efits from discernment for prudent deployment, and, in the Christian case in particular ... cerns, emphasizing the notion of putting Islamic legal tradition. (Sharī'ah law) ... amnesias and political erasures at the centre of interfaith conversations,.
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Theorizing, after all, is a dynamic of actual existence, albeit one that benefits from discernment for prudent deployment, and, in the Christian case in particular, one that is embedded and embodied in a way of life that does indeed go beyond solving intellectual puzzles in a disinterested and disengaged manner. All in all, Torrance has provided a stimulating work on Kierkegaard’s understanding of the nature of Christian faith. His fresh presentation of Kierkegaard brings themes to light relevant to contemporary trends in theology concerned with how the affective and dispositional dimensions of Christian believing relate to the cognitive and doctrinal. Kierkegaard’s focus on the role of the passions also opens up fruitful channels of dialogue for those concerned with theological understandings of the formation and reformation of desire. Andrew R. Johnson New College, University of Edinburgh
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Islam, Peace and Social Justice: A Christian Perspective, A. Christian Van Gorder, James Clarke, 2014, (ISBN 978-0-227-17422-7), 291 pp., pb £25
In the era of neoliberal techno-rationality, when so-called Islamic fundamentalism, Jihadism, and terrorism occupy the popular imagination seeking to turn the wheel of history, with Islam often depicted as a strenuous system of truth (theology), and social order (politics), the moralizing identity politics reveals a more challenging and interesting perspective than the much dreadful image of a fundamentalist regime of Sharī’ah. In this new context, Islam is oftentimes linked with a misanthropic political retribution and abominable malice exhibited in the midst of a spate of either suspected or confirmed media reports subverting the formation of any cosmopolitan culture by stigmatizing, branding, and projecting Islam as a threat to European and American secular orders. With this Janus-faced reputation, Islam as a truculent political ideology is now uniformly excoriated as a dangerously subversive, politically exceptional, culturally unreasonable, theologically alien, preposterously homophobic, and avowedly imperialistic form of authoritarian system which seeks to unite emerging provincial bourgeoisie and the downtrodden, disenfranchised people, in opposition to the capitalist urbanized middle class. However, Islam’s continuing social and political appeal with intellectually challenging and appealing substructures has guided a major segment of humanity for centuries. Some scholars recognize this vitality in forging positive © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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coexistence of different religions, as in the example of medieval Convivencia (literally ‘harmonious coexistence’), when Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived in peace, harmony, and cooperation for many centuries (between eight and fifteenth centuries) in Spain. Since the harrowing events of 9/11, European and North American media outlets have often castigated Islam in ‘generalised pasquinades that emphasize the denial of human rights, the promotion of violence against innocents, and the harsh oppression of women’ (p. 13). Against this background, Islamic tradition presents an entirely different version of these social justice concerns, emphasizing the notion of putting Islamic legal tradition (Sharī’ah law) into practice and giving it a unitarian, puritanical, scripturalist, rule-oriented, and contextual meaning. The book under review attempts to ‘address critics of Islam who disseminate the seeds of inaccurate misrepresentations of what the Qur’an says about a host of issues pertaining to social justice’ (p. 21). These ideals of social justice, as the author points out, provide a critical lens for inter-religious dialogue because religion in general and Islam in particular has not only played a collateral and synergistic role as ‘a blunt instrument of ideological intimidation’ (p. 13) but also significantly contributed to the development of more just, ecologically sustainable, and humane societies. This work, written with an astute intelligence, examines the historical amnesias and political erasures at the centre of interfaith conversations, challenging conventional ideas pertaining to social justice which are foundational for almost all religious sensibilities. Van Gorder’s initial chapter provides an enthralling description of the relationship between ethics and Islamic theology (kalām), discussing the conceptual rationale, legalistic interpretations, and normative ethical precepts while demystifying the pervasive notion of structural social injustice in a society (p. 30). Critical to those who have argued that the constrict and outworn interpretations of Islam have perpetrated the idea of a capricious nature of God, Van Gorder claims that the active nearness of God, as opposed to the pervasive impression of a distant God, underscores the authority of the sublime power (God) as lord over all (p. 31). Central to his argument is the Qur’anic precept that ‘God’s greatness reaffirms the justice message of Islam,’ which, nonetheless, disapproves the ultimate expression of capricious nature of God, insisting on coming to terms with the transcendence of God (in contrast to a thoroughgoing dismissal of any idea that relies on radical appeals to transcendence) and setting fulfilment of exacting ritual obligations (p. 33). An interesting point concerning the promotion of interfaith social justice partnerships is the way Muslims approach the proper narrative discourse for eclectic and effective analysis of the issue of war and peace, while some non-Muslims confoundedly wonder why Muslims, who affirm the beatitude, refuse to become citizens of a global economic and political order. Others, however, argue that Islam, as an organic amalgam © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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of theological and social concerns, resists secularization in view of its resolutely intolerant and potentially totalitarian structure that refuses to accept liberal secular humanism, with its liberal populist underpinnings, as one of the political alternatives. While dissecting the fundamentally oppositional views on Islam, Van Gorder approaches this issue with an explication of certain viewpoints that discern Islam as a political nuisance: a religion that incorporates an intricate ideological disguise, which, although, is gilded with a veneer of peace and justice rather than an abstract clandestine ideology marked by puritanical obsessions for global domination. He argues against the grain of prominent critiques that identify Islam as an inherently violent religion, facilitating all sorts of oppositional identitarian movements that spring ‘from an aggressive and confrontational way of relating to others’ (p. 39). Indeed, unlike some of the recent works – such as Terence Lovat and Robert Crotty (Reconciling Islam, Christianity and Judaism: Islam’s Special Role in Restoring Convivencia [Springer, 2015]) and Saif Ataya (Islam: Peace and Terrorism, Brief History, Principles, and Beliefs [CreateSpace, 2015]) – Van Gorder clearly elucidates that the ‘orientalist perspectives on Islamic cultures have glossed over various social particulars in the creation of a skewed metanarrative,’ negating the basic Islamic principles related to confronting political and economic oppression in a society (p. 81). While critics often claim that the Muslim world is incompatible with freedoms of speech and religion in view of egregious violations of civil and individual human rights in the Muslim authority countries, the possibility for a democratic compromise and eirenic accommodation seems to lose ground as a result of the Muslim world’s failure to create a multicultural civilization. The labyrinthine realities of authoritative politics in the Muslim world illustrate how political commentators reduced complex debates on violent extremism to a plethora of clichés, soundbites, and shibboleths rather than digging into root causes or historical facts; for them, it was much easier to champion the most bigoted critics of Islam while brushing aside the voices of the ‘other’ (including mainstream Muslim intellectuals, academics, and activists). Against the backdrop of this overly simplistic and intrinsically focused perspective, Chapters 5–10 zoom in, focusing on recent excruciating events (genocides and civil wars) and issues such as gender Jihād, racism, slavery, sexism, prismatic revelations, multifaith (ecumenical) partnerships, environmental degradation, and homophobia. Van Gorder claims that the divine combative knowledge in the case of Islam has engendered a gradualistic approach that is ‘seen as either realistic or problematic depending on one’s vantage point’ (p. 148). This approach is devoted to eventually castrating the course of the arc of the social order away from one in which racism, sexism, and slavery are seen not as apotheostic ideals but as manifestations of a racial and ethnocentrically arrogant civic society. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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One of the main points of concern in this work is that the author avoids using a specific tradition as paradigmatic (magisterially approved prototypical narrative) in specifying peculiarities and most importantly avoids adopting orientalist axiomatic narrative as the implicit epistemic reference in the description of Islam. This works well for the major portion as organizing principle, and there is much appreciate in the book’s methodology and accessibility, including exclusionists’ views on intercultural engagement, pithy and broader analysis of dialogical hermeneutics, multifaith interactions in a putatively postmodern world, individual rights, and political oppression. However, with regard to issues of gender inequality and sexism, the author follows a linear pattern with somewhat hapless contextualization, which frequently undermines the Qur’anic thrust on addressing issues related to social justice (with an increasing posture of dialogical engagement). Inclusion of more nuanced and critical discussions on these issues in terms of cross-country comparisons – a fact rare enough to be underlined – would have made the volume even more valuable and would have prompted the reader to reflect on the cogency of the sophisticated arguments deployed. Despite these serious shortcomings, the work deserves the attention of a more informed readership of scholars and students of religious studies, both undergraduate and postgraduate, focusing on modern reformist perception of Islam, interfaith engagements in general, and those whose research is related to the study of gender relations and social justice partnerships in particular. Asif Mohiuddin University of Kashmir
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Living Theodrama: Reimagining Theological Ethics, Wesley Vander Lugt, Ashgate, 2014 (ISBN 978-1-4724-1943-9), xiv + 241 pp., hb £65
Wesley Vander Lugt’s well-researched and carefully crafted text is perhaps the best resource currently available for the reader interested in exploring the theatrical turn in theological ethics. Building on the earlier turn to narrative, the ‘turn to theater’ is among the freshest developments in the current theological conversation. Vander Lugt’s Living Theodrama provides one of the most systematic and accessible treatments of this relatively new theological topic. With this book, Vander Lugt successfully accomplishes a great deal. He provides a summary of the burgeoning theodramatic scholarship which includes critical engagement with the main players including © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
