Book Review by David Gushee

The Twentieth Century: A Theological Overview 
Gregory Baum, ed., Orbis, 1999.

The editor, Gregory Baum, attempts in this work to bring a team together that can reflect theologically on the monumental and oftentimes disastrous events of the twentieth century. It is a project that only succeeds in part.

The work is divided into two parts. The first seeks to trace “the impact of historical events on theology.” The second part offers “theological evaluation of events and movements.”

The first section covers World War I, modernity, the Bolshevik Revolution, the Depression, the Nazi era, the Holocaust, world capitalism, globalization, and the emergence of a world church. The second deals with secularization, the ecumenical movement, Vatican II, Marxism, feminism, liberation theologies, the ecological crisis, and postmodernism. Contributors include mainline stalwarts Rosemary Ruether, Harvey Cox, Douglas John Hall, Virgilio Elizondo, Gary Dorrien, and a host of lesser-known figures.

I was interested in this book not only because of its coverage of historical events and trends of signal importance, but also because of my growing conviction that evangelical theology and ethics generally do not adequately take historical events into account. While mainline and radical theology/ethics tends to be deeply and self-consciously contextual, evangelical versions often seem to be the last bastion of an a historical approach that attempts to jump from Scripture to application without remainder. Or, alternatively, certain strands of evangelical thought are tied so closely to particular theological figures and traditions (e.g., Calvin, Luther) they sometimes seem to learn nothing from the historical events that have occurred since the esteemed Doctors made their appearance on history’s stage.

The book succeeds only in part because of the uneven quality of the contributions, always the bane of edited collections. The discussions of the Catholic response to modernity, the Communist Revolution in Russia, the ecumenical movement, and liberation theologies, in particular, were weak enough as to damage the overall impact of the book considerably.

On the whole, however, The Twentieth Century helps to open a conversation that needs to continue: what should we make of the bloody century just past? How do we speak of God and the church in the context in which we actually find ourselves? These are questions well worth asking, and Baum is to be thanked for his contribution to the quest for answers.

Updated Wednesday, April 11, 2001