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 PrintableVersion A Long Way East of EdenDaring depth and scopeA LONG WAY EAST OF EDEN For many Christians, 'deconstructionism' is a dirty word of the worst order - it conjures up nightmarish images of enemies of truth like Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault. There is, however, such a thing as sanctified deconstructionism that the Bible fully endorses. It lay at the heart of the ministry of Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah who was told to 'uproot and tear down' before he could 'plant and build' through God's Word. It is an element of authentic ministry that carries through into the New Testament and that continues to be a crying need in every generation for those who minister the Word of God, whether by personal testimony or public proclamation. It is just that kind of ministry that emerges in the pages of this book. Its author, formerly an IFES worker and editor of a major student magazine, is well qualified to handle the material that it covers, both in terms of content and, not insignificantly, also in style and presentation - both of which make it a book for 21st-century believers and agnostics alike. The book begins with the premise that all the symptoms of the malaise of our world can be traced back to one source: the 'death of God' culture that has come to reign - especially in the western world. In a way that is breath-takingly comprehensive, Lowman then takes us through five detailed chapters that deal with identity, purpose, ethics, truth and love without God. With illustrations, quotations and references from the high-brow to the banal - from Sartre to the Spice Girls - he makes his case with almost irrefutable incisiveness and force. Woven through this, in a way that naturally answers the self-created void of post-modernity, are references to the unfolding drama of redemptive history as told in the pages of the Bible. Perhaps especially noteworthy is the way he charts the 'trickle-down effect' of ideas that are conceived in the remote ivory towers of academia, but which all too quickly are born into the everyday life of all kinds of ordinary people with devastating consequences. There is far more here, however, than just a chronicle of despair in the demise of contemporary spirituality and culture. The last three chapters take us to the God-given answer to these issues as found in Scripture. The chapter entitled 'One by one our gods have failed us' shows how the end of the 20th century marked 'the end of a century of dreams' and, even within the context of history of western thought, stands in contrast to the 'dialogue of visions' that characterised the centuries that preceded it. This paves the way for a chapter entitled 'Roots' that takes us, not surprisingly, into the book of Genesis where we realise what 'A long way East of Eden' really means. Then the final chapter entitled 'Transformation' brings us face to face with Jesus and the gospel. In a book with such daring depth and scope there are inevitably typological glitches - such as a quotation from Andrew Motion (instead of Morton), page 220, as well as aspects of analysis, theology and interpretation that are open to debate (though some of these are very helpfully discussed in footnotes). But that in no sense detracts from the enormous stimulus that it contains. It is not, as they say, 'a book for the fainthearted'. But perhaps part of the reason why the church of our day is in such a mess and has lost the cutting edge of gospel application is because too many of us have been just that and have not read enough books like this. Mark Johnston,
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