The Grammar of Messianism Matthew V. Novenson. The Grammar of Messianism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2017, 384 pp. $74.00. Reviewed by Nathan C. Johnson     The debate over how to properly define “messiah” is one of the most complicated in the study of early Judaism and Christian origins. It seems that every scholar has her or his preferred definition and the attendant list of texts in which this definition does or does not apply. Matthew V. Novenson, senior lecturer at Edinburgh University (PhD, PTS ’09), offers a fresh way forward. For Novenson, previous scholarship has worked with the wrong set of questions—namely, how to best define “messiah” and what texts attest to this definition. These inadequate questions have produced equally inadequate results. By contrast, Novenson argues that “messiah” cannot, and indeed should not, be given a single definition in antiquity...

  Thinking Theologically and Writing Theologically Thinking Theologically. Edited by Eric D. Barreto. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2015, 100 pp. $14.00. Writing Theologically. Edited by Eric D. Barreto. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2015, 157 pp. $14.00 Reviewed by Melissa A. Martin   In second grade I had a teacher who loved United States history. Her love eventually led me to believe that even I could play a part in U.S. government. I found a similar love in Thinking Theologically and Writing Theologically, two books in Fortress Press’s recent “Foundations For Learning” series. The “Foundations for Learning” series seeks to introduce first-year seminary students or those considering seminary to the “skills, practices, and values to succeed in seminary” (http://fortresspress.com/foundations). However, these books are not just about skills or values. These two volumes are about...

    The Oxford History of Anglicanism, Volume IV: Global Western Anglicanism, c. 1910-present The Oxford History of Anglicanism, Volume IV: Global Western Anglicanism, c. 1910-present. Edited by Jeremy Morris. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2017, 424 pp. $142.50. Reviewed by Matt Rucker     The Oxford History of Anglicanism, Volume IV is the first of two volumes detailing twentieth-century Anglicanism, dealing specifically with the “Western” provinces of the Anglican Communion, “principally the three regional areas of North America, the British Isles, and Australasia” (1). This valuable collection of essays by some of the leading minds in the Western Anglican world brings clarity to the effects of the deeply transformative twentieth century on the Western Anglican Communion. The division of the volume is threefold. First is an expansive thematic survey that comprises the bulk...

    The God of the Gospel: Robert Jenson’s Trinitarian Theology Swain, Scott R. The God of the Gospel: Robert Jenson’s Trinitarian Theology. Downers Grove: IVP Academic Press, 2013, 258 pp. $38.00 Reviewed by Brandon Watson     Scott Swain, Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, enters what has been a heated debate within Barth scholarship with his publication of The God of the Gospel. The debate has not only centered on the interpretation of Barth’s theology, but has shifted toward a constructive dialogue concerning the relationship between “God and the evangelical events whereby God becomes our God” (14). In other words, the discussion focuses on the relationship between God’s being apart from creation and God’s being with creation in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Swain engages this topic through the lens of Robert Jenson’s Trinitarian theology....

      God Without Measure: Working Papers in Christian Theology. Volume II: Virtue and Intellect John Webster. God Without Measure: Working Papers in Christian Theology. Volume II: Virtue and Intellect. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016, 187 pp. $112.00 (hardback). Reviewed by Alex Siemers   In several senses, God Without Measure is an appropriate title for this collection of essays by John Webster. Firstly, God is without measure. Thus, even though Webster is ostensibly addressing virtue and intellect in this volume, his ultimate aim is to refer these back to God. That is, Webster is concerned that moral theology be moral theology – and only to this extent is it truly moral. Furthermore, God is without measure in at least three senses for Webster: God is beyond any standard of comparison to created things (since God is their source), God lies beyond any bounds or measurements,...