364 Book Reviews / Journal of Reformed Theology 1 (2007) 358-365

Alan Spence, The Promise of Peace. A Unified Theory of Atonement, T&T Clark, London
2006, 126 pp., £19.99 (ISBN 05670-3118-7).

The author, who has worked as a teacher, evangelist, human rights advocate and Moderator
of the Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and currently is a minister in the United
Reformed Church in London, summarizes the ‘master-story’ of atonement in a one-line
narrative: “The Father gave his only Son to become as we are so that, in offering up himself
on our behalf through the Spirit, he might reconcile us to God.” In his view, this mediato-
rial understanding of atonement is normative in that it gives us a coherent account of the
whole range of biblical metaphors and themes that refer to salvation. Explaining this gospel
is the particular mission of the church. The hope of the world lies in her faithful fulfillment
of this calling because it is through the gospel that the promised kingdom of peace will
come.
Spence offers his classification of soteriological theories regarding the atonement with an
eye to the resolution that Christ brings to the human predicament. He pays particular and
rather critical attention to what is called “the new perspective” (E.P. Sanders, J. Dunn, N.T.
Wright). He contests on exegetical grounds that ‘victory’ can be used as an interpretative
scheme for the early chapters of Romans. In his opinion, the whole structure and content
of these chapters exhibit all the classic features of the mediator theory. It seems to me that
he is correct in his warning not to be blinkered by the current prevailing aversion to the
concepts of God’s condemnation, wrath, or judgment in much of modern religious con-
sciousness. The apostle Paul expounds a doctrine of justification as the solution to the
fundamental plight of humanity, our culpability and subjection to the divine wrath. In his
balanced conclusion in response to Wright, Spence affirms that first-century Judaism, as a
theological system, might well have had important, gracious features. Also in that case,
however, the question remains why, along with many Christian theological traditions with
tendencies towards self- righteousness or legalism, it needed to be confronted with the
argument that “all of our best deeds will not themselves earn God’s approval”? In a context
of human estrangement and even hostility towards God, concepts such as grace, repent-
ance, and forgiveness appear more appropriate than those of triumph and victory. The
major motifs of victory language can be explained within a mediatorial theory of salvation,
but this is not the case the other way around.
The atoning work of Christ is something that Jesus does as a man towards God. Such a
perspective does not appear in any way to undermine the biblical recognition that salvation
comes wholly from God. It is correctly observed that the work of the Spirit in Jesus’ human
life is a key to understanding his redemptive ministry. I am grateful to the author for his
clear perception of the two fundamental approaches in the biblical narrative of atonement:
on the one hand, the Father’s loving gift to the world of his Son, and, on the other hand,
Jesus’ self-offering to God on our behalf. Jesus gave himself as a sacrificial offering to God,
and nevertheless his death was a demonstration of God’s gracious love. Hereby the justifiable
concern of many that ‘propitiation’ should not be understood in the pagan sense of bribing
a vindictive and vengeful deity (Umstimmung) is fully to be honored. The atonement flows
from God’s loving initiative. But it is quite wrong to make a simple identification between
love and forgiveness. In his grace and love, God is the primary or formal cause of salvation;

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/156973107X247882

Downloaded from Brill.com12/30/2021 05:29:55AM

via University of Toronto
 Book Reviews / Journal of Reformed Theology 1 (2007) 358-365 365

Christ’s self-offering functions as the material cause of atonement and forgiveness. The
story of the Father’s gift and the story of the Son’s loving obedience thus form a single
coherent narrative. This integrated understanding of agency in atonement is succinctly
summarized in 1 John 4: 10.
Another important aspect that the author points out is the role of faith in effectuating
salvation. Spence observes with Luther that the inability of sinners to do anything worthy
of God, far from being a reason for despondency, spurs them to place their hope in Jesus
rather than in themselves. It is a pity that Spence seems to contrast this view of Luther to
some extent with Calvin’s classical formulation of faith in Institutes III.2.7. When Calvin
speaks of faith as “a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favour toward us,” this may not
be interpreted as a predominantly intellectual matter—an assent to revealed truth. Knowl-
edge is experiential, as in the Hebrew word [dy. Calvin and Luther stand fully together in
their dynamic and existential view of faith as a ‘marrying’ or ‘taking hold’ of Christ that
leads to the unio mystica cum Christo. “Faith flourishes in a context of total human helpless-
ness and of the unlimited grace, mercy and power of God’s love” (85). This faith is under-
stood principally as trusting in and appropriating the divine promise of salvation. The
ultimate promise is that God will be our God, and we shall be his people. The obedience of
faith is required of us, and, in that way, the regenerating and transforming power of the
Holy Spirit is experienced in our hearts and lives. Faith is not simply the means by which
we come to know of our salvation; it is rather the instrument through which God in his
freedom has chosen to reconcile to himself those who believe. It is more than a badge that
proclaims that one is already a member of God’s people; it is really an indispensable instru-
ment of salvation. The relationship with God is restored by faith in the good news about
God’s favor in Christ.
Spence does more than simply restate the classic Reformed positions regarding the atone-
ment. He firmly takes a stand against influential, recent approaches like the ‘new perspective’
on Paul. His language is clear and concise; his testimony warm and convincing.

Jan Hoek
Kampen (The Netherlands)

Downloaded from Brill.com12/30/2021 05:29:55AM

via University of Toronto
 Journal of Reformed Theology 1 (2007) i-iii www.brill.nl/jrt

Journal of Reformed Theology

Volume 1 (2007)—Contents

EDITORIAL

Eddy Van der Borght ................................................................ 1, 127, 223

ARTICLES

Nico Koopman
Introduction ....................................................................................... 224
Godwin I. Akper
Prosperity Gospel: A Case Study of Benue State in North-Central
Nigeria ............................................................................................... 41
Martien E. Brinkman
Where is Jesus ‘at Home’? Hermeneutical Reflections on the
Contextual Jesus ................................................................................. 107
Abraham van de Beek
Every Foreign Land is Their Native Country, and Every Land of
Birth is a Land of Strangers ................................................................ 178
Gijsbert van den Brink
No More Questions? .......................................................................... 129
Diego Irarrazaval
Latin American Images of Christ ........................................................ 50
Allan Janssen
Confessing Belhar In America ............................................................ 195
Nico Koopman
Reformed Theology in South Africa: Black? Liberating? Public? ......... 294
Nico Koopman
The Lord’s Prayer—An Agenda for Christian Living ........................... 4
Frits de Lange
Becoming One Self: A Critical Retrieval of ‘Choice Biography’ .......... 272

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007

Downloaded from Brill.com12/30/2021 05:29:55AM

via University of Toronto
ii Contents Volume 1 (2007) / Journal of Reformed Theology 1 (2007) i-iii

Martin Laubscher
A Search for Karl Barth’s ‘Public Theology’: Looking into Some
Defining Areas of his Work in the post-World War II Years ................ 231
Seung-Goo Lee
A Social Function of Coram Deo in theThought of Kierkegaard .......... 153
Ivana Noble Ph.D. and Tim Noble
Christ Images in Contemporary Czech Film ...................................... 84
Clive Pearson
How Shy Can A Reformed Theology Be? ........................................... 340
Young Hwan Ra
Christ in Popular Culture in Korea ..................................................... 72
Douglas J. Schuurman
Vocation, Christendom, and Public Life: A Reformed Assessment of
Yoder’s Anabaptist Critique of Christendom ....................................... 247
Alan P. F. Sell
Confessing the Faith in the Intellectual Context ................................. 132
Diane B. Stinton, Ph.D.
Jesus—Immanuel, Image of the Invisible God: Aspects of Popular
Christology in Sub-Saharan Africa ...................................................... 6
Johann Theron
Trinity in the Temptation Narrative and the Interpratation of
Noordmans, Dostoyevski, and Mbeki ................................................. 204
Gotlind Ulshöfer
Economic Justice as Social Justice in a Globalized World:
A Theological Analysis ........................................................................ 307
Nico Vorster
A Theological Evaluation of the South African Constitutional Value
of Human Dignity ............................................................................. 320

BOOK REVIEWS

Marilyn McCord Adams, Christ and Horrors. The Coherence of

Christology
Reviewed by Gijsbert van den Brink ............................................... 125
Graig A. Carter, Rethinking Christ and Culture. A Post-Christendom
Perspective
Reviewed by Johan Buitendag ........................................................ 362
Alan Spence, The Promise of Peace. A Unified Theory of Atonement
Reviewed by Jan Hoek .................................................................... 364

Downloaded from Brill.com12/30/2021 05:29:55AM

via University of Toronto
 Contents Volume 1 (2007) / Journal of Reformed Theology 1 (2007) i-iii iii

James K. Beilby (ed.), For Faith and Clarity. Philosophical

Contributions to Christian Theology
Reviewed by Seung-Goo Lee .......................................................... 122
Randall C. Zachman, John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian.
The Shape of his Writings and Thought
Reviewed by P.F. Theron ................................................................. 120
Anna S. Williams, The Divine Sense. The Intellect in Patristic Theology
Reviewed by Johannes Zachhuber .................................................. 360
Jaroslav Pelikan, Acts (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible)
Reviewed by Arie W. Zwiep ............................................................ 358

Downloaded from Brill.com12/30/2021 05:29:55AM

via University of Toronto