Early Theology Research Articles

Ernst Troeltsch’s Break from Ritschl and his School

AbstractWhat is it that led Ernst Troeltsch, who for a time belonged to Albrecht Ritschl’s school, to break from the professor he so admired? On the one hand, Troeltsch found fault with Ritschl’s historiography of early Lutheran theology. Where Ritschl saw Melanchthon as someone who had distorted Luther’s original reformatory insights, Troeltsch praised Melanchton for having clarified and systematized Luther’s thought. Troeltsch’s critique of Ritschl’s historiography is as closely connected to Troeltsch’s own theological program as was Ritschl’s interpretation of the development of early Lutheran theology to his (Ritschl’s) own theological intention. The second half of the article examines Troeltsch’s program by looking at the debate between Troeltsch and Julius Kaftan, a prominent Ritschlian in those years, on the supernatural basis of Christianity, the place and scope of metaphysics in theology, and the “absoluteness” of Christianity.

Maurice Blondel: A Philosophical Life by Oliva Blanchette

BOOK REVIEWS 481 Maurice Blondel: A Philosophical Life. By OLIVA BLANCHETTE. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2010. Pp. xvi + 820. $45.00 (paper). ISBN: 978-08028 -6365-2. As Oliva Blanchette points out on the first page of his magisterial and massive exploration of the life and writings of Maurice Blondel, as both a Catholic and a philosopher Blondel trod a singular path in late nineteenth-century France. He was a very pious young man who had come from the provinces (Dijon) to study at the most prestigious schools in Paris (L'École Normale Supérieure, La Sorbonne), where the philosophical climate was decidedly anti-religious. “At first he was seen as a defender of religion in philosophy in a University that was resolutely secular, and as a threat to the autonomy of reason” (1). Not only was this rather audacious provincial demanding that there be a place in philosophy for the study of religion, he insisted that when properly done philosophy did not exclude religion but rather showed an inevitable human need for supernatural religion. As one might expect, Blondel had to overcome considerable opposition among the faculty at the Sorbonne to obtain approval of his dissertation, L'Action. Blanchette quotes the reaction from one member of his board: “Here is what people would like to know: are you all by yourself, coming in from the wild, or are you the spokesman or even the instigator of a concerted campaign against the conception we have here of philosophy and its role?” (6-7). By contrast, soon after the publication of L'Action in 1893, Blondel was welcomed by those who were defenders of religion in France. Yet he was not an apologist in the usual sense, and did not defend religion in the usual way. Blanchette notes that the joy at having a philosopher defend religion soon turned to suspicion on the part of some, when it became clear how Blondel proposed to “defend” religion, not by cutting reason short, as even many philosophers were quite willing to do in the spirit of neo-Kantianism, but by extending its power of inquiry into the very idea of supernatural religion, thus apparently bringing the very content of such religion, supposedly the exclusive domain of a theology based on revelation, under the domain of critical philosophy. (1) Blondel would make no compromises in philosophical method or abridge the scope of philosophical investigation. For him, this rigor was in the interests not only of philosophy, but also of religion. He insisted: “Non libera nisi adjutrix, non adjutrix nisi libera philosophia. Philosophy is not free unless it helps and does not help unless it is free” (143). Blanchette explains: Philosophy will serve the cause of religion all the better only “if it is not changed into an apologetic.” This is a distinction that the more theologically inclined interpreters of Blondel (Bouillard, de Lubac, Saint Jean) have not always had clearly in mind, thereby reintroducing a theological confusion into his philosophy that he had BOOK REVIEWS 482 tried to avoid, even in what could be called his apologetic intent. It is a distinction that was probably better understood by earlier theologians like Aquinas, but tends to get lost in the reaction of modern theology against modern philosophy or rationalism. (143) Blondel argued that if philosophical inquiry is carried forward consistently, with no arbitrary halting points or omissions of matters to be left unexplored, it will eventually lead to the acknowledgment of a need for the supernatural and thus for supernatural religion. He avoided subsuming religion under philosophy, as other modern philosophers had done, because he clearly recognized that what is needed is precisely supernatural, to which philosophy cannot attain. “Blondel made no claim of entering into the supernatural itself as a philosopher, or of discovering what is its content” (19). In his view, there is no need for an extrinsic limit on philosophy to prevent it from encroaching on the domain of religion. Philosophy comes to acknowledge its own limits (151). Philosophy finds in human action an inevitable “necessity” for the supernatural, which philosophy by definition cannot provide (23). Blondel's concern here is properly philosophical, not theological. What he wants to rule out above...

“Send your angel”: Augustinian Nests and Guyon’s Faint

When the Palmer covers the pulse of Guyon in Faerie Queene Il.viii, the action evokes the covering wings of the mother hen of Matthew 18:10 and God’s protective wings in the Psalms. These images come together in the writings of Augustine, in particular his Confessions and his commentary on Psalm 91. In the Confessions Augustine conveys carnal understanding and rejection of the redemptive simplicity of the Scriptures by the metaphor of a fall out of the nest of faith. An angel’s prayer for the rescue of an unfledged chicken in Book XII of the Confessions is strongly echoed in the passage of Guyon’s faint. This metaphorical fall appears in the Palmer and Guyon’s combination of presumptuous overconfidence in ethical precepts and despair over mortality in the opening of Faerie Queene II, which betrays a regressive carnality opposed to Pauline spiritual renewal. In Augustinian terms, the Word of God and sufficient ecclesiastical support for the “little one” in the faith provide the proper path to self-control through hope in the promise of eternity. In both Augustine’s early theology, and Book II of The Faerie Queene, conversion and temperance are equated in a neo-Platonic return to God.

Newman and the Fathers of the Church

AbstractJohn Henry Newman's study of the Church Fathers began during his years as a fellow of Oriel College and continued through his Anglican and Catholic periods almost to the end of his life. Among the various motives that attracted Newman to patristic theology, there are two that I consider especially important: scriptural hermeneutics and ecclesiology. He saw in the Fathers authentic interpreters of scripture, who read the Bible in and with the church in an exemplary way; he also found in them witnesses to the church's understanding of herself and of her offices. Through his ever more extensive reading on the doctrinal controversies in the patristic period, Newman formulated his theory of the development of doctrine, which is one of his major contributions to modern Catholic theology. Newman read the Fathers as contemporaries, as participants in the theological conversations and controversies of his own day. In the writings of the early bishops and theologians, he found a theological method that was congenial to his own.

Hedgehog and Fox: Anderson as Historian and Philologist

To sin or transgress, according to one dictionary definition, is to go beyond a limit, to cross what is supposed to be a clear border. In this sense, one can say that Gary Anderson has succeeded in writing a very sinful book. Like Sennacherib as the rabbis describe him, Anderson is (he “erases boundaries between nations”)—only I use this phrase to describe Anderson in rather a more positive sense than the rabbis intended it when they applied it to the Assyrian emperor.2 Throughout this book we are discussing, Anderson crosses boundaries between academic disciplines: biblical criticisms that study the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, Qumranic scholarship, rabbinics, patristics, the study of both medieval Catholic and early Protestant theology. He crosses boundaries within some of these fields, as well: for example, by attending to modern Israeli biblical scholarship in a way that is, alas, all too rare among non-Jewish scholars in North America and Europe; or by showing scholars of rabbinics what they can learn from the study of the New Testament, especially when that study is conscious of its roots in medieval and early modern theology. Most importantly, Anderson tears down artificial barriers that separate historical, philological, descriptive scholarship on the one side from constructive theology and inter-religious dialogue on the other.

The search for the theological third way

This is a thoroughly engaging and stimulating book. Often it made me stop and ponder a point, construct a train of thought and an argument, nod in agreement and more often pause in disagreement. The aim of the book is to construct what Grau calls a ‘countereconomic third space’ at the intersections between theology and economics. Grau is keen to avoid what she regards as the conventional oppositions between capitalist and socialist, conservative and progressive, left and right, lack and plenty, heaven and earth; seeking a path that weaves its way between or perhaps outside these tired oppositions. And she wants to do so with the Bible in one hand and the tradition of theological reflection in the other (note the absence of economists – I’ll come back to that). So where does Gray find the biblical and theological resources for such a task? She locates them in the image of the trickster (from folklore, indigenous religions and feminist biblical criticism), the hysterical woman (an em-bodied figure who appears at the margins) and the slave (especially in terms of the ‘admirable commerce’ of the redemption of Christ). None of these topics is new in and of itself, but the combination is very creative. In the process we try to find our way to a ‘third space’ that has both feminist and postcolonial resonances. The result is what should be called an alternative economy – both theological and economic – that exists in the interstices of the dominant ones we know. The image that comes to mind is of a local co-operative, an alternative-lifestyle community that has developed its own patterns of spiritual and economic exchange, a commune if you will that models the possibilities of a very different society. I must admit I find this very appealing (it must be the old hippie in me). This proposal hinges on the multi-layered sense of ‘economy,’ which is at once household, Trinitarian formula and the global patterns of commerce. On the way we are treated to an encyclopaedic feast. Grau sweeps through readings of biblical texts (Matthew 19 for example), early theologians (Origen, Anthony, Athanasius, Irenaeus, BOOK REVIEWS

Augustine's Early Theology of the Church: Emergence and Implications, 386‐391 – By David C. Alexander

Augustine's Early Theology of the Church: Emergence and Implications, 386‐391 – By David C. Alexander

John Webster, Barth's Early Theology: Scripture, Confession and Church (Edinburgh: Continuum International Publishing Group/T & T Clark, 2005), pp. 160. £60.00 (hbk); £19.99 (pbk).

John Webster, Barth's Early Theology: Scripture, Confession and Church (Edinburgh: Continuum International Publishing Group/T & T Clark, 2005), pp. 160. £60.00 (hbk); £19.99 (pbk). - Volume 63 Issue 1

The moral resonance of Catholic globalization perspectives

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that there is a gigantic difference in political philosophy between earlier and later Catholic theology, regarding free trade.Design/methodology/approachThe paper compares statements on free trade made in the earlier period by adherents of the School of Salamanca, and in the later period by Populorum Progressio.FindingsThe paper finds that early theologians favored free trade unreservedly, while later ones were either ambivalent, or in opposition.Research limitations/implicationsCatholicism is not an unchanging philosophy, at least insofar as the economics of free trade is concerned. Catholic social thought on other economic issues, price controls, profits, usury, ought to be studied to see if there has been a similar sea change in perspective from earlier to later theologians.Originality/valueIt might be harsh to characterize what has occurred in this dimension as the “high‐jacking” of a political economy. On the other hand, it is not clear that this is not an accurate characterization.

Barth's Apocalyptic Exegesis and the Question of Israel in Römerbrief, Chapters 9–11

Abstract: Karl Barth's Der Römerbrief (1921) is considered by all to be a major milestone of modern theology, but is rarely considered by New Testament scholars as a reliable guide to Paul's theology and the message of Romans. In this essay I argue that Barth's “dialectical” reading of the epistle is in fact a very successful attempt to convey the truth and power of Paul's apocalyptic theology. While a critical comparison of Barth's dialectic and Paul's apocalyptic reveals some weaknesses in Barth's construal, his commentary stands as a penetrating and powerful rendition of Paul, and not simply as an example of Barth's early theology. This thesis is tested with particular reference to Romans 9–11, and the question of Israel and supersessionism. I show that Barth's reading of these chapters cannot be regarded as supersessionist, precisely because he rigorously subverts any historicist or heilsgeschichtlich readings of the relation between Israel and the Church. In this respect Barth's dialectical reading follows Paul's apocalyptic understanding of history, even though it must be corrected at points with a better reading of Paul.

Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology. An Argument for Continuity

Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology. An Argument for Continuity

Gratian and the School of Laon

Gratian, the “Father of the Science of Canon Law,” had at least a passing familiarity with the scholastic theology of the early twelfth century. His Concordia discordantium canonum or Decretum displays a knowledge of many doctrines debated and discussed in the schools of northern France and also employs the dialectical method for reconciling contradictory authorities pioneered by the scholastics. How did Gratian become acquainted with these methods, doctrines, and ideas? What written sources, if any, introduced him to early scholastic theology?

Islamic Finance — An Overview

One of the areas of the financial industry that appears to be the least harmed by the current market turmoil is the Islamic finance industry. Generally, it is accepted that the history of Islamic finance started in the early 1960s, but is that really where it all began? This article shows that Islamic finance has a much longer history than expected and is applying similar principles as debated by the Greek philosophers as well as early theologians. In addition, the main product types such as partnership contracts, predictable return products, leasing and investment certificates are explained.

The Blood of Recognition–Atonement and Transference in Psychoanalytically Based Pastoral Psychotherapy

Based upon case material and therapeutic narrative, this paper explores the nature of theology done in the practice of pastoral psychotherapy with a focus on the relationship between atonement theories and transference. Beginning with the idea that all transference is really the transfer of pain, the project explores the various theories of atonement and the nature of transference in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Relying on the thought of Freud, Klien, Bion, Grotstein, Girard and the early church theologians, this work places special emphasis on the parallel between transference and atonement dynamics that arise especially when treating personality disordered and severely traumatized persons. The paper raises the question: If psychoanalysis developed from the point of view of the therapist, would Christ and not Oedipus be the central figure?

'Now Farewell to the Lawe, too long have I been in thy Subjection': Early Modern Murder, Calvinism and Female Spiritual Authority

A True Discourse of the practices of Elizabeth Caldwell (1604) is a prose murder pamphlet narrating its eponymous ‘heroine's’ attempted murder of her husband and her subsequent trial and execution. Early modern Calvinist theology is used to interpret the narrative and expose interlocking patterns of subjection and authority which invest Elizabeth Caldwell's words (spoken and written) with a spiritual power conventionally denied to women in this period. That such power comes at a lethal price—the articulation of her authority is permissible only as she moves towards the silence of death—is one of the many paradoxes revealed by a close analysis of the pamphlet writer's rhetorical strategies, themselves based on the Calvinist generic narrative framework of early modern prose murder pamphlets. The printed text has, however, overcome the silence imposed by her execution, leaving its articulation of female spiritual authority poised between the imaginative and experiential realms, subject finally to the interplay between writers, readers and genre.

The politics of matter: Newtonian science and Priestleyan metaphysics in Coleridge’s “Preternatural Agency”

Coleridge’s “Preternatural Agency,” a three hundred and sixty‐one line verse contribution to Robert Southey’s Jacobin epic Joan of Arc (1796), represents his earliest attempt at a poetics of the supernatural. This essay links “Preternatural Agency” with Coleridge’s early Unitarian theology, metaphysics, and radical politics, which he was concerned to distinguish from atheistic expressions of political radicalism. The poem’s argument for the existence of spirit agents that guide human affairs is particularly indebted to the Unitarian Joseph Priestley whose metaphysical treatise Disquisitions Relating to Matter and Spirit (1777) blurred conventional distinctions between materiality and immateriality, corporeal and spirit agency. Priestley’s work in turn participated in a debate reaching back to the Interregnum regarding the nature of matter and the ontological connection between physical motion and political action. “Preternatural Agency” thus enters this debate as well and reveals that Coleridge’s early interest in the supernatural is an expression of his engagement in the theologico‐political discourse of Unitarian Dissent.

RETURNING BARTH TO ANSELM

Barth's AnselmThis article focuses on Barth's explication of Anselm's Proslogion 2‐4 in his book on Anselm and attempts to show how Anselm helped clarify for Barth the ontological nature of his own early theology, in particular what he meant by the “is” in his affirmation “God is God.” Our contention is that Barth's continual pointing to Anselm's Fides Quaerens Intellectum as a vital key to his own theology should not be overlooked. In fact, we argue that only by returning Barth to Anselm in this way can we begin to understand more thoroughly one of the key contributions of Barth's theology generally and its potential relevance to contemporary onto‐theological debates.

From free choice to God’s choice: Augustine’s exegesis of Romans 9

In the mid-390s, Augustine shifted his interpretation of Romans 9 from one highlighting the priority of man’s free will in salvation to one highlighting the priority of God’s sovereign choice in election. The change first appeared in To Simplician – On Various Questions and remained a consistent part of his theology for the rest of his life. Carol Harrison’s study Rethinking Augustine’s Early Theology: An Argument for Continuity rightly emphasizes scriptural exegesis as a driving force behind Augustine’s theology but downplays this important theological shift.

Church, Sacrament, and Society: Abraham Kuyper's Early Baptismal Theology, 1859-1874

AbstractThis article considers the development of Abraham Kuyper's theology of baptism during his early life, from 1859 as a theology student at Leiden University through 1874, the conclusion of his pastoral career in the Netherlands Reformed Church. After initially rejecting the institutional church, Kuyper began to develop a theology for a free church in order to bring Calvinism into rapport with modern times. This paper argues that Kuyper's theology of baptism developed as part of this vision of a modern Calvinist church, one that was both a voluntary institution and an objective, divinely sanctioned institution. The fluctuations of Kuyper's early baptismal theology reflect the tensions of this proposal for a modern church, but by the end or his pastoral career Kuyper had settled on the primacy of the institutional church in baptism.

Peter Mitchell. The Purple Island and Anatomy in Early Seventeenth-Century Literature, Philosophy, and Theology. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2007. 718 pp. index. append. illus. bibl. $99.50. ISBN: 978–0–8386–4018–0.

Peter Mitchell. The Purple Island and Anatomy in Early Seventeenth-Century Literature, Philosophy, and Theology. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2007. 718 pp. index. append. illus. bibl. $99.50. ISBN: 978–0–8386–4018–0. - Volume 61 Issue 3