in All things

If your favorite band were suddenly erased from the memory of the world, could you recall their lyrics accurately enough to do them justice on the world stage—and more importantly, would you dare?

The week of the El Paso shooting, my son asked why the flags were not being flown at the top of the pole. It was a hard parenting moment.

Hart’s argument is forceful, analytically clear, and compelling, in that it begins where theology should properly begin: with God. I offer this commendation of Hart’s work not as a commendation of his conclusions, for four reasons which remain unanswered, and to my mind, must be accounted for. The second part of this review discusses these concerns.

The framing of the book is important, because it shifts the question away from moral agency, the analytical justice of God’s behavior, and biblical hermeneutics of the afterlife, and toward one singular question: the nature of God as the creator of all that is.