Globalization and Grace
Book Reviews
“Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed.” Francis Bacon (d. 1626)
Globalization and Grace
Max J. Stackhouse, New York: Continuum, 2007, $35.
Reviewed by Darold Morgan, Richardson , TX.
This book is Volume 4 of the “God and Globalization” series which is subtitled, “Theological Ethics and the spheres of Life.” Dr. Stackhouse is the editor of the first three volumes and the author of the fourth. All four in this series merit serious attention.
Events of unparalleled importance cluster around this emerging reality globalization, a development which is taking place right now in our world. Many students of history equate the impact of globalization as important as the Industrial Revolution and even the Protestant Reformation.
Globalization, an economic, political, cultural process of change, has emerged in this generation because of the information revolution that knows no national boundaries. The changes inaugurated by the computer, the cell phone and the world-wide web has drastically changed the way the world does business. It is tied to a communication revolution which literally knows no boundaries.
Stackhouse’s book, as well as the entire series, tackles head-on the implications of this phenomenon, specifically as it impacts religion and ethics. Many of the current writersin this field either ignore these major areas of influence or underrate them in the course of their writings.
Stackhouse is a well-known and highly respected professor-emeritus of Theology and Public Life at Princeton Theological Seminary, and is regarded far and wide as a major voice in the field of Christian Ethics. In this volume he writes wisely, seriously, and profoundly about these new themes, which are absolutely necessary for Christian understanding and guidance in Christian Ethics. He is also plowing new fields in the relationships brought on by the international developments impacted by globalization.
One of the key values of this book is the author’s demand that religion be given its rightful place in the potent influences of both the cause and effects of globalization. The Darwinists, sometimes parading under the banner of “evolutionary psychology” (118) have strangely joined forces with economists, political scientists, and even journalists to equate religion and ethics as unimportant or irrelevant in the quest to grasp the significance of the cultural impact of globalization. To ignore these essential factors in life everywhere is to make a major mistake in human values and behavior. The author builds throughout this seriously written book a strong and defensible case for the place of religion and ethics at the very heart of humanity.
This is a deeply probing book mandating a methodical reading and response. The author is attempting to answer the question “What do Christian theology and ethics have to offer public life in our globalization epoch?” (35) We live in different times from even a generation once removed. Exploration, colonization, industrialization, and even the information age—all have given way to the nebulous era of globalization, a time whose end and impact we are unable at this juncture to determine. Every segment of life is being influenced. If ever there was a time for a vibrant and creative expression of the Christian faith, these are those days.
At the very center of this vortex, the author inserts the great themes of God’s grace as expressed in Creation, Providence, and Salvation. The strength of the book is the genuine welcome these themes have in an authentically biblical setting. The book moves to a positive conclusion that clearly posits the grace of God as an intelligent, basic, and trustworthy choice in these clashing streams issuing from the economic, political, and divergent religious concerns stemming from the challenge of globalization. The bottom line from the author—the Christian Gospel is prepared for this new challenge!
One final note: One is grateful for the fruitful footnotes and subsequent comments the author gives throughout the book. These document carefully an amazing reservoir of resource material available to the serious student of Religion and Ethics.
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