Ortlund presents Augustine on creation as calling the reader to wonder and humility before the Creator. Augustine's ancient exegesis and theological prowess is deployed to evoke openness and flexibility on fraught issues. Ortlund wishes to complicate the oversimplified relation of Scripture and science; he wishes to deepen ‘plain reading’, to check contemporary intuitions and to ease present anxieties. This is directed to ‘current controversy’ as the book's subtitle suggests – and the intended audience is very much the United States evangelical, who is already seated at the table and mid-conversation. This is fitting for the Creation Project that facilitated this research and publication. The custom tailoring of the presentation is a strength. However, the targeted nature of the work also means that translation will be required to apply it in other contexts.
Rebekah Earnshaw
Assistant Professor of Theology, Dordt College
International Journal of Systematic Theology 24, no 1 (2022): 122–124.
Ortlund's book will be helpful to all Christians who desire to learn more about the creation-evolution debate, to know how to dialogue with fellow Christians on the matter, and to be equipped to dialogue with secular evolutionary theory from a place from a place of theological conviction. Pastors, university students, and Christians engaged in the sciences will find the book particularly helpful. I would recommend it for small group studies, adult Sunday school discussion, and theological classrooms. Otrlund models nuanced and patient dialogue, a valuable skill for all Christians to practice.
Megan C. Roberts
Professor of Old Testament, Prairie College
Bulletin of Biblical Research 31, no 4 (2021): 536–538.
[Ortlund's] thought-provoking book extracts Augustine's beliefs about Creation from his Confessions, The City of God, and his works on Genesis, in particular those aspects that relate to themes at issue in today's society. These perceived insights are then set beside and/or against those held and debated in, particularly, Christian and non-believer society, no reference being made to Jews or Judaism in the book.
Heather A. McKay
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 46, no 5 (2022): 159-160.
This work does not offer a dry recital of Augustine’s theological convictions; with pastoral care for the reader, Ortlund collates relevant passages from The Confessions, Augustine’s sermons, The City of God, The Freedom of the Will, and especially Augustine’s three books on Genesis. Ortlund’s approach is judicious, straightforward, humble, and easy to follow. His book exemplifies the evenhanded, thoughtful approach of Augustine.
Ralph Stearley
Professor Emeritus, Calvin College
Calvin Theological Journal 56, no 2 (2021): 335–341.
This text can easily be added into courses on theological anthropology, the doctrine of creation, current issues on science and the Bible, and can serve as a good conversation partner for those wishing to engage in the debate on evolution and historical Adam. While Ortlund does not presume expert knowledge of Augustine’s thought, a proper introduction to Augustine may be a pre-requisite before engaging this text. For the purpose it was intended to serve, Ortlund’s work is commendable and worthy of the reader’s time.
Coleman M. Ford
Assistant Professor of Humanities, Texas Baptist College
Southwestern Journal of Theology 65, no 1 (2022): 143-145.
[This] work has much to commend it: pithy writing, detailed analysis of a major theologian’s work, and a deep missionai engagement with modem issues of interest well beyond the theological guild. Ortlund moves Christians who broadly identify as evangelicals (as well as others) away from the obscurantism of fundamentalist readings of Genesis and toward a deeper understanding ofboth the biblical text and the doctrine of creation that draws upon it. His nuanced view of Augustine’s approach to the “literal” sense ofthe text is helpful as he shows that Augustine was both open to multiple interpretations of a text and willing to imagine that the ancient author intended at least some of them.
Mark W. Hamilton
Professor, Abilene Christian University
Restoration Quarterly 63, no 1 (2021): 54-56
This book will be an immense help for anyone desiring to understand the doctrine of creation from the viewpoint of evangelicalism. Ortlund doesn’t attempt to convince the reader of any particular view between young-earth, old-earth, and evolutionary creation. Instead, he shows how Augustine makes the latter two legitimate possibilities (with theological caveats that he continually brings into the conversation), and thus brings Christian sisters and brothers of various views together to the table with each other, and with Augustine.
Chet Harvey
Pastor of Discipleship, Hebron Church
Southeastern Theological Review 12, no 2 (2021): 112-114.
Ortlund reminds us of the import of bringing an author as influential and seemingly familiar-but really rather distant and difficult-as Augustine to a modern audience and, moreover, doing so without falling into the trap of simply appropriating the audience's ideas. By engaging Augustine's core set of ideas with integrity and appropriate attention to context, Ortlund helps identify and clarify Augustine's and clarify Augustine's contemporary significance.
Stanley Rosenberg
Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 73, no 3 (2021): 188-189.