2012 Reviews and Articles

Book Review: Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining

Wyman, Jason

Building on the growing body of work examining the intersection of trauma, affect, memory, and theology, Shelly Rambo contributes Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining in which she makes the case for rethinking the Easter event in terms of the middle day, Holy Saturday, and the acts of witnessing and remaining. The book is both complex and well thought-out in its clear presentation as Rambo first introduces Trauma Studies and its history within psychology and literary studies, then moves through and expands the idea of witness, and finally brings the theology she wishes to present into focus with a pneumatological reimagining of Holy Saturday and love as theological norms. Rambo begins by situating us within the larger conversation in Trauma studies, positing that life-negating experiences of trauma issue a challenge to theology “to account for what exceeds death yet cannot be interpreted as new life.