Holtzen Wm. Curtis - The God Who Trusts

JOHN SANDERS

THE APOSTLE PAUL SAID, And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love (1 Cor 13:13). Christians have long characterized faith, hope, and love as the three theological virtues. These virtues are hallmarks of the genuine Christian life. Of these love occupies the place of preeminence. God calls Christians to love one another, their neighbor, and their enemy. God shows us how to do this by loving and forgiving us. God exemplifies how to love. Jesus, as God incarnate, is the paragon of love who walked the path to show us how to love God and creatures. Christians are encouraged to emulate the love of Godto practice the imitatio Dei and imitatio Christi when it comes to love. This is as it should be. Yet, what about faith and hope? Christian communities emphasize the need to practice faith and hope and to see God as the object of our faith and source of our hope. Yet, Christians do not say much about the faith and hope of God. Seldom are Christians encouraged to imitate the faith and hope of God. Sadly, some Christians do not believe God can be our example of faith and hope.

Gods love for us provides a good reason to think that God is our exemplar for faith and hope. Christians have long highlighted the fact that not only does God love others but that God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Love is the very being of Godwhat it means to be divine. Gods creative and redemptive love is central to the gospel. If God is love, what do we mean by love? A favorite description of love, often recited at weddings, occurs in the same passage where Paul mentions the three theological virtues. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor 13:4-7). If God is love and this is what love is like, then God is like this. God is patient, kind, and not arrogant. God bears our failings by putting up with us at times. If love believes in others and hopes for a better future, then so does God. God has faith, hope, and love. God is not only the object of our faith, hope, and love but God is our exemplar to imitate the three theological virtues. The way God relates to us shows us how to practice faith, hope, and love.

The God Who Trusts delightfully explores the ways in which God expresses faith, hope, and love. It shows why it makes sense to apply all three theological virtues to God instead of just one. Holtzen carefully unpacks what it means to trust, to believe in someone, and to hope. These concepts always involve relationships with others so Holtzen develops a relational theology that uses the domain of human relationships as a rich source to understand what God is like and how God relates to us. He discusses biblical writers who speak of God entrusting us with a task and God having patience with us. Seldom do Christians stop to think about just what is involved when exercising patience or trusting someone. Holtzen does a thorough job of explaining the theological and philosophical entailments of concepts such as trust and patience. One of these ideas emphasized in the book is that God cares about what we do. It matters to God whether we participate in Gods work in the world. God is not indifferent toward us. Sometimes God is disappointed in us while at other times God is overjoyed at what we do. In short, we make a difference to God. One of my favorite lines in the book is God loves to trust. Holtzen provides several biblical examples where God trusts people and shows why this means that God has faith in us both individually and corporately. When things do not go the way God wants them to, God works with us to improve the situation. This means that God hopes the future will be better than the present. Without this hope, Gods faith would be pointless. Gods faith is a model for us to follow (the imitatio Dei).

A poignant example of Gods trust being broken and restored is found in Exodus 3234. Yahweh, the God of Israel, liberated Israel from the oppression of the Egyptians and then called Israel to be a kingdom of priests (19:6 NIV). God entrusted Israel with a vocation to be Gods ministers to the world. God formed a covenant with the people regarding this calling. God then instructed Moses to construct a tabernacle (a portable temple) so that Yahweh could dwell in the very midst of the people. However, while Moses was receiving these instructions, the people broke the covenant when Aaron made the golden calf. God then floats a new plan to Moses: God will start over again with Moses offspring because this generation is not trustworthy. Moses rejects this plan and calls on God to change the divine mind. Amazingly, God does turn away from that route and declares that this generation will receive the Promised Land. Yet, God will not go with the people or dwell in their midst. Instead, Yahweh will send a messenger to guide the people. In response, Moses says that Israels vocation to the world is jeopardized without the divine presence. He asks God to renew divine trust in the people by accompanying them on the journey. Yahweh then declares that the divine Presence will go with the people (33:14). After this, they build the tabernacle and the divine Presence (glory) dwells in the midst of Israel. Together, God and Moses decide to continue the mission of reaching the world through the people. Though they broke Gods trust in them, God decided to continue to have faith in them. God restores the covenant and once again entrusts to Israel the vocation of being a kingdom of priests. This story shows that even though the people sinned greatly, God continued to believe in them. Similarly, God believes in Christians and the church, entrusting us with a vocation to the world.

This book fills a genuine need in Christian theology by mapping out the ways in which God exercises trust, faith, and hope. Holtzen carefully notes the terrain in terms of the important issues and consults the significant guides on each topic. He consults a wide range of people who have written on faith and hope. The sources do not always agree on the way to go and Holtzen proves himself an able guide as he seeks out what is best in his interlocutors. He is sure-footed as he traverses the field. He is fair-minded with these sources, gleaning insights from them while also raising questions. He acknowledges positive features in the views of those with whom he sometimes disagrees. The book makes a solid case for God having faith and hope. Yet, the author is humble and aware that every position has questions. The book explores the theological and philosophical implications of God having faith and trust. In addition, it wonderfully illustrates what it means to trust, have faith, and hope from numerous biblical texts as well as examples from daily life, including many films.