Abstract
The doctrine of salvation may be the most important doctrine in Christian theology. Battles have literally been fought over it. Does God choose who will be saved and who will be condemned? Does God allow the individual to choose salvation? Can one lose one’s salvation, or is one “once saved, always saved?” Are there other options?
In addressing these questions Christians find themselves trudging in a theological quagmire. Paul writes that God “desires everyone to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4), and Peter says that God does not want “any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). Does this mean that God ultimately will save everyone? The thought fits better with John’s overriding chorus that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) than with a God who condemns to eternal punishment persons fashioned by God’s own hands.
This is the argument that David Congdon, a Princeton-trained theologian who is now an editor with the University of Kansas Press, put forth. In the cross of Christ, God enacted a universally applicable eschatological event that put one existence to death and births a new one. God, through Christ, saves all of humanity. The discussion found here is complex. Trivial clichés have no place in Congdon's discussion, and even the concept of universalism is more multifaceted than simply saying, “God saves everyone.”
Congdon starts boldly: “This dogmatic sketch examines what it means to think systematically according to the revelation that God is the one who saves—that is, the one who saves all” (3). He then outlines a typology for understanding universalism: multiethnic universalism (persons from all ethnic groups can be saved), potential universalism (all could be saved, but not all will be saved), and actual universalism (all will be saved). Building primarily on the works of Barth and Bultmann, Congdon also looks at other great modern theologians such as Bonhoeffer, Ebeling, Jüngel, Martyn, Moltmann, and Pannenberg. In bringing the writings of these various authors together, Congdon weaves a coherent argument for God as both the author and agent of salvation for all.
While his argument creates hope in readers who have wondered why a good and loving God would allow anyone to be condemned, there remains an outstanding issue with the universalism that Congdon promotes that is not adequately dealt with in the book—ethics. Are we to assume that God’s agency will gloss over genocide, sexual abuse, or tax evasion? This has been the issue most raised against the acceptance of universalism, but is only dealt with in a small fashion here (primarily in his section on natural law near the end of the book).
Overall, Congdon presents his case well and guides the reader to decide whether to accept, reject, or revise his conclusions. Although the goal of Congdon’s argument is to convince the reader to accept actual universalism as the only logical interpretation of soteriology, every reader may not be completely convinced. However, it is important to reassess one’s views on soteriology regularly, and Congdon provides both the space and the vocabulary to do so.
Congdon writes with the gravity and gravitas of Barth, Bultmann, and others whose work he engages. This is both a strength and limitation. Writing at this level is Congdon’s strength in that he manages the various arguments related to salvation while articulating a “dogmatic sketch” of salvation that is threaded through the writings of these scholars of a generation ago. However, writing at this level is also Congdon’s limitation in that the book is dense. Congdon writes for the scholar, the one who is well versed in systematic theology and who is not only familiar with the writings of Barth and company, but knows those works in their original German. As a result, this book is not necessarily accessible even to all academic readers.
In the final analysis, Congdon is quickly becoming one of our finer young theologians. His previous work on Bultmann is a force to be reckoned with in its own right. In this volume, we see Congdon offer a book that is both substantive and substantial. While this is a dense work, it is a volume that engenders a vital theological conversation. How are we to understand the redemptive work of Christ on the cross? How does God offer salvation to humanity through this selfless act? And how do we respond? These are questions of extreme theological significance, questions that all adherents of faith must be able to answer. Thankfully Congdon has been willing to once again open the conversation.