correct this oversight, focusing more on the theological differences than the political ones. For example, comparing the Catholic authors Henri Nouwen and John Dear, Cramer and Werntz write, ‘In contrast to Nouwen, for whom nonviolence is the consequence of the mystical encounter, for Dear the nonviolent act is inextricable from meeting God’ (p. 54). By making explicit these differences and disagreements, the Field Guide has something to offer even to readers who are well-versed in the literature. Though these ‘diverging’ points are of interest, the argument that undergirds the whole book is more on the ‘merging’ side. The eight different streams are not presented as incommensurable alternatives. Rather, what distinguishes them are differences of emphasis, of framing, and of starting point. Some of the varieties begin with Gandhian tactics and work their way toward liturgical theology, some begin with biblical imperatives and work their way toward social analysis, and others begin with the experiences of the marginalized and work their way toward a politics of reconciliation. While Cramer and Werntz refuse to blend all eight varieties together in a ‘Hegelian synthesis’ (p. 147), they nevertheless encourage readers to see all of these figures as participants in one tradition. Anyone trying to understand or enact Christian nonviolence, they insist, would be wise to appreciate the contributions of each school of thought and to blend insights from different approaches. My main frustration with the book has to do with its brevity. While every field guide needs to be portable, constraining a book this comprehensive to 151 pages feels unnecessarily parsimonious, even in the middle of a global paper shortage. Readers may be unsatisfied as they breeze through the two paragraphs on Dorothy Day and the two paragraphs on Desmond Tutu. Nevertheless, if readers walk away from the Field Guide with more book recommendations than settled conclusions, this slim volume will have completed its task. It certainly serves as evidence that contemporary Christian nonviolence is neither a sham nor a solo show, but a harmonious chorus of voices beckoning us to reevaluate our reliance on structures that harm our neighbors and ourselves.

Keywords: sophiology; field guide; eschatology; book; work way

Journal Title: Studies in Christian Ethics
Year Published: 2023

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