Contemporary Christian Theology Research Articles

The End of Time and the Possibility of World: Between Divinity and Nature

Eschatology is central to Christian theology: the significance of the death and resurrection of Christ is the promise of the “kingdom of God”. This paper takes up this idea in discussion with contemporary Christian theologians and discusses it phenomenologically by recourse to Husserl’s account of “horizon”. The horizon is both finite and infinite: always limited in its actualization but with an infinity of potential actualizations. This is explored with respect to time and its relation to the eternal, as well as the dispositions of hope and fear with respect to the eschaton. The final section draws these insights together in a discussion of the eschaton to understand the eschatological destiny of nature in a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelations, 21: 1) and conceiving of eschatological justice as a harmony of horizonal perspectives.

Theology, History, and the Modern German University ed. by Kevin M. Vander Schel and Michael P. DeJonge

Reviewed by: Theology, History, and the Modern German University ed. by Kevin M. Vander Schel and Michael P. DeJonge Walter Sundberg Theology, History, and the Modern German University. Edited by Kevin M. Vander Schel and Michael P. DeJonge. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021. 358 pp. When I was asked to review this volume, I was intrigued immediately by the title. Few subjects are more important in contemporary Christian theology than the nexus of theology and the discipline of history in the context of German university culture. It is important wherever Christian intellectual life is carried on in the global church. When the volume arrived, I discovered it was a collection of fifteen essays. Reviewing a bunch of essays is like herding cats. The introduction by the editors was helpful and accurate, but not sharply focused. If I had been asked to introduce the volume, I would have said something direct and simple like this: In the Early Church, theological reflection was often led by bishops (e.g., Irenaeus, Augustine). In the Middle Ages, monks took the lead (e.g., Anselm, Aquinas). With the coming of the Reformation, and into the Modern World, theology has become largely the province of the academic professorate. (Think of Luther as the last monk and the first professor.) The professorate [End Page 226] is beholden as much to university culture, with its secular canons of criticism, as it is to the church and its articles of faith. In the emergence of the professorate, Protestant faculties in German universities have dominated. A chief reason for this dominance is the role that the discipline of history has played in the development of modern Christian theology. Church history is the youngest branch of theological study, having been first added to the curriculum at the University of Helmstedt in 1750. The editors call this "the historical turn" whose implications "are reflected in the shifting compositions of university faculties and curricula … as universities themselves grew beyond the medieval organizational structures to become centers of historical scholarship" (1). What does one do when faced with the challenge of historical criticism? One possibility is for history to go on the attack. Historical method assumes explanation by mundane causes. Claims about divine incursion and miracle have no place. Seas do not part; the dead do not return to life. Lessing famously spoke of the "ugly broad ditch" separating "accidental truths of history" from "eternal truths." A possible defense is to concede the public record of events and instead assert the interior life as the locus of religion. "Dogmas and doctrines," said Schleiermacher, are "nothing but general expressions for definite feelings." Troeltsch labeled Schleiermacher's strategy an "'agnostic theology of mediation' which recognized the inexact and symbolic character of religious language" (65). To put it another way, "theology springs from … personal conviction and … without it theology is a mere dead letter" (45). Roman Catholics of the "Tübingen School" (for example, Johann Sebastian Drey) sought to harness history. Yes, history teaches that Christian life in the church, and thus truth, are subject to constant change. But this is the work of the Holy Spirit who leads us to the discovery of further revelation beyond scripture (John 16:13). Eternal truth of revelation is not only "being," it is "becoming." History, Bible, and doctrine join together in harmony because the (Roman) church is nothing less than the continuation of the incarnation. As Drey put it, "the primitive history and the subsequent course [End Page 227] of Christianity are in fact one history … Christianity is itself only one reality" (122). This idea helped to make popular the historical/theological discipline known as "the development of doctrine." For Barth, the public record of Christian teaching in the Bible and the history of doctrine produced a rigorous discipline (Wissenschaft) with definite rules determined by the historic Christian community: "church dogmatics." Writing explicitly against Lessing's ugly ditch, "Barth stressed … that knowing God depends on God's own action; we do not reach this goal through a historical inquiry, even if such inquiry may help us understand that God alone is the source of any human knowledge" (307). These are but three examples. In all the essays, we see...

Kornelis H. Miskotte’s Biblical ABC s

Abstract Kornelis H. Miskotte's theology generally, and his Biblical ABC s—an important wartime work newly translated into English—in particular represent a welcome provocation to contemporary Christian theology. This essay assesses the key theological claims at the heart of the work, reflects critically upon their meaning and significance, and then draws them into converation with a number of current trends and trajectories in current theological research and writing. In this way, the significance of the work in its own right as well as its—perhaps surprising—relevance to the present theological discussion is brought to light.

Reengaging Theology in Educational Studies

This work seeks to do two things. First to make an argument for a robust engagement with theology as a theoretical framework for critical educational research. And second, the piece draws upon contemporary queer and progressive Christian theology, in particular, theological interventions from Marcela Althaus Reid’s Indecent Theology to think differently about how educational researchers might frame the way we say yes, as Jen Gilbert suggests, to the students who show up in the classroom. This intervention seeks to center theology as a way to think differently with LGBTQ issues in schooling by arguing with an epistemology that is often used to exclude rather than include marginalized populations.

No Condition Is Permanent: Time as Method in Contemporary African Christian Theology

Abstract This article argues that contemporary African Christian theology has largely understood time from a modern, linear perspective, which sees history as progress. Interestingly, the perception of history as progress is the straitjacket into which the story of Africa in the modern world has been told, often depicting the continent as needing to catch up with the progressive time of the modern world. This progressive, linear view of time is, however, quite problematic. This article argues that time is palimpsestic, rendering discourses of progress problematic but without nullifying the quest for improved overall well-being. The palimpsestic view of time fits the popular West African outlook that “no condition is permanent” and is demonstrated especially in the work of African women theologians such as Mercy Amba Oduyoye and Musa Dube, whose use of story as method challenges the linear view of time and is thus methodologically instructive for African theology.

Developing a Theology of Joy: A Personal Exploration Using Narrative Accounts–Learning to Sing in a Foreign Land

Using narrative accounts, this paper will explore the process of living with progressive and life-changing conditions and how, out of that, a theology of joy can be developed. The method used is a modified version of the critical conversation method of theological reflection as outlined by Pattinson. In this approach, a conversation will take place between experience, using a narrative autoethnographic approach, between the voice of contemporary society and Christian theology and practice. From this dialogue, an approach to a theology of joy will be outlined. Life sometimes seems focused on health needs. Yet I live with joy. This is a joy that accepts God walking alongside me while still arguing with him about life. This is not the blind joy of black and white faith. Augustine said that ‘I call [love to God] the motion of the soul toward the enjoyment of God for his own sake and the enjoyment of one’s self and one’s neighbor for the sake of God.” For him, joy in one's own life stems from a joyful relationship with God. This approach, as well as input from Moltmann and the more recent work of Miroslav Volf, will be explored in this paper. Only a theology of joy enables me to face the present and the future; this paper explores how this theology is developing, through experience, reflection, and engagement with Christian doctrine and teaching.

Joseph Ratzinger’s ‘Kierkegaardian option’ in Introduction to Christianity

ABSTRACTAlthough scholars increasingly recognize the debts of twentieth-century Roman Catholic theologians to Søren Kierkegaard, no one has yet traced this influence to Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI). As is frequently observed, Ratzinger’s most famous book, Introduction to Christianity, opens with a meditation on a Kierkegaardian parable from Either/Or. We argue that Ratzinger’s use of Kierkegaard extends well beyond this opening image, to some central moments in his articulation of the idea of God, Christology, and theological anthropology. Upon closer inspection, we argue, Ratzinger’s use of these arguments is owing to the fact that his diagnosis of the ills of contemporary society and the orientation of contemporary Christian theology is the same as that of Kierkegaard, despite their seemingly different contexts. Identifying the Kierkegaardian influence on Introduction to Christianity helps draw our attention to the necessarily ‘introductory’ character of Christianity, which otherwise risks being lost.

ПОНЯТТЯ ДІАЛОГУ В СУЧАСНІЙ ХРИСТИЯНСЬКІЙ ТЕОЛОГІЇ

Introduction. Theology of dialogue is increasingly becoming the subject not only of theological, but also of philosophical and religious studies. This is natural, because for modern Christians it has to do with the experience and comprehension of eternal truths traditionally relayed to the world by the Christian Churches. Hence there appears the urgent task to comprehend from the philosophical and religious points of view the theological discourse of the concept of “dialogue” as it is understood by modern Christian theology. Purpose is to substantiate the content and scope of the concept of “dialogue” in contemporary Christian theology, taking into account the confessional features of its application. Methods. The interdisciplinary nature of our research requires an appropriate methodology that combines the achievements philosophy of dialogue, communicative philosophy, hermeneutics and, of course, theology. Results. Modern Christian Churches , expressing conceptual positions on the prospects of dialogical interaction, are imbued with the praxis of dialogue, not with the clarity of terminology. The phenomenon of dialogue, as it is presented in the Christian tradition, is not reduced only to communication, even at the level of systematization of narratives concerning communicative universals. In this regard, Christian dialogism is defined not only by the primacy of communication, but also by the dominance of relations, focusing on their universality – the possibility of the phenomenon of relations, involving everything, not excluding anything instead of decomposing into separate “atoms” of faith, emotions, communication, morals, activities, etc., not being reduced to any of these phenomena. We consider as dialogical those relationships that underlie reciprocity and, with some caution, the equality of the parties. According to these criteria, the characteristics of dialogues belong to the following relationships: communication and relationship of Christians with God and with one another in God, within the church, as well as communication and relations between the Churches, especially an ecumenical dialogue. Originality. The content and scope of the concept of “dialogue” in modern Christian theology have been analyzed. It has been proved that the main Christian denominations understand dialogue as a wide range of phenomena that relate not only to a certain type of communication, but also to activities and relationships. In the documents of Christian churches, a dialogic interaction is denoted by semantically related, but not identical terms of intercourse, communication, koinonia, communion, and the like. Conclusions . It is substantiated that the development of the dialogical strategies of the Churches is a consequence of pluralization and diversification of the axiosphere of modern society and at the same time it is a means of their adaptation to the present time. The prospects for a further research of the problem are related to the substantiation of the specific paradigm of Christian dialogical sociality.

Can Origen Help Us Understand Adam?

AbstractThis paper examines Origen's views of “Adam” and considers whether aspects of Origen's views might prove helpful in contemporary debates about Adam and original sin. The question “who was Adam” presents difficult issues for Christian theology. In response to these concerns, many contemporary theologians suggest that “Eastern” traditions, which are less connected to the “Western”/Augustinian view of original sin, can more easily manage these tensions. These gestures towards “Eastern” thought are helpful in the sense that they do highlight the “mythic” dimensions of the Biblical creation narratives and the irreducibly social construction of human identity. They tend, however, towards broad generalizations that often do not account for the more nuanced and complex philosophical matrix that informed many of the Eastern Church Fathers as they thought about creation, humanity, and the Fall. In this regard, Origen is an interesting figure to study because of the historic anathemas against his supposedly aberrant neo‐Platonic views about the pre‐existence of souls. Origen did indeed draw heavily on Platonism, but his views about Adam and the Fall were far more subtle than is often supposed. Elements of Origen's views could be useful to a contemporary Christian theology of Adam and original sin.

Antropologijska strujanja u novijoj teologijskoj misli

Apart from the traditional, orthodox comprehension concerning revaled, suprarational religious truth and supernatural, divine religion origin according to which faith is a gift of heaven and of divine grace mediated by divine illumination through God’s sign, anthropological comprehensions appear recently in theological thought concerning the origin of religion (e. g. bishop and theologian J. A. T. Robinson (; according to these comprehensions religion is a product of mankind originating in human nature, from its need to transcend into infinity. This is in fact foundation of theology in anthropology, of theism in humanism. Ideational presence of some contemporary philosophical trends is obvious in contemporary Christian theology, and especially the presence of phenomenology and existentialism interceded with influence of M. Heidegger’s thought. Moreover Marxism is treated by recent theology in a new, more open and more realistic way. Since mentioned theological trends move necessarily towards philosophy (man and his salvation become subject-matter of religious thought), it is easier then to actualize a philosophical dialogue with them, even from a Marxist point of view, too. New tendencies appear especially between the wars due to liberal and dialectical protestant theology, but this article exposes K. Rahner, possibly the most important among respected contemporary catholic theologians, who are also concerned with these new tendencies,

Defending Adam After Darwin

For many contemporary Christian theologians, evolutionary biology rules out any account of an Adam and Eve that would explain the origin of our species. In response, I propose that they have uncritically embraced the anti-essentialist presuppositions of the dominant scientific narrative for the origins of our kind. In fact, there are sound and robust reasons to think that human beings share an intrinsic essence that puts them into a natural kind. I also propose that our natural kind can be defined by our developmental capacity for language, which I suggest is needed for abstract thinking. Thus, it is still reasonable to trace the origins of our natural kind to an original individual. He would have been the first anatomically modern human to have evolved this capacity for hierarchical and non-linear language that allowed him to construct an abstract internal map of the world.

Be Still and Know: Zen and the Bible by Ruben L.F. Habito

Reviewed by: Be Still and Know: Zen and the Bible by Ruben L.F. Habito Janet K. Ruffing RSM (bio) Be Still and Know: Zen and the Bible. By Ruben L.F. Habito. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Press, 2017, 194 pp. $24.00. Ruben Habito's most recent book is an intriguing meditatio on brilliantly chosen passages and themes from the Christian Scriptures which he uses as koans, or teaching stories, for guiding Christian and non-Christian practitioners on Zen retreats. The Rev. Jane Lancaster Patterson, Ph.D. and New Testament Scholar, aptly names what Habito is up to in this volume in an interview appended at the end. She says, "It seems the use of koans in the Sanbo Zen lineage has made using traditional scriptures for teaching a natural move" (182). Habito's many volumes on Zen and Christianity are well known to readers of Spiritus. Deeply trained in the Sanbo Zen lineage for eighteen years while still a Jesuit, he has balanced his Christian and Zen understandings and practice in intriguing ways over the years. His latest book is based on conferences or "teachings" during Zen retreats held in Christian or mixed religious contexts, such as Osage Monastery of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Sand Springs, AZ, as well as retreats offered at Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas where he is the guiding teacher for both Christian and non-Christian practitioners. In each chapter, there is always the silence of sitting Zazen, the experiential process of entering this silence that opens one to deep spiritual experience in "just sitting" and "just being" in the silence, present to oneself and un-nameable mystery, and Dharma talks that are based on key Biblical texts he uses as koan, or teaching stories, to support the silent sitting and deepening awareness that emerges in the silence for his retreatants. The result is a lovely taste of Zen mediated through familiar biblical texts used in a [End Page 282] non-habituated way, opening to rich new insights and fresh experiential awareness through a subtle Zen lens. The Presence of the living God is always pointed to without precisely naming it, but certainly intentionally evoking it. The texts devel-oped in these retreat talks are Psalm 46, "Be Still and Know," Psalm 23, "My Cup Overflows," Matthew 13:44–46, "The Treasure that is You" and Matthew 5:1–3, 8–9, "Blessed are You." In the final long chapter based on the beatitudes, Habito offers more extensive reflection on his method in these retreat talks, giving guidance on how to participate in such a retreat and making more explicit references to his extensive experience with key movements within the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. He says, "The one who gives a talk in Zen is always pointing to each of you as you sit there with openness to listen in the silence, breathing in and breathing out, telling each and every one, 'This is about you. Listen as if you were alone in the universe hearing this'" (149). This book would ably support any Christian practitioner of Zen who is integrating this particular practice of "just sitting" with contemporary Christian theology and the wisdom sayings of Jesus in the Gospels. Janet K. Ruffing RSM Yale Divinity School Janet K. Ruffing Janet K. Ruffing, RSM is Professor of the Practice of Spirituality and Ministerial Leadership at Yale Divinity School and Professor Emerita of Spirituality and Spiritual Direction at Fordham University. Recent Essays include: "The Praxis of Spirituality: Experiencing God and Responding to that Relationship," Studies in Spirituality 27, and "Looking for Meaningful Conversation and Connection: Ordinary Connections, Cooperative Exploration, Spiritual Direction and Empathic Connection," Human Development, Summer 2018. Copyright © 2018 Johns Hopkins University Press

Particularity, Reality, and Reparative Thinking: Another Reformation by Peter Ochs

Particularity, Reality, and Reparative Thinking: Another Reformation by Peter Ochs Another Reformation: Postliberal Christianity and the Jews. By Peter Ochs. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2011. ix + 278 pp. $30.00 (paper).There are very few books that transcend their subject matter. Those that do address broader and deeper issues than their ostensive topic. They also come to serve models for others to follow-whether or not they are working on same topic. Finally, they provide substantive insights into not only the topic they explore but the task of writing a whole.Peter Ochs's Another Reformation is one such book. At first glance, his topic might seem relatively narrow-he wants to test a correlation he has noticed between different iterations of postliberal Christian and a position of nonsupersessionism regarding the Jewish faith. To define each of these terms requires that Ochs, a Jewish philosopher, delve into recent developments in contemporary Christian theology and philosophy. In the process, he displays his own formidable theological and philosophical skills, which serve a model that Christian theologians should follow. Specifically, Ochs provides insights into theological methodology and major theologians that should inform the broader work of theology in the future.The best way to see the range of this work is to trace Ochs's definition of and nonsupersessionism. Beginning with the first, Ochs develops an intricate typology to show the different iterations of this movement in contemporary Anglo-American theology. Ochs initially defines postliberalism the third of three epochs. During the Epoch of Formation, Christian thought was focused on communal self-definition, which it did primarily by differentiating what Christianity believed opposed to other religions. latter were seen as other-as an offense to its self-definition or a threat to its ideological and social boundaries. During the Epoch of Assimilation, the focus shifted from the particular to the universal Christians tried to translate their faith into a single of reason. In the current Epoch of Postliberalism, the compromises made during the second epoch, which created a religion of ethics and enlightenment for the new nation-states and market economies of Europe, became unviable.1 However, this does not mean that it is possible, or desirable, to return to the first epoch. In each epoch, theologies develop to reform the religious practices of their day. Consequently, to reiterate the theological answers given in an earlier epoch is to ignore the imperative of repair required today.The task today is to develop a theology that avoids the binaries dictated by the law of the excluded middle2 regnant in modernity. This means avoiding the dyads of matter/spirit, reason/revelation, intellect/ emotion, authority/autonomy, dogmatism/modemism, scripture/ tradition, confessional/academic, public/private, church/society, and so on-dyads that plague contemporary theological reflection and modernity in general. It also means reforming the ground from which these dyads grow and flourish. Specifically, Ochs sees this the tendency to differentiate a novel theological position by portraying others the logical contradictory of what one advocates. In its place, Ochs articulates a pragmatic, relational logic that is grounded in a context, community, and narrative.One might be tempted to characterize this logic hermeneutic, and this is appropriate to the extent that Ochs is advancing a theory of interpretation. However, Ochs justifies his logical project much on scientific on humanistic grounds. dyads that theologians have used to organize their thinking are unwarranted by empirical evidence, argues Ochs: The world is not divided sharply between subjects and objects, knower and the known, mind and matter, the theoretical and the practical, what is active and what is passive. …

“Prophets, Faust, and First-Years: Bonhoeffer and the language of charismatic experience”

Across the Global South, contemporary Christian theology is grappling with the best way to understand and respond to the rise of neo-Pentecostalism and the associated emphasis on charismatic experience. Speaking from a vastly different contest, the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer nonetheless offers a way to critique the self-serving excesses of this phenomenon while engaging it seriously and graciously, on its own terms, in a productive ecumenical conversation. Bonhoeffer’s understanding of discipleship as the condition in which it is possible to speak truthfully challenges our normal expectations for theological discourse. It redirects our attention from speech that is merely semantically correct and towards the conformation of the act of our speaking with the intention of Christ.

Resourcing a Christian positive psychology from the Sermon on the Mount

An important node of overlapping interest between contemporary positive psychology and Christian theology is the issue of human flourishing and the virtues one should pursue to experience this. In this essay, we argue that the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), one of the most important and influential portions of the Christian Scriptures, addresses human flourishing and virtue at a foundational level, providing resources for a robustly Christian understanding of positive psychology. In contrast to positive psychology in general, a Christian positive psychology will prioritize the God-ward (vertical) and Charity (horizontal) virtues, as well as maintaining a vibrant orientation to assured hope for a new era called God’s kingdom.

Islamic theology and theological engineering in the Nordic setting

The aim of this article is partly one of identifying and problematizing obstacles and realistic possibilities regarding the emergent field of Islamic theology in the context of Nordic universities, with special emphasis on Denmark. For the moment, a full-scale Danish Islamic theology programme designed for Muslims seems an almost herculean task for a variety of reasons, the most important of which will be identified and critically discussed. Currently, a small-scale programme is the most feasible option and, as such, it has recently been launched at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Copenhagen. The article closes with an excursus arguing that not only would Nordic Muslim communities benefit from the establishment of an Islamic theology programme at the university level, Christian university theology today would certainly also benefit if an Islamic theology study-module were to be added to the standard curriculum. In a multi-religious society, sound academic knowledge about Islam and its relationship with Christianity is indeed a desideratum for the contemporary Christian theology student.

Es razonable mantener un monismo cristiano no reductivo? La teología confrontado con el problema Mente-Cerebro, Cuerpo-Alma

¿Es Cristiana una Antropología esencialmente dualista o es razonable mantener una forma particular de monismo cristiano? Los acontecimientos recientes en neurociencias desafían la idea de un alma inmaterial, fuente de las operaciones espirituales tales como la cognición, volición, la libertad, los valores, la estética e incluso religiosidad. Este artículo presenta dos antropologías neurológicas: una representada por el libro L'homme neuronal de Jean Pierre Changeux y la otra representada por la obra de Gerald Edelman. A través de un análisis de la antropología bíblica y algunos textos relevantes escritos por san Ireneo de Lyon y Santo Tomás de Aquino, el artículo busca demostrar la existencia de una tradición cristiana que se caracteriza por un monismo no reduccionista. Por otra parte, una serie de principios teológicos pertinentes permiten recuperar esta tradición, que ha inspirado, y todavía debe inspirar, el desarrollo de un no-dualismo cristiano en antropología: el principio de la creación, un principio de encarnación y un principio escatológico. Esta tradición cristiana y el diálogo con las ciencias naturales inspiraron a dos teólogos cristianos contemporáneos para desarrollar sus antropologías holísticas: Karl Rahner y Alexander Ganoczy. Por último, el artículo describe lo que podría ser la contribución de la teología en el diálogo interdisciplinar en curso entre los neurocientíficos, los filósofos de la mente y los teólogos.

A Celebration of Living Theology: A Festschrift in Honour of Andrew Louth by Justin A. Mihoc and Leonard Aldea

Reviewed by: A Celebration of Living Theology: A Festschrift in Honour of Andrew Louth by Justin A. Mihoc and Leonard Aldea Robin Darling Young Justin A. Mihoc and Leonard Aldea A Celebration of Living Theology: A Festschrift in Honour of Andrew Louth London: Bloomsbury, 2014 Pp. 260. £70.00. Throughout his career, Andrew Louth has expertly and eloquently insisted that contemporary Christian theology must constantly draw from its sources in ancient and medieval works. His thesis on Karl Barth signaled an early interest in the crisis of modern theological thinking. Two books in the early 1980s made his position clear and encouraged many like-minded readers. The Origins of the [End Page 452] Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys (1981) both diagnosed and attempted to overcome the “divorce” between mystical theology (which, for Louth, held priority) and dogmatic theology. Discerning the Mystery: An Essay on the Nature of Theology (1983) employed Gadamer and other philosophers in its critique of the “historical-critical method” imposed by the Enlightenment, and proposed—based on a sympathetic reading of patristic authors and some modern philosophers—that theology is “the apprehension of the believing mind combined with a right state of the heart, to use Newman’s terms. It is tested and manifest in a life that lives close to the mystery of God in Christ, that preserves for all men a testimony to that mystery which is the object of our faith, and, so far as it is discerned, awakens in the heart a sense of wondering awe which is the light in which we see light” (147). Both works, and many subsequent monographs, articles and editions, established Louth as both a thoughtful and eloquent theological critic of modernity, a guide to the sympathetic reading of and guidance by the fathers of the church, and an heir to an earlier learned English divine, John Wesley. Thanks to his early works, Louth gained many admirers across the spectrum of Christian thinkers, particularly among those who valued the earlier proposals of Catholic ressourcement scholars such as Henri de Lubac and Jean Daniélou. His conversion to Russian Orthodoxy increased his appeal to Eastern Orthodox thinkers, as well. That rare scholar of early Christian texts who is also familiar with Byzantine theology and fully conversant with modern philosophical and theological works, his turn to Orthodoxy enabled this Festschrift. The book has five parts. Each one reflects Louth’s double concern—of examining in detail the development of particular thinkers or movements in eastern orthodox thought, and of engaging them to reflect critically upon contemporary views. For instance, in the first part, Thomas Graumann takes up the question of the Council of Ephesus’s nuanced reception of the Nicene Creed, while John Behr begins his essay entitled “Reading the Fathers Today” by following in the footsteps of Louth: regretting the limitations of the critical-historical, socially-contextualized reading of early Christian thinkers and proposing alternatively their appreciative reception based in the phenomenology of Jean-Luc Marion. Three essays treat the Byzantine period: Mary Cunningham traces the reception of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in eighth-century Byzantine theologians; Krastu Banev the expansion of thought on the themes of the church and the Virgin Mary in Byzantine psalmody and hymns; and Jane Baun surveys and recommends the neglected, “more modest lights” of Byzantine theology between the deaths of John of Damascus in 749 and Gregory Palamas in 1359. In the book’s third part, “Dialogue Between East and West,” a huge, 53-page essay by John Milbank compares the Christian reception of Platonism in eastern and western Christianity and resolves their apparently opposed views of final beatitude, while Augustine Casiday proposes Boethius was not merely a philosopher, but a theologian. Parts four and five of the book move to the modern period. In “Modern Theology,” Antoine Arjakovsky outlines alternative historiographies of Orthodoxy, particularly in light of the Orthodox school of Paris; Paul Gavrilyuk describes the relationship between Vladimir Lossky and Georges [End Page 453] Florovsky, both exiled Russians formed in the Parisian community and eager to represent Orthodoxy in and to the West. The final section is “The Future of Patristics”; in “Patristics after Neo-Patristics” Cyril Horovun allows...

Panentheism and the Classical God-World Relationship: A Systems-Oriented Approach

Panentheism has become a familiar term in contemporary christian systematic theology and philosophy, for it is widely believed to be an appropriate way to overcome the alleged dualism found in the classical god-world relationship. but what is meant by the term panentheism, and how does it work so as to avoid becoming still another form of pantheism or cosmic monism? in 2004 Philip clayton and the late Arthur Peacocke published a set of papers on the topic of panentheism that came from a conference in england on that topic in 2001.1 yet, while there were certain broad affinities in approach and content among many of the papers, none of them used precisely the same conceptual model for analysis of the concept. As one of the participants niels henrik gregersen commented, “The concept of panentheism is not stable in itself. The little word ‘in’ is the hinge of it all. There may be as many panentheisms as there are ways of qualifying the world’s being ‘in god.’”2 in this article, i attempt an explanation of the term on the basis of what i call systems theory. As i explain in the next section of this article, i have in mind with the term system a somewhat modified understanding of what Alfred north Whitehead meant by the category of society in his master work Process and Reality.3 That is, a system is a corporate or socially organized reality whose ultimate constituents are momentary self-constituting subjects of experience (actual entities).4 but, perhaps more strongly than Whitehead himself, i claim that societies/systems are more than simply the sum of their interrelated actual entities from moment to moment. They are specifically social or corporate realities, enduring ontological totalities greater than the sum of their parts or members.5 System rather than Aristotelian substance is for me the first category

Trinity and Revelation by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen (review)

Reviewed by: Trinity and Revelation by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen Todd E. Johanson Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Trinity and Revelation. A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World 2. Grand Rapids, MI, and Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2014. Pp. 472. $40.00, paper. Trinity and Revelation is the second in a planned five-volume series, by Pentecostal scholar and systematic theologian Kärkkäinen. In this work, he presents an in-depth, systematic, and constructive theology of the Trinity for contemporary theology, based on a broad survey of recent scholarship. In Part I, he discusses revelation in the Christian tradition, covering an impressive swath of themes cogently and concisely, including the inspiration of scripture, scripture and tradition in community, revelation and symbolism, natural and revealed theology, and revelation and scripture among the world religions. In Part II, he discusses traditional and contemporary methodology in trinitarian theology, the economic and immanent Trinity, Eastern and Western Christian views, hospitality and inclusion, and the Trinity, pluralism, and world religions. Kärkkäinen seeks to engage in constructive theology in the tradition of such theologians as Tillich, Pannenberg, and Moltmann, yet to engage much more thoroughly with science, other religions, and non-European methods, such as liberation theology. His goal is to develop a theology and a theological method that is much broader and more globally inclusive, integrative, and relational, including the perspectives of a greater array of Christian traditions, other religions, and women. He also wishes to move away from abstract, formal theological discussion [End Page 507] and toward a practical and dialogical method. He argues that traditional trinitarian theology became too abstract and thus was marginalized, but recently a more dynamic, engaging doctrine of the Trinity for today has begun to emerge. He argues that such a theology should be based on the dynamic biblical narrative of God, a complex and diverse story of God’s interacting with humanity in the world. He also argues that the triune nature of God should have priority over God’s unity as our starting point for theology, since this offers a strongly relational view of God that emerges from our collective stories or experiences. As with the previous volume, Kärkkäinen is able both to affirm the essence of traditional Christian theology and further develop it dynamically in dialogue with contemporary theological voices and insights emerging from our postmodern, pluralistic, and interreligious world. He elucidates a trinitarian theology of revelation that is both rich and complex in its doctrine and themes and also rich in its practical application of that doctrine to our contemporary global context, such as in interreligious contexts and the growing consciousness of liberationist perspectives that challenge our traditional understanding of what has been a largely Eurocentric theological method. He analyzes the Trinity through a theological method that is more outward-looking and dialogical, as well as inclusive and hospitable, and that integrates interreligious work and insights. His constructive method takes seriously the voices and insights of liberation theologians and other theologians who have been traditionally marginalized, acknowledging that established tradition is itself contextual and is rightly being developed and influenced from a variety of local contexts around the world. This book is a skillful synthesis and analysis of traditional theology and emerging world theology around the Trinity in a pluralistic and interreligious context. The author cogently presents a vast amount of scholarship with clarity and careful analysis. As a systematic theologian, he intentionally includes the theology of religions and comparative theology based on the Trinity as revealed in the world as essential to contemporary Christian theology. Kärkkäinen’s book would be of particular interest to both systematic theologians and specialists in revelation or trinitarian theology, as well as anyone interested in contemporary Christian theological method and engagement in doctrinal development in a global, multiperspectival, dialogical, and interreligious context, with an emphasis on an inductive or bottom-up constructive method that starts with the human experience of God in the world. [End Page 508] Todd E. Johanson Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA Copyright © 2015 Journal of Ecumenical Studies