Saving Wisdom: Theology in the Christian University by Brian W. Hughes

Abstract

89 BOOK REVIEWS bOOk rEvIEw Saving Wisdom: Theology in the Christian University. By Brian W. Hughes. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2011. Pages: xvi + 353. Paper: ISBN 978–1–60608–958–3. $41.00. Few individuals could have predicted the pervasive impact of George Marsden’s The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief (Oxford University Press,1994) on scholars and administrators in Christian higher education. While the rise of secularism in these institutions had been of concern since the late-nineteenth century, Marsden was able to paint a picture of the demise of religious identity that was initiated by committed people of faith who were swept up in the progressive spirit of modernity. The impact of this revelation was enough to make Protestants and Catholics alike rethink the religious identity of their colleges and universities with one result being a literature base concerning Christian higher education that is continuing to expand to this day. Despite the size and growing level of the sophistication of this literature base,the number of formal discussions concerning the role of theology in the university, in particular, is still relatively small. For example, a recent search only produced two volumes: David Ray Griffin and Joseph C. Hough (editors), Theology and the University:Essays in Honor of John B.Cobb, Jr. (SUNY Press,1991) and Darlene Bird and Simon G.Smith (editors.),Theology and Religious Studies in Higher Education: Global Perspectives (Continuum, 2009). As a result, Brian W. Hughes, an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Saint Mary (Kansas), is to be commended for tackling this critical topic. If theology is the Queen of the Sciences and is thus necessary to a universal and integrated understanding of knowledge, any Christian college or university needs to think through how theology is more than just another academic discipline. However, Hughes’ book proves to be more of an encyclopedic review of how four important theologians—Friedrich Schleiermacher, John Henry Newman, Avery Cardinal Dulles, and Edward Farley—approached this topic than a thoughtful reflection on how these thinkers offer the Christian university a way forward. Part of this disappointment stems from Hughes’ unfulfilled desire to “valuably illuminate options and implications about the future of theology in the university for the twenty-first century” (12). Hughes claims that he wants to go about doing so by offering a “comparative and critical exposition” of the thought of Schleiermacher, Newman, Dulles, and Farley. However, little to no comparative or critical language makes its way into this book.What does emerge and what proves to be somewhat of a surprising contribution is the way Hughes deduces the underlying soteriology driving the work of these four theologians. As a result, Hughes concludes his book by asserting that “Understanding theology as a kind of saving wisdom does clarify latent presuppositions that operate within diverse theological styles and underlie various appeals to the audiences of church, academy, and society” (324). While an interesting and arguably important contribution, it remains unclear how Hughes Newman Journal V9 Issue 1_Newman Journal V9 Issue 1 2/1/12 10:13 AM Page 89 NEWMAN STUDIES JOURNAL 90 moved from his initial argument to this final conclusion. Perhaps part of the problem is that the bulk of his book is long on overview and short on analysis. For the most part, Hughes’ book, as previously mentioned, is an encyclopedic review of the work of these four theologians. For example, Hughes commits two chapters apiece to exploring the work of Schleiermacher,Newman,and Dulles and one chapter to the work of Farley. In the case of the chapters concerning Schleiermacher, Newman, and Dulles, the first chapter deals with more introductory matters with the second chapter then focusing on methodological commitments. For example, the first of two chapters on Newman draws heavily from The Idea of a University and An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. Hughes seeks to“examine the conditions that legitimate theology as an academic discipline” according to Newman and then develop an understanding of Newman’s definition of theology (99). In the second chapter, Hughes explores Newman’s understanding of “(1) the nature of liberal knowledge as philosophical; (2) theology as servant...