Their rock is not like our rock : a theology of religions

494 Pages·2015·3.26 MB·English

by  Strange

Daniel Strange is one of the brightest and most articulate contemporary
theologians in the Reformational tradition, and in Their Rock Is Not Like Our
Rock he provides a theology of religions which at once is theologically sound,
analytically rigorous and lucidly written. Highly recommended.
Bruce Riley Ashford, Provost and Dean of Faculty, Southeastern Baptist
Theological Seminary
Dan Strange has written what will become both an important textbook in the
theology of religions and one of the most incisive and original contributions to
the recent debate. His biblical Reformed tradition is employed to rigorously
address complex questions about religious pluralism and his answers are
uncompromising, challenging and deeply christological. His prose is a delight
and this book is accessible to both trained theologians and the novice. Miss it at
your peril.
Gavin D’Costa, Professor of Catholic Theology, University of Bristol
Deeply learned, theologically solid, well-informed in anthropology, this riveting
study will guide the reader into the best ways to evaluate the religions of the
world. Standing on the shoulders of Hendrik Kraemer and J. H. Bavinck, Dr
Strange illuminates both the spiritual longings of people in different religions
and their need for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary
What might a robust, strongly Reformed theology of religions look like? . . .
Daniel Strange offers an important and provocative perspective that sees non-
Christian religions as idolatrous responses to God which are ‘subversively
fulfilled’ in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Harold Netland, Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Intercultural Studies
and Director of PhD Intercultural Studies, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Dan sets before us the Scriptures, viewed as a trustworthy record of God’s self-
revelation, that portray a decline in human understanding from creation rather
than an evolutionary development towards monotheism. . . . This is a book that
should be on the reading list of anyone concerned to see the nations become
disciples of the Lord Jesus.
Ray Porter, Chair of Global Connections (Evangelical Mission Association)
Dr Strange takes his readers down paths rarely explored in the study of world
religions. . . . He embraces the reality that neither he, nor anyone else, can
evaluate any human religion as a disengaged bystander. After explaining his own
evaluate any human religion as a disengaged bystander. After explaining his own
commitments as a follower of Christ, Dr Strange explores how Christians can
engage other religions while remaining faithful to their own beliefs. His
presentation is scholarly, but easily understood. It is theoretical, but thoroughly
practical. You won’t be disappointed.
Richard Pratt, President of Third Millennium Ministries (thirdmill.org)
Thoughtful, nuanced and biblically faithful evaluations on the role of other
religions are unfortunately rare. Strange fills an important gap by offering us a
bold but humble perspective on other religions, repristinating the thought of J. H.
Bavinck and Hendrik Kraemer for a new day. . . . Even those who are not
Reformed or entirely convinced will be challenged and provoked and helped by
Strange’s contribution. . . . This crucially important book should be read by
missionaries, professors, pastors, and all those who teach the word of God and
who long to see God’s name praised among the nations.
Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament
Interpretation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

ZONDERVAN
Their Rock Is Not Like Our Rock
Copyright © 2014 by Daniel Strange
First published in 2014 by Apollos (an imprint of Inter-Varsity Press) in the United Kingdom under the title For Their Rock Is Not As
Our Rock (ISBN 1-78359-100-5)
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546
ePub Edition © December 2014: ISBN 978-0-310-52078-8
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a
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Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Anglicized edition, copyright © 1989,
1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
Quotations from Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, volumes 1, 2 and 3 (© 2003, 2004 and 2006 by the Dutch Reformed
Translation Society, published by Baker Academic), used by permission of the Baker Publishing Group.
Quotations from Gerald McDermott, Jonathan Edwards Confronts the Gods: Christian Theology, Enlightenment Religion, and the
Non-Christian Faiths (Oxford University Press, 2000), used by permission of the publisher.
Quotations from Mark Kreitzer, The Concept of Ethnicity in the Bible (London: Edwin Mellen, 2008), are by the permission of the
publisher.
Quotations from Cornelius Van Til, An Introduction to Systematic Theology (ISBN 978-0-87552-488-7), used with permission of P &
R Publishing Co., P.O. Box 817, Phillipsburg, N.J. 08865, www.prpbooks.com.
Quotations from Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments, are by permission of The Banner of Truth Trust.
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Cover design: Tammy Johnson

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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Autobiographical prologue
Abbreviations
1. The task before us: Christians in a world of the religious Other
Introduction
1. Describing the tasks of an evangelical theology of religions
2. Delineating the task of this study
3. Declaring the thesis and method of this study
a. My theology of religions stated
b. The elephant speaks: theological method
Conclusion
2. Homo adorans: Reformed theological foundations for interpreting the
religious Other
Introduction: on not reinventing the religious wheel
1. Creation: the Creator–creature distinction and the imago Dei
a. ‘And God said . . . and it was so’: the independent creator
b. ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness . . .’: the
dependent creation
i. The revelational
ii. The relational
iii. The representational
2. The fall: de-creation and ‘false faith’
3. The promise of redemption: antithesis and restraint
a. The pronouncement of salvation: the protoevangelium
b. The pronouncement of separation: the doctrine of ‘the antithesis’
c. The pronouncement of long-suffering: the doctrine of common
grace
Conclusion: Homo adorans–a complex anthropological mix
3. The curious case of remnantal revelation: gleanings on the origins of
the religious Other
Introduction
1. The case for remnantal revelation
a. Remnantal revelation in Van Til
b. Remnantal revelation in H. Bavinck
2. Support for remnantal revelation
a. The prisca theologia and comparative mythology
b. Wilhelm Schmidt and original monotheism
Summary
4. Towards a religio-genesis: Babel and the nations in the development of
the religious Other
Introduction
1. Babel and the origin of religious diversity
a. Reformed historical precedent
i. Franz Delitzsch
ii. C. A. Auberlen
iii. Robert Candlish
iv. H. Bavinck
b. Contemporary treatments
i. Meredith Kline
ii. James Jordan
iii. James Montgomery Boice
2. Evaluation and synthesis
Conclusion
5. No other gods before me: the idolatry of the religious Other in the Old
Testament
Introduction
1. An open-and-shut case or an open verdict? Pluralisms and
presuppositions in the study of Old Testament attitudes to the religious
Other
a. Enlightenment monotheism versus Yahweh’s transcendent
uniqueness
b. Prescription versus description
c. Divine exploitation without divine assent
d. Religious devolution versus evolution
2. Problems and perplexities in Old Testament attitudes towards the
religious Other
a. Ecumenical bonhomie? The ‘problem’ of patriarchal religion
b. Interim acceptance?
c. Evaluation and critique
i. Promise and fulfilment
ii. Morality and worship
iii. The divine name
iv. Melchizedek
v. Interim acceptance
3. Idolatry as the primary Old Testament categorization of the religious
Other
a. The composition of idols and idolatry
b. The characteristics of idols and idolatry
c. The consequences of idols and idolatry
Conclusion
6. The perilous exchange: the idolatry of the religious Other in the New
Testament
Introduction
1. Jesus Christ our Lord
a. Jesus’ transcendent uniqueness
b. ‘False faith’ in the Son
c. The character of Jesus’ work
d. The necessity of faith in Christ for salvation
e. The Logos, and the ‘times of ignorance’
i. John 1:9
ii. The ‘times of ignorance’
2. The perilous exchange
a. A clear and present revelation
b. The ‘perilous exchange’
i. Suppression
ii. Substitution
Conclusion
7. ‘For their rock is not as our rock’: the gospel as the ‘subversive
fulfilment’ of the religious Other
Introduction
1. Defining other religions as idolatrous interprets them as antithetical
distortions of divine revelation
2. Defining other religions as idolatrous acknowledges their pseudo-
similarity to, and false counterfeiting of, true divine revelation
a. ‘Imaginal’ revelation
i. The object of idolatrous religion
ii. The structure of idolatrous religion
iii. The content of idolatrous religion
b. ‘Remnantal’ revelation
c. ‘Influental’ revelation
d. ‘Demonic’ revelation
Summary
3. Defining other religions as idolatrous recognizes the reality of demonic
deception behind them
a. The ‘dark margin’
b. Demonic identity and co-option
4. Defining the other religions as idolatrous interprets the gospel of Jesus
Christ as being their ‘subversive fulfilment’
a. The gospel as subversion
b. The gospel as fulfilment
Conclusion
8. ‘A light for the Gentiles’: missiological implications of ‘subversive
fulfilment’
Introduction
1. A brief mission statement
a. The motivation for mission
b. The comprehensiveness of mission
c. The ultimacy of evangelism in mission
d. The elenctic task of mission
2. The nature of contextualization in mission
a. Missional theologizing
b. Ecclesial theologizing
3. Paul at the Areopagus: ‘subversive fulfilment’ par excellence
4. A contemporary example of subversive fulfilment (Sunni Islam)
Conclusion: the church as a subversive-fulfilment community