Abstract
Looking down from the mountains that surround Canmore, Alberta, one is impressed by the beauty of the Rockies. At the same time there are reminders of the sometimes-devastating clash of nature and human culture. Evidence remains of the 2013 flood that ripped apart bridges, roads, and walking paths. Jonathan Wilson’s newest book, God’s Good World: Reclaiming the Doctrine of Creation, treads this territory. The book affirms the goodness of creation and acknowledges that generations of Christians have said too little about it. The first part of the book lays out this indictment and suggests that theological skirmishes related to evolution and environmentalism are but symptoms of this longstanding failure.
The second part of God’s Good World is the most engaging. Here Wilson attempts to develop a “mature and robust” doctrine of creation by attending closely to the themes of Trinity and the “dialectic of the kingdom.” This last phrase refers to his belief that Christian teaching on redemption and creation are mutually defining. Relaxing this dialectic leads either to a denial of the goodness of creation or the naive assumption that it is always obvious. Creation is a gift, Wilson argues, and our role is to receive it as such. In line with this he suggests creation’s destiny is not obliteration but to be made new. The book’s third and final part engages relevant tasks and practices. Here Wilson writes about worship and worldliness, desire and prayer, being persons, and construing the world.
Wilson’s book is sorely needed: he is right to point out the deleterious effects of our ignoring this aspect of the faith. On that measure, Wilson succeeds simply because he has written on the subject with learned care and passion. The synthetic character of the book’s constructive theology is richly biblical. Another strength of the book is Wilson’s careful and consistent vocabulary. He unfailingly uses the term “creation” and warns against the imprecision of alternatives. Similarly, his revision of the notions of “natural selection” and the “selfish gene” give his work contextual purchase. This controlled language compliments the actual argument of God’s Good World and deepens the reading experience. Admirably, Wilson can do this without coming off as arcane. It should also be noted that Wilson is aware of relevant scholarship. The book’s notes connect readers to various nodes of the diverse and rhizomatic related literature.
Students are prone to label assigned texts “long and repetitive.” They will do this with God’s Good World. Key phrases like “robust and mature doctrine of creation” are overworked. Chapter 6 re-tills similar ground to the previous two, and the biblical commentary in chapter 7 begins abruptly and proceeds ponderously. The book’s third section is underdeveloped. It moves too quickly, skipping from one topic to another without sustained engagement. The final chapter on worship is set up as the point where the book’s various strands could be knotted together. Yet, a mere eight pages later, the discussion ends. These frustrations notwithstanding, the book is a timely contribution. Wilson has provided a wonderful service to groups wanting to explore the doctrine of creation in Christian perspective. This is appropriate because Christianity itself has been blamed for environmental oversights that some have linked events like Alberta’s 2013 flooding. Wilson charts a course that avoids both the denial of creation’s goodness and the promethean assumption that humans can run things. The world is indeed good, and Wilson provides a grammar for affirming this with the nuance necessary to match contemporary challenges with ancient wisdom.