Abstract This article demonstrates that intrinsic to the manifestation of Yahweh’s holiness in Ezekiel 36:16–32 is a manifestation of love for his people. The paper first lays groundwork by summarizing Costecalde’s lexical work of שדק (holiness) and briefly surveying OT texts speaking of God’s holiness as his care and deliverance. The heart of the article begins by studying Yahweh’s holiness in Ezekiel 36:16–32: Strong connections to the story and language of Exodus, plus a contrast between Yahweh’s and Marduk’s divine abandonment narratives, indicate that Yahweh’s holiness includes not only his unrivaled power but also his unrivaled commitment to his people. The article then assesses the presence of divine love in the passage. Contra scholars who critique Ezekiel’s alleged lovelessness, the article finds that the lavishness of Yahweh’s promises, the wife and shepherd imagery which link to Ezekiel 36:16–32, and the mention of „mercy” confirm that love is indeed part of the manifestation of Yahweh’s holiness. For Yahweh to vindicate his holy name in the sight of the nations and to show that „I am Yahweh,” the nations must see his love and not merely his power or judgment. The article concludes that in Ezekiel 36:16–32 Yahweh’s holiness is revealed to be a „love-holiness,” or a „holy love.”

Abstract This article seeks to clarify the relationship between systematic first principles and the moral theologies which follow. It argues that current tensions in anglophone moral theology reflect incompatible theological presuppositions, defined by the terms of the last century. In keeping with this edition’s theme, this article considers P. T. Forsyth’s conception of ‘holy love’ and its bearing on the moral life. However, rather than follow Forsyth’s rejection of the liberal theologians of the past two centuries, I consider Augustine’s parallel rejection of classical philosophers in Late Antiquity. Augustine’s articulation of a distinctly Christian ethic grounded in the love of God challenges our current presuppositions and allows for a rearticulation of Christian ethics in a grammar undefined by debates of modern theology. Christian resourcing of classical ethics has typically sought to retrieve a tradition of virtue ethics within an Augustinian frame. However, Augustine’s own retrieval of classical ethics rejects both Stoicism and the virtue ethics tradition in favor of a distinctly Christian way of life. His anthropology contrasts from liberalism in many ways, but chief among them is that Augustine understands humans are defined by loves, not rationality or self-possession. Augustine offers a Christian ethics not about improvement or moral choices but about confessional encounters with God. Like Forsyth, he is adamant that one must first admit God’s holiness, then one’s sin. To admit God’s holiness is to admit that God has covered our sin. To love in holy love is to confess that one cannot, on their own, live in holy love.

Abstract This article will engage with the nature and experience of pain as it pertains to the Divine Nature. Acknowledging holiness as a grounding attribute of God, Forsyth’s emphasis of holy love will provide a new lens through which the conception of God’s suffering and the means of humanity’s redemption can be assessed. The Cross as the symbol of divine pain and suffering holds together God’s holiness and love. Holy love logically entails the Cross event as an antidote to the prevalent lightheartedness of American evangelical circles which is oftentimes lopsided on grace and prosperity. As a result, the late and post-Christendom Christianity in the West tends to overlook the other side of the Gospel, that is, the holiness and rigorousness of the divine law as revealed in the Old Testament. Law represents the divine holy nature, without which grace can be cheap, and love can be licentiousness. God never forsakes the divine law, nor His holiness. It is the divine holiness that reveals the depth and height of the divine love. The divine holy love has always been transformative, with holiness as the content and goal of the divine love. The holiness of God bespeaks the fact that God is not pleased with fallen humanity. For a holy God to love fallen humanity, there must be a lot of pain and agony involved. Divine agony found an epitomized expression in the historical event of crucifixion.

Abstract This essay will consider the holiness of God through the lens of divine love, as is appropriate when following the contours of the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. For him, divine love is fundamentally selfless, a self-giving in which the divine persons ‘consider others more important than themselves.’ Holiness, therefore, is not found in a purity or otherness that stands above or apart from creation, but rather in a purity of love that gives of itself entirely for the sake of creation. That is, holiness as divine love is a holiness that purifies for the sake of union, rather than a preceding framework purity that must be attained by creation in order to be united with God. It is a perfectly pure active and seeking desire for the Other. The union that is sought by the holy love of God, however, maintains the distinction between God and creation ultimately because of the emergence of the Spirit from the self-giving love of the Father and Son, a point that has not been appreciated fully in Anglophone Balthasarian scholarship. This essay will develop the connection between divine holiness and love further by looking at the role of the Spirit in von Balthasar’s thinking in the final years before his death.

Abstract The theme of ‘holy love’ was utilized by P.T. Forsyth to respond to the Enlightenment-heavy theology of the German Liberal school from which he emerged. His phrase, ‘holy love’, sought to counteract the inadequate theology of Liberalism which, he argued, robbed God of His holiness in order to satisfy an earthly view of God’s love. Forsyth’s conversion from Liberalism allowed him to interact with Continental theologians when most British theologians felt unable or unwilling to do so. By reconnecting the holiness of God as an attribute of correlation with His love (‘God is love’ 1 John 4:16 and ‘Holy is He’ Psalm 99:3), Forsyth sought to reclaim his understanding of the Gospel from an increasingly popular Liberalism that veered towards humanistic utopianism (until the outbreak of WW1 when it would decline in popularity until the growth-driven aftermath of WW2). This article will introduce the theme for this month’s journal, contextualize Forsyth’s usage of the theme in relation to his contemporaries, before demonstrating how he engaged with Liberalism’s nebulous forms in his own day and translating those principles to theological aberrations in our own. Forsyth’s argument was prescient for his day as he rebutted a human-driven progressive utopianism that minimized humanity’s sinful predispositions; it continues to be a useful corrective today in light of the growth of the aberrant gospels and pseudo-Biblical spiritualism which promise access to, and control of, the Divine with little recognition of the holiness of the Divine that sets God apart as King of Kings.

Abstract In this practical reflection on the Ordo Amoris as outlined by St. Augustine, I will endeavor to frame our understanding of genuine Christian love in contemporary pastoral and Christian context. By reflecting on the general theme of Augustine ordo as having interacting spheres whereby the Christian has shifting (but real) priorities towards God, self, and others, this reflection will highlight the necessity of covenant relational community as a critical component of our godly Image Bearing. To love others is to reflect God; to love God is to acknowledge his sovereignty. To be neglectful in our loves (regardless of which category we are neglecting) is to reject God and to deny his commandments to us.

Abstract This article focuses on examining a particular method of Biblical Interpretation. This specific method is that of the Patristic Method of Biblical Interpretation, proposed by Richard Swinburne. The Patristic Method faces a specific issue, ‘the Authority’ Issue, which will thus be dealt with within this article by utilising the notion of epistemic authority, as conceptualised by Linda Zagzebski, and restating it within a Catholic interpretative framework. Doing this will thus enable the Patristic Method to be presented as a robust and cogent contemporary method of Biblical Interpretation that offers a unified and accurate understanding of God’s revelation in the Bible.

Abstract Abtract The following paper analyzes the Midrashic text Genesis Rabbah chapter 8. The texts represents a Rabbinic reading of the biblical text of Genesis 1:26-28. We will show that, even though the rabbis analyzed the text verse by verse, their method of interpretation diverges from the classical, expositive Protestant way of reading the Bible. In their concern to defend the Scripture against pagan religions, Gnostic Jewish mysticism, and even Christian Church Fathers, the rabbis developed a creative way of probing the misteries that surrounded the creation of Adam.

Abstract This essay constitutes a response to two criticisms of Thomas Aquinas’ account of divine providence which David Fergusson puts forward in his book The Providence of God: A Polyphonic Account. I first argue that on Thomas’ account, God does not determine good and evil with a ‘single divine intention’ (Ferguson 2018: 73). Instead, God’s will and activity are related to good and evil quite asymmetrically. I then argue, against Fergusson, that Thomas’ account of divine providence assigns a great role to the special and recognizable work of the Holy Spirit. I conclude by noting that Thomas’ account of providence addresses many of Fergusson’s own concerns in his constructive project.

Abstract Yannaras interprets the fall as a descent from the potentiality of realising authentic selfhood in God to a fragmented human nature. Sartre claimed that God and belief are dead, and the only certainty is death and nothingness. This article explores how Christ in His incarnation and death on the cross overcomes the human will’s narcissistic bent by uniting human nature to the will of the divine logos. It discusses Gregory of Nyssa’s idea of the soul’s recovery of its pre-fall potentiality in spiritual struggle toward God and how Christ draws those who love Him into Himself to participate in the body of Christ through the Eucharist.