COVENANT AND ESCHATOLOGY: THE DIVINE DRAMA. By Michael S.

Horton. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. Pp. iii + 351. ISBN

0-664-22501-2.

If the necessary condition for doing contemporary theology is a subscription to

nonfoundationalism, then we can find no better resource than the early

nonfoundationalist theologies of Protestant scholasticism. This is the provocative

thesis offered by Horton in this opening act of a larger systematic project.

Demonstrating why the label of “Protestant scholasticism” is a misnomer, Horton

draws from the well of post-Reformation dogmatics (embodied in the work of

Turretin and developed in the biblical theology of Vos) in order to respond to a

very contemporary situation of theology—whether it be construed as “post-

liberal” or “postmodern.” Conversant with both current movements in theology

(particularly the postliberalism of Frei and Lindbeck) and philosophy

(particularly the hermeneutics of Gadamer, Ricoeur, and Wolterstorff), Horton

offers a fresh, original way into theology in this prolegomena volume. In

particular, he wants to revive the “drama of redemption” as a methodological

framework that grows out of the “topic” of theology itself—the Scriptures, which

tell the story of a covenant people awaiting in hope the consummation of the

story. Thus Horton offers a theology that integrates systematics and biblical

theology, demonstrating that authentic theology can only be biblical. Further, he

seeks to demonstrate that a confessional theology rooted in the particularity of a

covenant community is viable in (and perhaps because of) the situation of

postmodernity. In sum, Covenant and Eschatology—whose provenance in

Westminster might be a surprise to some—signals the launch of a theological

project which could revitalize confessional, even “evangelical,” Reformed

theology.

James K.A. Smith

Calvin College