Forbearance: A Theological Ethic for a Disagreeable Church, James Calvin Davis, Eerdmans, 2017 (ISBN 978-0-8028-7510-5), xiv + 226 pp., pb $25

This work by James Calvin Davis, Professor of Religion at MiddleburyCollege, endeavors to apply an antiseptic to the vitriolic climate which characterizes the church, and fissures his own Presbyterian tradition. The reader should know from the start that the ‘disagreeable church’ named by the title is confined to the American Protestant church, a focus which continues Davis’ interest in the intersection between American political and religious life. In mind are the classical conservative/liberal splits which rend both the American political spectrum and ecclesial life. This limits his audience but sharpens Davis’ address as he seeks to present biblical wisdom heavily animated by the virtue ethics tradition as a means to navigate contemporary theological disagreement. The resulting admonition is, in short, maybe you are not right, and even if you are, maybe something else matters more.