Book Review: Found Theology: History, Imagination and the Holy Spirit

Abstract

Found Theology: History, Imagination and Holy Spirit. By Ben Quash. London: Bloomsbury TT it can bring new perspectives to given. This illumination can also show Triune God as present and active not only in given but in contingencies of history.Quash is clear here that both given and are work of God: this is not a matter of divine (the given) versus created (the found). Rather, that which is is also seen as a gift of God, as Holy Spirit unfolds all riches that are in Christ (p. xiv). It is significant that he terms it the found rather than the made (or a similar term). Rather, like inspiration of an artist or discovery of a new idea, is, in a sense, received, while yet also involving human searching, finding, creativity, and imagination in their fullness (p. 4). And so, in part, Quash provides an account of divine and human agency.Quash elaborates this thesis through three sections. Each section begins with an engagement with a specific historical and artistic episode: translation of Bible into English from Vulgate, two paintings by Vittore Carpaccio in context of Renaissance Venice, poetry of Henry Vaughan in midst of English interregnum. Each of these chapter-long case studies is then followed by a theoretical chapter. In light of difficulties of translation, Quash turns to Jewish scholar David Weiss Halivni's account of maculation (the imperfections, contradictions, and lacunae in text of scripture) to argue that gaps and tensions that are created in translation of Bible into other languages and contexts might be understood as an historical occurrence of gaps and tensions within untranslated canonical texts themselves. …