Renewal of Self and Society Through Christianity Book Review

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Creation Regained Book ReviewIntroductionWolters’s Creation Regained is a book that focuses on how Scripture can be used to explain creation, the fall, the distortion through sin of creation, the possibility of regaining creation that the redemption affords, and the application of grace in nature today. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the book is that it provides the reader with an opportunity to see how the reformational worldview can be applied in his own life through a careful understanding of the difference between structural and directional meaning. This paper provides a summary of the thesis and contents of the work. Then it gives a critical evaluation of the work, focusing on its strengths and weaknesses. Finally, it provides a personal reflection on the book and how its strategy might be deployed for one’s own field of study or vocation.Summary of Thesis and ContentsWolters (2005) provides a traditional perspective on Scripture by incorporating the views of early Church Fathers along with Protestant Reformers. He defines worldview as “the comprehensive framework of one’s basic beliefs about things” (p. 2). For Wolters, worldview is a guide to one’s life. It determines how one assesses events and assigns meaning. For the Christian, Scripture is what shapes the worldview. When the topic turns to creation, Wolters (2005) notes that creation refers both to God’s act of creating as well as to the things created. That said, the laws of nature and norms “belong to his universal law for all creation” (p. 19). His main thesis is that Scripture provides the guide that Christians need to understand the world and their place in it in relation to God and His will.To facilitate this guidance, Wolters (2005) provides insight into what is meant by revelation of God’s word and God’s works. They work together to show man what he should believe. This is especially important when it pertains to the fall of mankind through sin. Wolters explains that the fall of mankind represented a distortion of God’s will, which is manifest today in our culture, our condition, and our problems. The Scriptural basis for this assessment is found in Paul, who notes that the whole of creation was frustrated by man’s sin. Due to sin, man is in spiritual bondage and Satan has dominion over the world.Redemption is therefore needed to free man from this bondage and as Paul tells the Romans in 12:2, Christ’s power means that they will be made new again if they come in faith. Wolters states (2005) that the “new humanity (God’s people) is called to promote renewal in every department of reason” (p. 82). Through the cross, mankind can return to creation and to goodness.In the fifth chapter, Wolters discusses how biblical structure should shape the opinions of biblical people in the modern world today. Biblical structure refers to God’s creation and direction refers to deviation through sin. Although “grace restores nature,” there is an ongoing conflict because Satan still exists in the world and man is still prone to sin. Sanctification is necessary and is a process of renewal via the Holy Spirit, which purifies.

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The spiritual gifts flow from the Holy Spirit, whether they are the gift of tongues, intelligence or administration. Through God, all of nature may be restored by bringing nature into alignment with God’s structure of creation.Critical EvaluationThree StrengthsThe first strength of the book is that it grounds its arguments in Scripture and makes constant use of the epistles and gospels to illustrate the points of the author. This is helpful for showing how his conclusions are not his own but flow rather from Scripture and…

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…for one’s own field of study/vocation by using the example of asking whether one’s personal emotions or whether society’s orientation is structural or directional. This is a positive help in framing the big questions about how to reform not only society but also one’s own worldview. The purpose of providing a reformational worldview is made clear through this application, for it establishes why a person ought to focus on renewal and it shows what a person needs to do to enact renewal.Aggression, for instance, can be useful in leadership roles or even in making love to another person: it is a force given by God to human beings that motivates and drives them to achieve a good end. Without this force, nothing worthwhile would ever be accomplished. Passivity and dullness would reign, and mankind would never have the structural ability to renew himself after the fashion promoted by Scripture. Thus, by thinking in terms of structure, and analyzing ourselves from this perspective, it is easy to see how the book’s strategy can be applied. Instead of thinking in terms of a good vs. bad dichotomy, one should think in terms of a structural and directional framework—for in our present state we have both inputs—those from God and those from the fall—and our job is to sort through them, recognize and understand them, and work within the structure that God has given us to renew ourselves. It is a disservice to God’s creation to imagine that all of our feelings and thoughts are either good or evil; instead, we ought to take time to reflect on them and proceed slowly and with caution as we set our course. Deliberation can help us to see that in many cases what we might have thought was bad actually has a good structural reason for….....

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