Wrestling for Blessing by Marilyn McCord Adams Darton, Longman & Todd, London, 2005, ISBN 023252846. Rrp $34.95
Reviewed by Arthur Grimshaw
This is basically, a collection of sermons from Marilyn McCord Adams, currently Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University—gathered as reflections relating to people who find God’s goodness problematic.
Most of these had their expression in the United States of America, as may be seen from some of the special commemorative days at which she preached—such as Gay Pride Sunday, and Coming Out Day. These observances are not currently defined in either English or Australian Calendars, but the wisdom contained in the sermons is still appropriately on offer. For this reviewer, the book’s most valuable and helpful section is the 17-page introduction by the author, apparently after her appointment to Oxford, which sets the sermons in context. This essay ought to be required reading for theological students.
Some people in skimming through the contents of this volume might dismiss them as “hobby-horse” sermons, but that would be a pity, for they are eloquent addresses directed to important issues in today’s world—issues which need to be confronted and not pushed aside.
The theme of Jacob’s wrestling with the angel, chosen as the title for the collection, is a reminder that the theological process involves a real conflict of mind and will, in order to interpret God’s truth in contemporary terms for today’s world.
Professor Adams shows a real concern for what she describes as people “church-damaged and battered by life”. These sermons, by their focus and lucid exposition, are a very helpful resource for church folk (clergy and laity) in their ministry to the alienated and hurt. The reason for their publication in England in 2005 may indicate a perceived need for such sermons to be readily available to people who may not have been exposed to such teaching hitherto. In her choice of language (as one might expect of a leading academic) the author’s political correctness in dealing with gender ascriptions to God is sometimes distracting—as in the following: “Father-Mother God identifies herself as parent only in relation to his offspring who recognises itself as Deity in response” (pp 38-39).