Beth Felker Jones
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309812
- eISBN:
- 9780199785353
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309812.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book articulates a Christian theology of the body in light of both the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the ethical concerns of feminism. In conversation with Augustine and Calvin, ...
More
This book articulates a Christian theology of the body in light of both the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the ethical concerns of feminism. In conversation with Augustine and Calvin, the book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of their theologies of the body and shows how the Christian tradition contains resources for conceptualizing a theology of the body as it coheres with resurrection doctrine. Beginning with eschatology, rather than creation, allows the book to address the disorder of bodies under the condition of sin while offering a constructive proposal for understanding the redeemed body through Christology. The book proposes a grammar in which human psychosomatic unity becomes the conceptual basis for sanctification. Using gender as an illustration, it interrogates the difference resurrection doctrine makes for holiness. The last part of the book suggests that access to human bodies comes through the body of Jesus Christ. Because death has been overcome in his resurrected body, human embodiment can bear witness to the Triune God.Less
This book articulates a Christian theology of the body in light of both the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the ethical concerns of feminism. In conversation with Augustine and Calvin, the book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of their theologies of the body and shows how the Christian tradition contains resources for conceptualizing a theology of the body as it coheres with resurrection doctrine. Beginning with eschatology, rather than creation, allows the book to address the disorder of bodies under the condition of sin while offering a constructive proposal for understanding the redeemed body through Christology. The book proposes a grammar in which human psychosomatic unity becomes the conceptual basis for sanctification. Using gender as an illustration, it interrogates the difference resurrection doctrine makes for holiness. The last part of the book suggests that access to human bodies comes through the body of Jesus Christ. Because death has been overcome in his resurrected body, human embodiment can bear witness to the Triune God.
Christopher Asprey
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199584703
- eISBN:
- 9780191723209
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199584703.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book provides a detailed examination of Karl Barth's theology during the time he was professor at the University of Göttingen (1921–6). The analysis draws on a variety of posthumously published ...
More
This book provides a detailed examination of Karl Barth's theology during the time he was professor at the University of Göttingen (1921–6). The analysis draws on a variety of posthumously published works by Barth (especially his academic lecture courses in dogmatics, exegesis, and historical theology), as well as on better known texts from the period, providing comparisons and contrasts with some of Barth's major contemporaries. A major task of the book is to examine in detail the Unterricht in der christlichen Religion (Göttingen Dogmatics), the only full dogmatics cycle Barth completed during his lifetime. A picture emerges of Barth's concerns during this period that is different from many other established accounts: rather than being ‘occasionalist’ or dualist, Barth's theology in the 1920s was characterised by an orientation towards the eschatological encounter between God and humankind. Barth's intention in the Göttingen Dogmatics was to introduce his students to their responsibility before the Word of God, all other theological topics then flowing towards or from the ‘dialogical’ moment of encounter between this Word and human beings. This reading is borne out by in-depth analyses of some of the major themes in the dogmatics: revelation, incarnation, resurrection, pneumatology, moral, and sacramental theology. While Barth's focus on the eschatological presence of God explains the freshness and immediacy of his writing in the 1920s, it is also shown at a number of points how this perspective generates various dilemmas in his theology, which remain unresolved during this period.Less
This book provides a detailed examination of Karl Barth's theology during the time he was professor at the University of Göttingen (1921–6). The analysis draws on a variety of posthumously published works by Barth (especially his academic lecture courses in dogmatics, exegesis, and historical theology), as well as on better known texts from the period, providing comparisons and contrasts with some of Barth's major contemporaries. A major task of the book is to examine in detail the Unterricht in der christlichen Religion (Göttingen Dogmatics), the only full dogmatics cycle Barth completed during his lifetime. A picture emerges of Barth's concerns during this period that is different from many other established accounts: rather than being ‘occasionalist’ or dualist, Barth's theology in the 1920s was characterised by an orientation towards the eschatological encounter between God and humankind. Barth's intention in the Göttingen Dogmatics was to introduce his students to their responsibility before the Word of God, all other theological topics then flowing towards or from the ‘dialogical’ moment of encounter between this Word and human beings. This reading is borne out by in-depth analyses of some of the major themes in the dogmatics: revelation, incarnation, resurrection, pneumatology, moral, and sacramental theology. While Barth's focus on the eschatological presence of God explains the freshness and immediacy of his writing in the 1920s, it is also shown at a number of points how this perspective generates various dilemmas in his theology, which remain unresolved during this period.
Byron L. Sherwin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195336238
- eISBN:
- 9780199868520
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336238.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Recent sociological studies have confirmed the persistence of profound internal challenges to the continuity of Judaism as a religion and to the Jews as a people. These challenges are eroding the ...
More
Recent sociological studies have confirmed the persistence of profound internal challenges to the continuity of Judaism as a religion and to the Jews as a people. These challenges are eroding the foundations of Jewish identity and are threatening the authenticity of Judaism as a historical living faith-tradition. This work “makes the case” for a return to Jewish theology as a means of restoring Jewish authenticity and for reversing self-destructive trends. After identifying and critiquing various “substitute faiths” embraced by many contemporary Jews in Chapters One and Two, the nature and goals of Jewish theology are examined (Chapter Three). Rather than depicting theology as “faith seeking understanding,” the chapters that follow present a comprehensive theology of Judaism, deeply rooted in classical Jewish texts, and an understanding of theology as “faith seeking meaning (Chapter Four). Rather than portraying theology, as often has been the case, as a systematic creed imposed from without, theology is presented here as an outcome of the dialogue between an individual's quest for meaning and the spiritual and intellectual resources of a historical faith-tradition—in this case, Judaism. Features of faith such as living in a covenantal relationship (Chapter Five), seeking a rendezvous with God in the self, the sacred word, the world, and the sacred and ethical deed, are offered as paths to individual meaning and to creating one's life as a work of art (Chapter Six), despite the challenges of evil and absurdity encountered in daily experience (Chapters Seven and Eight).Less
Recent sociological studies have confirmed the persistence of profound internal challenges to the continuity of Judaism as a religion and to the Jews as a people. These challenges are eroding the foundations of Jewish identity and are threatening the authenticity of Judaism as a historical living faith-tradition. This work “makes the case” for a return to Jewish theology as a means of restoring Jewish authenticity and for reversing self-destructive trends. After identifying and critiquing various “substitute faiths” embraced by many contemporary Jews in Chapters One and Two, the nature and goals of Jewish theology are examined (Chapter Three). Rather than depicting theology as “faith seeking understanding,” the chapters that follow present a comprehensive theology of Judaism, deeply rooted in classical Jewish texts, and an understanding of theology as “faith seeking meaning (Chapter Four). Rather than portraying theology, as often has been the case, as a systematic creed imposed from without, theology is presented here as an outcome of the dialogue between an individual's quest for meaning and the spiritual and intellectual resources of a historical faith-tradition—in this case, Judaism. Features of faith such as living in a covenantal relationship (Chapter Five), seeking a rendezvous with God in the self, the sacred word, the world, and the sacred and ethical deed, are offered as paths to individual meaning and to creating one's life as a work of art (Chapter Six), despite the challenges of evil and absurdity encountered in daily experience (Chapters Seven and Eight).
Steven J. Friesen
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195131536
- eISBN:
- 9780199834198
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195131533.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Examines the relationship between imperial cults and the Book of Revelation, focusing especially on the Roman province of Asia during the early Empire. The main argument is that Revelation and ...
More
Examines the relationship between imperial cults and the Book of Revelation, focusing especially on the Roman province of Asia during the early Empire. The main argument is that Revelation and imperial cult institutions were in direct contradiction regarding cosmology and eschatology. The exaggerated cosmology of imperial cult institutions resulted in an absurd eschatology – their emphasis on Roman imperial order was so strong that they could not envision an end to Roman rule. Revelation, on the other hand, denigrated all temporal authority and focused attention on the throne of God in heaven and the eschatological inauguration of the New Jerusalem. In this way, the author of Revelation produced one of humanity's great religious critiques of hegemony, a critique that attempted to establish and maintain a just community in the face of imperial oppression.Less
Examines the relationship between imperial cults and the Book of Revelation, focusing especially on the Roman province of Asia during the early Empire. The main argument is that Revelation and imperial cult institutions were in direct contradiction regarding cosmology and eschatology. The exaggerated cosmology of imperial cult institutions resulted in an absurd eschatology – their emphasis on Roman imperial order was so strong that they could not envision an end to Roman rule. Revelation, on the other hand, denigrated all temporal authority and focused attention on the throne of God in heaven and the eschatological inauguration of the New Jerusalem. In this way, the author of Revelation produced one of humanity's great religious critiques of hegemony, a critique that attempted to establish and maintain a just community in the face of imperial oppression.
Nicholas J. Healy
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199278367
- eISBN:
- 9780191603419
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199278369.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book represents a study of the meaning of "the end" in the writings of Hans Urs von Balthasar, that highlights both the originality and the fruitfulness of his vision of a reciprocal drama ...
More
This book represents a study of the meaning of "the end" in the writings of Hans Urs von Balthasar, that highlights both the originality and the fruitfulness of his vision of a reciprocal drama between God and the world. The argument of the book can be summed up simply: being -creaturely being and trinitarian being -unveils its final countenance as love in the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. After setting forth three basic problems inherent in Christian eschatology, Healy introduces Balthasar's trinitarian perspective: eschatology is concerned with the life of the Trinity, as revealed by Jesus Christ, and as the origin and final destiny of the whole created cosmos. The book presupposes that a critical engagement with Balthasar's thought requires attending to the original way he uses philosophy within theology. Thomas Aquinas' analogy of being, fulfilled in the person of Christ, is both the abiding precondition of, and is ultimately disclosed in, the drama between God and the world whose form takes shape within Christ's return to the Father. The ultimate form of the end, and thus the measure of all that is meant by eschatology, is given in Christ's eucharistic and pneumatic gift of himself - gift that simultaneously lays bare the mystery of the Trinity and enables Christ to "return" to the Father in communion with the whole of creation. Insofar as Christ reveals the trinitarian life and the mystery of creation in their dramatic interplay, he establishes the form of eschatology as a participation in God's engagement with the world. Under the sign of the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist, Christian eschatology involves a sharing in Christ's double movement into the world and, together with the world, into God. By developing the metaphysical dimensions of Balthasar's doctrine of the last things, Healy shows that his writings on the eschaton contain unexpected resources for the ecclesial renewal envisaged by the Second Vatican Council and its missionary opening to the world.Less
This book represents a study of the meaning of "the end" in the writings of Hans Urs von Balthasar, that highlights both the originality and the fruitfulness of his vision of a reciprocal drama between God and the world. The argument of the book can be summed up simply: being -creaturely being and trinitarian being -unveils its final countenance as love in the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. After setting forth three basic problems inherent in Christian eschatology, Healy introduces Balthasar's trinitarian perspective: eschatology is concerned with the life of the Trinity, as revealed by Jesus Christ, and as the origin and final destiny of the whole created cosmos. The book presupposes that a critical engagement with Balthasar's thought requires attending to the original way he uses philosophy within theology. Thomas Aquinas' analogy of being, fulfilled in the person of Christ, is both the abiding precondition of, and is ultimately disclosed in, the drama between God and the world whose form takes shape within Christ's return to the Father. The ultimate form of the end, and thus the measure of all that is meant by eschatology, is given in Christ's eucharistic and pneumatic gift of himself - gift that simultaneously lays bare the mystery of the Trinity and enables Christ to "return" to the Father in communion with the whole of creation. Insofar as Christ reveals the trinitarian life and the mystery of creation in their dramatic interplay, he establishes the form of eschatology as a participation in God's engagement with the world. Under the sign of the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist, Christian eschatology involves a sharing in Christ's double movement into the world and, together with the world, into God. By developing the metaphysical dimensions of Balthasar's doctrine of the last things, Healy shows that his writings on the eschaton contain unexpected resources for the ecclesial renewal envisaged by the Second Vatican Council and its missionary opening to the world.
Alan Scott
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263616
- eISBN:
- 9780191682612
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263616.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Philosophy of Religion
It was widely assumed by intellectuals from antiquity to the Middle Ages that the beauty and regularity of the heavens was a sign of their superior life. Through this belief the stars gained an ...
More
It was widely assumed by intellectuals from antiquity to the Middle Ages that the beauty and regularity of the heavens was a sign of their superior life. Through this belief the stars gained an important position in Greek religion, and speculations on their nature figured prominently in discussions of human psychology and eschatology. In the 3rd century AD the influential Christian theologian Origen included Hellenistic theories on the life and nature of the stars in his cosmology. This marked an interesting episode in the history of the idea, but it also had important implications for early Christian theology. Although he was condemned as heretical for these (and other) speculations, he was successful in incorporating traditional philosophical theories about the stars into a biblical theology.Less
It was widely assumed by intellectuals from antiquity to the Middle Ages that the beauty and regularity of the heavens was a sign of their superior life. Through this belief the stars gained an important position in Greek religion, and speculations on their nature figured prominently in discussions of human psychology and eschatology. In the 3rd century AD the influential Christian theologian Origen included Hellenistic theories on the life and nature of the stars in his cosmology. This marked an interesting episode in the history of the idea, but it also had important implications for early Christian theology. Although he was condemned as heretical for these (and other) speculations, he was successful in incorporating traditional philosophical theories about the stars into a biblical theology.
Rufus Black
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198270201
- eISBN:
- 9780191683947
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198270201.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book describes the shape of a Christian ethic that arises from a conversation between contemporary accounts of natural law theory, narrative, and virtue ethics; and an insistence that any ...
More
This book describes the shape of a Christian ethic that arises from a conversation between contemporary accounts of natural law theory, narrative, and virtue ethics; and an insistence that any Christian ethic begin with a distinctively Christian description of reality. The key partners in this conversation are the leading Christian ethicists, Germain Grisez, Stanley Hauerwas, and Oliver O'Donovan. The ethic that emerges from this conversation seeks to resolve the tensions in Christian ethics between creation and eschatology, narrative and natural law, objectivity and relativity, the cultivation of virtue, and a focus on the resolution of moral dilemmas. In defence of its philosophical foundations, this book argues that a thoroughly realist ethic can respect the logical claim that no ‘ought’ can be derived from ‘is’. The book moves from this analytic foundation to conclude that worship lies at the heart of a theologically grounded ethic whose central concern is the flourishing of the whole human person in community with both one another and God.Less
This book describes the shape of a Christian ethic that arises from a conversation between contemporary accounts of natural law theory, narrative, and virtue ethics; and an insistence that any Christian ethic begin with a distinctively Christian description of reality. The key partners in this conversation are the leading Christian ethicists, Germain Grisez, Stanley Hauerwas, and Oliver O'Donovan. The ethic that emerges from this conversation seeks to resolve the tensions in Christian ethics between creation and eschatology, narrative and natural law, objectivity and relativity, the cultivation of virtue, and a focus on the resolution of moral dilemmas. In defence of its philosophical foundations, this book argues that a thoroughly realist ethic can respect the logical claim that no ‘ought’ can be derived from ‘is’. The book moves from this analytic foundation to conclude that worship lies at the heart of a theologically grounded ethic whose central concern is the flourishing of the whole human person in community with both one another and God.
Melchisedec TÖrÖnen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296118
- eISBN:
- 9780191712258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296118.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Continues the sequence of the two previous chapters and discusses unity and diversity in Scripture. The Scripture is seen as a prism, an embodiment of the Logos, which makes the invisible Word ...
More
Continues the sequence of the two previous chapters and discusses unity and diversity in Scripture. The Scripture is seen as a prism, an embodiment of the Logos, which makes the invisible Word approachable. Eschatology comes to the forefront in this chapter, and so the Bible is taken as a vehicle which takes one from the multiplicity of the present age to the unity of the reality of the future Kingdom.Less
Continues the sequence of the two previous chapters and discusses unity and diversity in Scripture. The Scripture is seen as a prism, an embodiment of the Logos, which makes the invisible Word approachable. Eschatology comes to the forefront in this chapter, and so the Bible is taken as a vehicle which takes one from the multiplicity of the present age to the unity of the reality of the future Kingdom.
Arie Morgenstern
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195305784
- eISBN:
- 9780199784820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195305787.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Beginning in the 1820s, a symbiotic relationship prevailed between the Perushim and the Protestant missionaries active in the Land of Israel such as Joseph Wolf and the London Society for the ...
More
Beginning in the 1820s, a symbiotic relationship prevailed between the Perushim and the Protestant missionaries active in the Land of Israel such as Joseph Wolf and the London Society for the Promotion of Christianity Amongst the Jews. The missionaries saw the return of the Jews to the Promised Land as essential to the messianic process; the Perushim were happy to accept economic, medical, and other forms of material aid from the missionaries, and saw gentile involvement in the rebuilding of the land as part of the messianic process as they envisioned it. At the same time, there were tensions related to the missionaries’ efforts to convert the Jews. Matters grew more complex in the 1830s when the Perushim saw the enlightened, European (read: Christian)-style reign of Muhammad Ali as displacing to a degree the role of the Christian missionaries, and Jews and Christians throughout the world began to anticipate more intensely the fateful year of 1840. The atmosphere is vividly portrayed in Lehren’s correspondence. Ties between the Perushim’s leadership and the Christian missionaries were strengthened in the wake of the terrifying Damascus blood libel in March 1840, when the missionaries turned out to be the Jews’ only allies. At the same time, the missionaries increased their efforts to proselytize, taking steps as radical as the appointment of a Jewish convert as Anglican bishop in Jerusalem. The passing of 1840 without the Messiah’s appearance produced a crisis of faith, making many Jews more vulnerable to the missionaries’ efforts. Jewish writers (such as Aviezer of Ticktin) sought to play down the crisis, offering reasons for the Messiah’s delay.Less
Beginning in the 1820s, a symbiotic relationship prevailed between the Perushim and the Protestant missionaries active in the Land of Israel such as Joseph Wolf and the London Society for the Promotion of Christianity Amongst the Jews. The missionaries saw the return of the Jews to the Promised Land as essential to the messianic process; the Perushim were happy to accept economic, medical, and other forms of material aid from the missionaries, and saw gentile involvement in the rebuilding of the land as part of the messianic process as they envisioned it. At the same time, there were tensions related to the missionaries’ efforts to convert the Jews. Matters grew more complex in the 1830s when the Perushim saw the enlightened, European (read: Christian)-style reign of Muhammad Ali as displacing to a degree the role of the Christian missionaries, and Jews and Christians throughout the world began to anticipate more intensely the fateful year of 1840. The atmosphere is vividly portrayed in Lehren’s correspondence. Ties between the Perushim’s leadership and the Christian missionaries were strengthened in the wake of the terrifying Damascus blood libel in March 1840, when the missionaries turned out to be the Jews’ only allies. At the same time, the missionaries increased their efforts to proselytize, taking steps as radical as the appointment of a Jewish convert as Anglican bishop in Jerusalem. The passing of 1840 without the Messiah’s appearance produced a crisis of faith, making many Jews more vulnerable to the missionaries’ efforts. Jewish writers (such as Aviezer of Ticktin) sought to play down the crisis, offering reasons for the Messiah’s delay.
Ismo Dunderberg
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199284962
- eISBN:
- 9780191603785
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199284962.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter outlines the main positions in recent discussions related to the relationship between John and Thomas. It shows that the two gospels do share a number of theological convictions, which ...
More
This chapter outlines the main positions in recent discussions related to the relationship between John and Thomas. It shows that the two gospels do share a number of theological convictions, which make their comparison a meaningful task. The fact that they represent different literary genres should be carefully taken into account in analyzing them. In principle, it is possible that Thomas’ relationship to John varies from one saying to another.Less
This chapter outlines the main positions in recent discussions related to the relationship between John and Thomas. It shows that the two gospels do share a number of theological convictions, which make their comparison a meaningful task. The fact that they represent different literary genres should be carefully taken into account in analyzing them. In principle, it is possible that Thomas’ relationship to John varies from one saying to another.
Ara Paul Barsam
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195329551
- eISBN:
- 9780199870110
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329551.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Schweitzer's interest is not in mysticism per se, but only in “ethical mysticism”, that is, mysticism directed outwards towards the service of other suffering life. Christ ...
More
Schweitzer's interest is not in mysticism per se, but only in “ethical mysticism”, that is, mysticism directed outwards towards the service of other suffering life. Christ mysticism provides the entry into this new life of service and the heralding of a new creation. Chapter Five exposes the organic link for Schweitzer between eschatology and mysticism, particularly in his notion of “practical eschatology” which anticipates Karl Barth's account of the moral life in terms of an eschatological activism, and, even more recently, Jürgen Moltmann's use of the very term in his theology of hope.Less
Schweitzer's interest is not in mysticism per se, but only in “ethical mysticism”, that is, mysticism directed outwards towards the service of other suffering life. Christ mysticism provides the entry into this new life of service and the heralding of a new creation. Chapter Five exposes the organic link for Schweitzer between eschatology and mysticism, particularly in his notion of “practical eschatology” which anticipates Karl Barth's account of the moral life in terms of an eschatological activism, and, even more recently, Jürgen Moltmann's use of the very term in his theology of hope.
Francesca Aran Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199219285
- eISBN:
- 9780191711664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199219285.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Because of their descriptive cast, narrative theologies are oriented to considering the future as the most significant tense; they thus recoup the ancient Christian millennarian tradition, as it ...
More
Because of their descriptive cast, narrative theologies are oriented to considering the future as the most significant tense; they thus recoup the ancient Christian millennarian tradition, as it surfaces in, for instance, Joachim of Fiore. This focus on futurity indicates that the basic motivation in narrative theologies is the quest for scientific predictability. A philosophical theology which gives metaphysical status to the way in which scientific hypotheses are epistemically verified (in the future) is bound to say, with Hegel, that the truth of a proposition is what it becomes, just as the ‘truth’ of a story is its outcome. Rather than making God the epistemic outcome of human acts of knowledge or story-telling, this chapter proposes that God is a much livelier and energetic thing, love. The two foremost analogies of this dramatic love are tragedy and comedy. The book's thesis thus achieves the aim of narrative theologies to be true to the ‘God of the Gospel’ rather than the gods of our culture.Less
Because of their descriptive cast, narrative theologies are oriented to considering the future as the most significant tense; they thus recoup the ancient Christian millennarian tradition, as it surfaces in, for instance, Joachim of Fiore. This focus on futurity indicates that the basic motivation in narrative theologies is the quest for scientific predictability. A philosophical theology which gives metaphysical status to the way in which scientific hypotheses are epistemically verified (in the future) is bound to say, with Hegel, that the truth of a proposition is what it becomes, just as the ‘truth’ of a story is its outcome. Rather than making God the epistemic outcome of human acts of knowledge or story-telling, this chapter proposes that God is a much livelier and energetic thing, love. The two foremost analogies of this dramatic love are tragedy and comedy. The book's thesis thus achieves the aim of narrative theologies to be true to the ‘God of the Gospel’ rather than the gods of our culture.
Beth Felker Jones
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309812
- eISBN:
- 9780199785353
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309812.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter presents a constructive proposal about the theology of the body understood through the doctrine of the resurrection. Using gender as a key illustration, the chapter explores the claim ...
More
This chapter presents a constructive proposal about the theology of the body understood through the doctrine of the resurrection. Using gender as a key illustration, the chapter explores the claim that sanctification is God's action on human beings as psychosomatic unities. Using the framework of Christology and eschatology, it is argued that bodies are meant to bear holy witness to the redemptive intention of the Triune God.Less
This chapter presents a constructive proposal about the theology of the body understood through the doctrine of the resurrection. Using gender as a key illustration, the chapter explores the claim that sanctification is God's action on human beings as psychosomatic unities. Using the framework of Christology and eschatology, it is argued that bodies are meant to bear holy witness to the redemptive intention of the Triune God.
BRENT WATERS
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199271962
- eISBN:
- 9780191709883
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199271962.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter initiates the book's constructive task by developing alternative philosophical, theological, and moral themes to those offered by late liberalism. The first section uses Herman ...
More
This chapter initiates the book's constructive task by developing alternative philosophical, theological, and moral themes to those offered by late liberalism. The first section uses Herman Dooyeweerd's concept of sphere sovereignty to examine the relation between nature and history as two related spheres of human activity. It is argued, however, that this philosophical concept has severe limitations which must be corrected by employing theological themes. The second section uses the work of Oliver O'Donovan to develop the theological themes of a vindicated created order, relation between providence and eschatology, and dominion and stewardship. The third section, drawing upon the work of George Grant, develops a series of moral themes regarding the family as a form of human association. These themes include the household as a place of timely belonging within the temporal confines of created order, an unfolding and enfolding familial love that orients family members toward broader forms of human association, and the teleological ordering of the familial association toward its destiny in Christ.Less
This chapter initiates the book's constructive task by developing alternative philosophical, theological, and moral themes to those offered by late liberalism. The first section uses Herman Dooyeweerd's concept of sphere sovereignty to examine the relation between nature and history as two related spheres of human activity. It is argued, however, that this philosophical concept has severe limitations which must be corrected by employing theological themes. The second section uses the work of Oliver O'Donovan to develop the theological themes of a vindicated created order, relation between providence and eschatology, and dominion and stewardship. The third section, drawing upon the work of George Grant, develops a series of moral themes regarding the family as a form of human association. These themes include the household as a place of timely belonging within the temporal confines of created order, an unfolding and enfolding familial love that orients family members toward broader forms of human association, and the teleological ordering of the familial association toward its destiny in Christ.
Brent Waters
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199271962
- eISBN:
- 9780191709883
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199271962.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter describes the normative contours of the family with respect to its teleological and eschatological orientation toward broader spheres of social and political affinities. The principal ...
More
This chapter describes the normative contours of the family with respect to its teleological and eschatological orientation toward broader spheres of social and political affinities. The principal foci of this account includes the temporal and timely ordering of these affinities, the providential movement of the family through history, and the witness of the family within a vindicated creation being drawn toward its destiny in Christ by focusing on the related tasks of procreation and social reproduction.Less
This chapter describes the normative contours of the family with respect to its teleological and eschatological orientation toward broader spheres of social and political affinities. The principal foci of this account includes the temporal and timely ordering of these affinities, the providential movement of the family through history, and the witness of the family within a vindicated creation being drawn toward its destiny in Christ by focusing on the related tasks of procreation and social reproduction.
Brent Waters
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199271962
- eISBN:
- 9780191709883
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199271962.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines the inherent tension between the church as eschatological witness and the family as providential witness. It is argued, however, that the distinctive and complementary nature of ...
More
This chapter examines the inherent tension between the church as eschatological witness and the family as providential witness. It is argued, however, that the distinctive and complementary nature of each respective witness — as disclosed in the vocations of singleness and marriage — applies this tension in a constrictive manner. The principal indicators of this tension are identified in an overview of the eschatological witness of the church, followed by discussions which argue that the church is not a family, and the family is not a church.Less
This chapter examines the inherent tension between the church as eschatological witness and the family as providential witness. It is argued, however, that the distinctive and complementary nature of each respective witness — as disclosed in the vocations of singleness and marriage — applies this tension in a constrictive manner. The principal indicators of this tension are identified in an overview of the eschatological witness of the church, followed by discussions which argue that the church is not a family, and the family is not a church.
BRENT WATERS
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199271962
- eISBN:
- 9780191709883
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199271962.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores how the tension between the providential witness of the family and the eschatological witness of the church, as examined in the preceding chapter, should inform a Christian ...
More
This chapter explores how the tension between the providential witness of the family and the eschatological witness of the church, as examined in the preceding chapter, should inform a Christian vision of civil community. It is argued that both the family and the church disclose the principal normative characteristics of the social and political ordering of a vindicated creation, namely, that the bonds of human association as well as the foundation of freedom are created, natural, imposed, social, and political. The implications of these characteristics are further developed by focusing on the themes of the gift of social ordering, the relation between destiny and the common good, and, following Oliver O'Donovan, what the nations (should) desire.Less
This chapter explores how the tension between the providential witness of the family and the eschatological witness of the church, as examined in the preceding chapter, should inform a Christian vision of civil community. It is argued that both the family and the church disclose the principal normative characteristics of the social and political ordering of a vindicated creation, namely, that the bonds of human association as well as the foundation of freedom are created, natural, imposed, social, and political. The implications of these characteristics are further developed by focusing on the themes of the gift of social ordering, the relation between destiny and the common good, and, following Oliver O'Donovan, what the nations (should) desire.
Dominic J. O’Meara
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199285532
- eISBN:
- 9780191717819
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199285532.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter considers the second, judicial branch of political science, with particular reference to penology. What is the purpose of punishment? The Neoplatonic interpretation of Plato’s penology ...
More
This chapter considers the second, judicial branch of political science, with particular reference to penology. What is the purpose of punishment? The Neoplatonic interpretation of Plato’s penology (is punishment purely therapeutic?) is discussed, as this penology is expressed in Plato’s eschatology. Reference is also made to the specific example of a letter prescribing desirable practice in the exercise of justice, Sopartos’ letter to Himerios.Less
This chapter considers the second, judicial branch of political science, with particular reference to penology. What is the purpose of punishment? The Neoplatonic interpretation of Plato’s penology (is punishment purely therapeutic?) is discussed, as this penology is expressed in Plato’s eschatology. Reference is also made to the specific example of a letter prescribing desirable practice in the exercise of justice, Sopartos’ letter to Himerios.
Angela M. Lahr
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314489
- eISBN:
- 9780199872077
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314489.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Conservative evangelicals in the early Cold War were the forbearers of the New Christian Right of the 1980s. In the postwar United States, the evangelical subculture, which had become marginalized ...
More
Conservative evangelicals in the early Cold War were the forbearers of the New Christian Right of the 1980s. In the postwar United States, the evangelical subculture, which had become marginalized after the turn of the 20th century, mixed its own eschatology with the apocalyptic context of the beginning of the Cold War and the nuclear age. The atomic bomb, the new Israeli state, and the Cuban Missile Crisis all confirmed for evangelicals their belief that biblical prophecy about the end‐times was being fulfilled. Evangelicals who utilized religious practices like prayer and missions work in light of these events simultaneously responded politically within a Cold War context. Furthermore, Cold War secular apocalypticism helped to justify evangelical prophecy. These developments, alongside conservative evangelicalism's embrace of anticommunism, created a less‐marginalized subculture that fit comfortably into a dominant American political culture defined in dichotomous Cold War terms. Ironically, it was this earlier integration into the mainstream that paved the way for the rise of the religious right in the last decade of the Cold War. While the New Christian Right stormed onto the political scene, they did so by separating themselves from secular America. At the same time, a burgeoning evangelical left was advocating a different prophetic message—a call for social justice.Less
Conservative evangelicals in the early Cold War were the forbearers of the New Christian Right of the 1980s. In the postwar United States, the evangelical subculture, which had become marginalized after the turn of the 20th century, mixed its own eschatology with the apocalyptic context of the beginning of the Cold War and the nuclear age. The atomic bomb, the new Israeli state, and the Cuban Missile Crisis all confirmed for evangelicals their belief that biblical prophecy about the end‐times was being fulfilled. Evangelicals who utilized religious practices like prayer and missions work in light of these events simultaneously responded politically within a Cold War context. Furthermore, Cold War secular apocalypticism helped to justify evangelical prophecy. These developments, alongside conservative evangelicalism's embrace of anticommunism, created a less‐marginalized subculture that fit comfortably into a dominant American political culture defined in dichotomous Cold War terms. Ironically, it was this earlier integration into the mainstream that paved the way for the rise of the religious right in the last decade of the Cold War. While the New Christian Right stormed onto the political scene, they did so by separating themselves from secular America. At the same time, a burgeoning evangelical left was advocating a different prophetic message—a call for social justice.
Michael Patrick Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195333527
- eISBN:
- 9780199868896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333527.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Chapter 5 presents a reading of David Lodge's novel Therapy (1995) in light of Balthasar's Theo‐logic. Lodge does well to illustrate that the erasure of God that preoccupies postmodern consciousness ...
More
Chapter 5 presents a reading of David Lodge's novel Therapy (1995) in light of Balthasar's Theo‐logic. Lodge does well to illustrate that the erasure of God that preoccupies postmodern consciousness significantly affects contemporary conceptions about “subject formation” and “people in relation.” Lodge develops these themes by constructing a narrative that mirrors both the theological trajectory of Balthasar's tripartite program and the existential progression identified by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard—namely, the aesthetic, ethical, and religious “stages” of human experience. Importantly, a close consideration of Kierkegaard's stages reveals a direct analogy with the transcendentals, which, in turn, illuminates one of the many reasons why Balthasar admired Kierkegaard and why Lodge's novel is a fertile literary example of Balthasar's Theologic. By a close consideration of the triadic structure of being presented by a variety of sources, the chapter begins to discern how God's logic—how human logic—exists in a trinitarian dynamic.Less
Chapter 5 presents a reading of David Lodge's novel Therapy (1995) in light of Balthasar's Theo‐logic. Lodge does well to illustrate that the erasure of God that preoccupies postmodern consciousness significantly affects contemporary conceptions about “subject formation” and “people in relation.” Lodge develops these themes by constructing a narrative that mirrors both the theological trajectory of Balthasar's tripartite program and the existential progression identified by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard—namely, the aesthetic, ethical, and religious “stages” of human experience. Importantly, a close consideration of Kierkegaard's stages reveals a direct analogy with the transcendentals, which, in turn, illuminates one of the many reasons why Balthasar admired Kierkegaard and why Lodge's novel is a fertile literary example of Balthasar's Theologic. By a close consideration of the triadic structure of being presented by a variety of sources, the chapter begins to discern how God's logic—how human logic—exists in a trinitarian dynamic.
