Christopher Watkin. Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Culture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2022.
This latest work by Christopher Watkin, Senior Lecturer in French Studies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, offers a temptingly innovative look into the convergence between sociology, theology, and Christian worldview. Written from the perspective of a sociologist, the work finds itself in a self-aware Augustinian mode, attempting to implement a critical cultural analysis from the perspective of a diachronic biblical analysis in a modern echo of City of God (pp. 25–26, 31). Beginning with Genesis and Creation and proceeding through the canon to Revelation and eschatology, Watkin attempts to apply biblical categories of theology, ethics, morality, and culture as a solvent to contemporary ideological quagmires, with a view particularly toward overcoming polarizations or radicalizations of thought. This is what Watkin will refer to repeatedly as “diagonalization,” defined as a “move of cutting across and rearranging false cultural dichotomies” (p. 15), which lends a certain dose of temperance to his analysis and which allows him to move with agility to through the otherwise sticky wickets of contemporary controversies.
The work is laudable on several accounts. First, Watkin lends a much-needed element of moderation to various hot-button issues. For example, his view of oppressed and oppressor dynamics is helpfully tempered by an appeal to Scripture and tradition in order to find the grain of truth expressed in both sides of the debate (pp. 107–132). Second, written in a format accessible to layperson and scholar alike, Watkin has given his project a broad appeal and elastic usage, particularly with regard to his study questions near the end of each chapter. Third, and related to the second, the work is clear and lucid, especially in its implementation of graphics and charts that help the author visualize content that could otherwise be considered abstruse. Finally, the mere fact of the depth of his coverage of topics and issues from a biblical perspective makes it a book to be reckoned with, demonstrating an impressive mastery of related interdisciplinary sources from Tim Keller to Umberto Eco to Friedrich Nietzsche.
Several questions arise from the book that bear consideration. The first is related to the style and depth of Watkin’s writing. Although the format of the book seems to be directed toward a broad audience, which is helpful in terms of breadth of reception, the actual substance of the book may prove to be a sort of tertium quid, too esoteric for the average person, yet not academic enough for the classroom. One can hardly picture members of a Sunday night Bible study sitting down to study it, nor, for that matter, a seminary classroom; as such, the appropriate audience might be somewhere in the middle, limiting the range of readers from what was intended. A second concern is the lens of diagonalization through which Watkin views contemporary issues: one gets the impression that the concern for moderation may override his analysis of positions and issues, and at times his construal of both positions in a debate, or even the biblical or theological middle-ground, comes across as reductive. Although moderation is admirable in worldview discourse, at times one wonders if Watkin has overstepped being moderately moderate into extreme moderation. Finally, the canonical organization of the book and its various topics could prove to be unnavigable for many who want quick access to subjects.
Has Watkin succeeded in authoring a 21st century City of God? Only time will tell. For now, the work proves to be a substantial and valuable engagement that every seminary professor or student of theology would do well to have in their collection as a touchstone for contemporary debate as it intersects Bible and theology. The work thus finds great practical value in the life of both church and academy as a clear consolidation of positions illuminated by the mirror of Scripture.
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