DECEMBER 2005

BOOK REVIEWS

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theory about the collection of Paul's letters (chap. 14), though, as he admits, Paul did
not mention retaining copies of his letters (p. 214), and one wonders too why Paul would
have retained copies of most (p. 223), rather than all, of them.
Two areas of Richards's study that should prove controversial are his theory of
authorized non-Pauline insertions (pp. 106-8; chap. 7) and the scope of inspiration that
he extends to the entire letter-writing process (chap. 15). While I do notfindthese views
persuasive as expressed, Richard's overall study is a welcome and accessible contribution
to Pauline and epistolary studies. It contains a wealth of materialincluding primary
sources, photos, and helpful chartsthat effectively sets Paul and his letters against
the backdrop of first-century letter writing conventions.
James P. Sweeney
Immanuel Church, Chelmsford, MA

Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire. Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia C. Keesmaat.
Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2004, 256 pp., $22.00 paper.
This is not a commentary; in fact, it is labeled by the authors "an anti-commentary"
(p. 7). Colossians Remixed summarizes the message, both explicit and implicit, of Paul
and suggests applications to contemporary culture. The thesis of the book is that Paul
wrote to tell the Colossian believers how they could live a life with the values of the
kingdom of Christ in the midst of the cultural values of the Roman Empire. This
sets the theme of living a counter-cultural lifestyle against a pagan-dominated culture.
Colossians is seen as "an explosive and subversive tract" (p. 7). Since I work in education and apologetics and applying theology to life, I began the book with hope. There
is much to commend in this book and much I find objectionable.
There is a great deal in the specific development of this book that I admire. We are
called to live with the values of the kingdom. We are to live out the reality of Christ in
the midst of either anti-Christian values or values that can be neutral or hostile toward
the Christian faith. We are to care for the oppressed and the hungry and the homeless.
We are to help people to become self-sufficientat least in a community. Here is a reading of Colossians that places it as a call to live differently in a pagan world. Many examples are given of anti-Christian behavior then and now along with suggestions of
ways to escape from being participants in the promulgation of these values. For example,
slavery may have been tolerated, even embraced in the empire, but we are to live as
if all are free in Christ. Biblical values and teaching about Christ and his kingdom are
regularly lifted up and embraced.
The use of a practice somewhat like the ancient Jewish targuma running commentary and applicationis frequent, both to create a sense of the context of the Colossian community and to show possibilities of application within Christian community
today. The authors begin with "our questions," which they bring to the text.
However, the techniques used are problematic: a post-modern hermeneutic, a relativistic interpretative stance, a set of counter-cultural values based on Jesus' spiritual
kingdom, criticism of imperial symbolism (applied to McDonalds and the U.S. government), meta-narratives, multiple discourses, and suggestions of meanings that are
never explicit in the text. The last two chapters call the approach an ecological interpretation. The authors suggest that Paul composed his poem "with the goal of providing
alternative images for a subversive imagination" (p. 84). Any aspect of life (government, business, or church) that intends to dominate or control is seen as an enemy of
the Christian. "The church today is more enculturated, more taken captive by the

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dominant culture, more comfortable in the empire, than that radical group of young
converts in the first century" (p. 93).
The suggested "implied" message is rarely present in the biblical text. The targum
readings create a context, and the authors then interpret the Bible in light of their
questions and the created context. The authors say that the city of Colossae was destroyed in AD 64-65 and has never been excavated. Yet many specific examples are
given of what life might have been like in the city. The book says that the Colossians
were called by Paul to act in ways directly subversive to the values of the Roman Empire
and that this would have been clear to them.
There are repeated overstatements. For example, the authors state, "To begin with,
let's note that global capitalism is the most recent (and most virulent) chapter in a story
that has its roots in the age of discovery, the industrial revolution and the Enlightenment. . . . Now this grand tale of progress is a myth that requires faith at the best of
times, but especially when none of its promises have been realized" (p. 30). Has nothing
in globalism or capitalism done anything good for people?
This brings us to public schools: "where our children are trained to be obedient to
the authority of the empire" (p. 215). "Handing our children over to the captivity of the
empire actually allows the empire to provoke them to become dutiful subjects, obedient
consumers who have lost the heart for any kind of resistance. This is our deepest suspicion of mass, mandatory and state-controlled education" (p. 215).
The authors seem to give up on the power of Christ to work through Christians in
the business, governmental, and educational communities of society. A better path is
to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ, help them learn to think and act with Christian
values, and enlist them to reach others. The ongoing development of spiritual movements depends on the power of Christ to help us redeem social practices and structures,
not write them off as lost and build alternative communities that are self-sufficient, so
that we do not have to shop at grocery stores (whose food comes from impoverished
peoples overseas; pp. 190-91), buy clothes at Wal-Mart (and help enslave sweatshop
workers; p. 213), or eat fast food (which supports the worst alienation of community life;
p. 215).
I hear a different conclusion when I travel overseas. Many people are waiting for
the economic and technological benefits they see in the U.S. and Europe. A pastor in
Ecuador told me how beneficial it is for his congregation to have the Internet. "We see
more people coming to Christ, more Christians growing in Christ, and for the first time
the real possibility of lifting our city and our country out of the morass that our elite
leaders have kept us in for 200 years." Can we be "pro"-Christian values and still make
use of business, technology, government, and education? The answer clearly is "yes,"
with a warning not to allow ourselves to be subverted by un-Christian values along the
way. Christianity has existed and flourished in many different cultures.
This book rightly criticizes the inconsistencies and limits of the post-modern approach
to life and philosophy (pp. 21-26). Why then adopt a post-modern hermeneutical method
that delivers "betrayal" (p. 12)? Being sensitive to the cultural values of both modernism
and postmodernism can help us do better exegesis and provide better personal and social
application. However, adopting a methodology that belongs to the postmodern age is not
the solution to the issue of proper engagement.
This book is a challenge to think in kingdom terms and values and reach out to
people trapped between modernism and postmodernism. It uplifts the spiritual and
moral values of the Bible. However, in the end it gives away too much and ends on a
note of retreat and isolation.
Stephen M. Clinton
The Orlando Institute, Orlando, FL

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