Renewal of Self and Society through Christianity

Creation Regained Book Review

Introduction

Wolters’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 Contents

Wolters (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. 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 Evaluation

Three Strengths

The 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 through the traditional interpretations of Scripture. Without this scriptural basis, the book would lack a solid anchor and would come across merely as the opinions of a single man; but by citing scripture, the author discloses his main sources, which help to strengthen the arguments.

The second strength of the book is that it proceeds in a logical manner from definition to application. The first chapter focuses on what is meant by creation. From there, the author explains what occurred as a result of the fall, and how mankind is in need of redemption. Then it explains how creation can be regained through man’s cooperation with grace and the establishment of the structure that God desires. The logical steps taken by the author follow one upon the other and allow the material to be presented thoroughly and concisely.

The third strength of the work is that it maintains an affirmative, even tone throughout, and does not deviate from the main thesis, which is to show that through Scripture and a traditional understanding of it, one may come to a better appreciation of one’s current state in the world and how God’s grace is there to help him to regain creation. This is an important quality of the book in terms of presentation because it gives the reader a favorable impression of the author’s words and ideas. Whereas some authors unconsciously undermine their own theses by deviating from their core objective or adopting an uneven tone, Wolters is true to form from the outset to the conclusion. This not only makes the work readable but also convincing.

Three Weaknesses

One of the main weaknesses of the book is that it does not refer much to the Fathers of the Church. The content is focused more on a reformational viewpoint, which is clear from the beginning—but there is also the view put forward that the Irenaeus and Augustine were also particularly helpful in developing Christian notions of the depth and scope of sin and redemption. However, the author refers mainly to the reformational view point, seeing in the reformers a revitalization of Christian understanding that was lost for centuries. This is not an indictment or a critique of the content but rather a note on the limitation of its scope in terms of applying theological foundational content for the reader to digest.

A second weakness of the book is that the argument regarding structure and direction in the fifth chapter is marred by a discussion of terms that can mean similar things—but the author focuses on differentiating between definitions without explaining the purpose of this differentiation. He explains the distinction but then proceeds to refer to only one term throughout, neglecting the application of the other term that could be useful in elaborating or supporting the main argument. For instance, he focuses on the distinction between sanctification and consecration and argues that consecration is the preferred term because it aligns more with what Paul promotes as the scriptural worldview. But the reader is left wondering whether he should abandon the term consecration altogether.

The third weakness of the book is that when the author does take up the differing terms, as he does, again with consecration and sanctification, he does not give a convincing argument for why consecration cannot be involved in sanctification. If redemption is a process, as the author suggests, it should stand to reason that consecration may play some part in the inward movement of the soul toward correspondence with God’s grace. The author merely states that consecration does not provide the suitable meaning or structure for a reformational worldview.

Content and Conclusions

The content, overall, is engaging and the conclusions do follow logically upon the arguments presented, in spite of the weaknesses apparent in the emphasis of certain terms over others. It is particularly compelling when the author addresses the issue of societal renewal, which allows the reader to see how the book’s message can be applied to one’s modern life. For instance, the author explains that society must arrange itself in such a way that it conforms to the creational order established by God, which can be understood through a traditional reading of Scripture. This is an important point that helps to illustrate where modern social life deviates in its direction from God’s creational givens, and what modern must should do to reclaim creation.

The conclusions of the book help to reinforce the notion that a personal renewal is needed if one is going to tackle social renewal. He emphasizes in particular the need to ask, for instance, what parts of aggression are structural and what parts are directional. If one is to understand one’s human nature, one should understand that nature is a mixture of structural and directional inputs—the structural inputs are from God and the directional inputs are a result of sin. Therefore, instead of asking if an emotion is good or bad, it is better to ask what parts of it are an aspect of the design of creation and what aspects are an effect of sin. This helps to clarify not just the discussion of aggression but also how one should address all one’s habits of acting and thinking so as to facilitate an inward renewal in grace.