Across the Spectrum

As a pastor, it's imperative that I keep my mind sharp when it comes to current discussions in theology. But honestly, reading theology sometimes makes my brain hurt. Plus, there are so many writers out there, and so many theological issues, it's difficult to find a concise treatment of theological discussions that aren't skewed towards one side or another. Unfortunately, good Christian thinkers don't always represent their "opponents" in a fair light, so you often have to read three or four books on each side of an issue before you can begin to understand where each side actually stands versus where each side says they and their opponents stand.

Across the Spectrum, by Gregory Boyd and Paul Eddy attempts to tackle some of the most pressing theological issues by presenting both (or several) sides of an issue in the form of short essays by proponents of each side.

This isn't a perfect book, but I found it extremely helpful. I picked up the book a little skeptical. Readers of theology will quickly note that Gregory Boyd is a proponent of Open-view Theism, the view that the future is partly open, and there are certain things about the future that God does not know or control. This is a hotly debated topic (that is covered in this book), and one that I have to admit - I'm extremely skeptical of. So, when I picked up this book knowing that Boyd was one of the major contributors, I expected to see the book slanted in that direction. It wasn't.

This book isn't perfect, but is an extremely helpful primer for current and past theological issues like the inerrancy debate, the sovereignty of God debate, discussion about the age of the earth, the debate about Charismatic gifts, women's role in ministry, and hell/annihilationism, plus several other issues. Each chapter involves a short essay from each vantage point, which contains the most pertinent biblical references, arguments that the writer believes support his position, and responses to common objections concerning each position.

One of the weaknesses of this book is that it only contains a limited number of perspectives on each issue. It certainly isn't exhaustive. Obviously, this is done for the sake of brevity, but there were a few issues dealt with in Across the Spectrum where I felt there were significant arguments not covered. For example, the "Salvation Debate" deals with the extreme Calvinist perspective, and the extreme Arminian perspective, but left out the vast majority of theologians who fall somewhere between those two extremes. Although I certainly understand why the authors limited their discussion to just a few arguments, it was disconcerting at times to see obvious gaps in both views with no arguments for a more moderate perspective.

With that said, I think this book has three primary strengths.

First, I was extremely impressed with the fairness given to each perspective. This book is completely void of any personal attacks, sarcastic or snide remarks, or demeaning language towards other theological perspectives. Although the disagreements are vast and tremendously important, I felt as though they were tackled in a fair and humble way. It was refreshing to read some of the perspectives with which I agree without being embarrassed at the way "my side" represented itself. Even in cases where I'm relatively certain the book's primary authors do not share a perspective toward which I lean, (i.e. Dispensationalism), I felt each subject was treated fairly and accurately.

Secondly, none of the articles or sections were signed. That is, you don't know who wrote the articles for which position. I love this, especially for younger and less-experienced theology students. This keeps the immature reader from automatically dismissing arguments because of the person who supports them. When I was just beginning to grow as a Christian, some of the people who mentored me quickly taught me who "we" agreed with, and who "we" didn't agree with. That set me back - just because I might not like someones perspective on End Time events doesn't mean they have nothing worthwhile to contribute to a conversation about women's roles in ministry. This book forces the reader to deal with the arguments rather than the people who give the arguments. That is an extremely helpful component to this book.

Finally, the book presents a short case study at the beginning of each chapter that gives an example of how each issue presents itself in twenty-first century theology. For a person who is driven to ask the question "how will I ever use this in real life," the case study is immensely helpful. Sometimes the case studies are a bit cheesy, but for the most part they help set the stage for the discussion to follow as a discussion about issues that affect people - people that God created, loves, and desires to know Him. Sometimes in our vigorous debates about theological issues we can get more focused on being right that we end up being wrong, even when we're right. The case studies tend to help guard against that tendency.

Overall, this book is worth reading. It's certainly lacking in a few areas, but is more helpful than not.