TRINJ27NS (2006) 165-182

BOOK REVIEWS
Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia C. Keesmaat. Colossians Remixed: Subverting the
Empire. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2004.233 pp. $22.00.
This venturesome book offers a bold attempt to position Paul's Epistle
to the Colossians as a text uniquely suited to postmodern readers. The
authors, inspired by the "allergic reaction to Paul's kind of rhetoric" (p. 116)
that sometimes takes place among people living in contemporary Western
culture, engage their task in an aggressive and comprehensive manner. In
their view the church in the West is deeply embedded in an empire of
individualistic consumerism, fueled by global capitalism, and ruled by strict
economic and militaristic control. This contemporary setting can be
compared with the ancient Roman Empire, where centralized power once in
the hands of the Emperor now resides in the offices of the World Bank and
the IMF. The book is ultimately an "exercise in hermeneutics" (p. 226), and
the authors employ a hermeneutic that stresses the need to hear the NT with
OT ears and to see the biblical story as living in the face of empire.
The book consists of two sections, Truth Remixed and Praxis Remixed.
The author's foray into the territory of "truth" may be uncomfortable for
more conservative readers, yet in an honest attempt at reconciling the
dictates of Colossians with the concerns of postmodern readers they propose
a "dialectical approach" to truth which contrasts the "binary opposition
between 'truth' and 'suspicion'" (p. 107). Rather than seeing these as
irreconcilable, they are posited as conversation partners which function as
necessary mechanisms for enlightenment. Further, the "truth" of Colossians
is not found in its rhetorical claims but in the fruit that it bears in the life of a
community who embraces it.
In the section Praxis Remixed the authors argue for the need for an
alternative worldview and an ethic that challenges the prevailing mentality
of corporate culture. They condemn the current cultural accommodation of
the North American church and stress an ethic of succession that leads
Christians to see themselves as distinct, part of the living expression of
God's story created to express the riches of Christ to the world. The authors
make a thorough and cogent case for their reading of Colossians. At times
they may be accused of stretching the text to make their point, even
admitting at one point that their argument may be slightly oblique, but is in
the text if "you have ears to hear." This suggests that it demands a certain
vantage point in order to see the text as they want the reader to see it
(although this is true for most exegetical positions). Also, their
hermeneutical approach relies heavily on setting the Colossian teaching in
its ancient context, critiquing the legitimacy of ancient approaches, and
reinterpreting them in light of more contemporary norms. The book is a
thoroughly engaging study of the biblical text. Various creative methods
such as story, Targum, and conversation help to effectively present the
authors' commentary on the text.

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The idea of "remixing" is a musical term used to give new life to an old
song. This book is a definite attempt to "remix" the Colossian treatise and
give it a fresh voice in today's North American church. Teachers and
preachers interested in wrestling with how the gospel can radically connect
with emerging generations of churched and unchurched people will find
much to think about in the pages of Colossians Remixed. While the approach
and conclusions of the authors may not make everyone feel comfortable,
their voice is worth listening to, not only because it may well stimulate one's
thinking, but because it represents a genuine attempt at postmodern biblical
studies. To ignore it is to ignore an emerging voice of the future.
Lee Beach
McMaster Divinity College
Marguerite Shuster. The Fall and Sin: What We Have Become As Sinners. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004. xii + 280 pp. $30.00.
In The Fall and Sin, the third volume in the theology series begun by
Paul K. Jewett, Maguerite Shuster sets out to provide a basically Reformed
look at the doctrine of sin, though one nuanced through dialogue with other
theological perspectives. As the title suggests, Shuster divides her work into
two parts: "The Fall of Humankind" and "The Doctrine of Sin." The first
part comprises five chapters outlining her understanding of the fall as
humanity's freely chosen, though absurd, rejection of its covenantal
relationship with God, resulting in universal corruption, guilt, and death. In
the second part, she devotes five chapters to defining the nature, origin, and
transmission of sin as well as its relationship to human freedom and civil
righteousness.
A well-written and engaging piece of theological discourse, The Fall and
Sin makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing task of understanding the
nature of human existence in a state pervasively characterized by sin,
suffering, and evil. Shuster's work is thus characterized by a number of
prominent strengths. First, throughout The Fall and Sin, Shuster manifests a
keen sensitivity for the irrationality, absurdity, and heinous reality of sin,
evil, and suffering in the worldarguing convincingly that any attempt to
provide a systematic explanation of sin serves only to justify and,
consequently, mitigate its terrible reality. Second, nowhere does her
presentation slip into an abstract consideration of "big" sins. Instead, she
continually directs the reader's attention to the reality of sin in everyday life
and, consequently, the depth of the reader's own capacity for sin. Third, like
most contemporary Reformed theologians, Shuster presents a refined
understanding of total depravity. Thus, while she affirms that sin
pervasively marks all human endeavors and attitudes, she also emphasizes
the truly significant actions and endeavors of which humans are capable.
And fourth, Shuster provides highly nuanced treatments of the relationship
between physical death and the significance of sexual and racial sins,
viewing these topics as vital components of any fully developed
understanding of sin.
There are, nonetheless, a few areas in which The Fall and Sin is less
satisfying. First, though she does a fine job presenting the problems
involved in addressing the time, location, and participants of the fall, her
proposed solutions are somewhat ambiguous and risk leaving the reader

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