Theological Scholarship Research Articles

21st Century Child and Youth Care Education: An Ontological Relational Turn in Teaching and Learning

The pedagogical challenges in preparing child and youth care (CYC) students for 21st century CYC practice, global citizenship, and life cannot be rightfully addressed by an antiquated higher education system predicated on a Newtonian/Cartesian ontology that assumes a mechanistic view of the materialistic world and a solitary view of the “self” as completely autonomous, ego-based, and self-enclosed. In this article, we propose an alternative ontological stance for teaching and learning in higher education, one that is informed by the growing body of relational ontology scholarship in theology, philosophy, psychology, nursing, political theory, educational theory, and even information science. The basic contention of a relational ontology is that all relations between entities are ontologically more fundamental than the entities themselves. Within this perspective, the “self” is not so much a personal possession as it is a process of relatedness and a reflection of one’s relational experiences. This view of the self has enormous implications for teaching and learning. A relational ontological approach to education will employ more holistic, collaborative, and experiential methods of teaching and learning in which the learner’s (i.e., the self’s) mind, body, emotions, spirit, and environment are all considered essential components of the learning process. The conversation presented in this article is an invitation to rethink the ontological foundations upon which CYC education is currently constructed and to explore the potential of an ontological revolution in CYC teaching and learning pedagogy. In CYC, as in other disciplines, it is the visionaries operating at the edges of the discipline’s philosophical, theoretical, and practice boundaries who provide the critical reflection and creativity of thought to nudge the field forward. Please join us in this adventure.

Bultmann in Retrospect

This article reviews a large and stimulating monograph on Bultmann (Congdon 2015a), an impressive collection of articles on his Theology of the New Testament (Longenecker and Parsons 2014) and a valuable German resource for studying his oeuvre (Landmesser 2017). It sets these major contributions against a selection of important German research, notable English-language monographs, and takes notice of the material that has become available since Bultmann’s death in 1976, especially his correspondence. Renewed attention to this giant of theology and biblical scholarship is proving fruitful in new contexts.

The human face of God: notes on a journey through practical theology

ABSTRACT My contribution to the proceedings to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the formation of the British and Irish Association of Practical Theology focuses on an event that preceded BIAPT’s foundation by almost a decade: a conference entitled ‘The Human Face of God’, held at the University of Manchester in July 1986. I will argue that many of the seeds of 1994 were sown by that conference and were also evident in an article published three years earlier by its convenor, Professor Anthony Dyson (1936-98). It is possible to see how the issues addressed in Dyson’s article, reflected in the ambitions of the 1986 conference, served to shape the agenda for subsequent scholarship in practical theology and pastoral studies. This included issues such as the sources and norms of pastoral studies, the sociological, institutional and intellectual context in which it worked and issues of identity, including the challenge of feminism. The emphasis on ‘the human face of God’ as central to the concerns of this emerging discipline was foundational in shaping the disciplinary field and the community of learning we inhabit today.

Experimental Psychology and the Generosity of the Spirit

ABSTRACTThe first part of this article argues that David Brown and Gavin Hopps’ most recent book, The Extravagance of Music, makes a significant contribution to the theological scholarship on music. At the same time, it suggests that, by allowing Jeremy Begbie to serve as their primary interlocutor, Begbie’s work tends to over-determine the terms, conditions, and scope of their text. By way of response, the second part focuses on the field of inquiry known as ‘empirical aesthetics’, and considers whether empirical testing might provide the basis for mediating between the different positions outlined by Brown and Hopps, and serve as a means for moving beyond the present impasse within the conversation on the theological significance of music.

Luminaries: Twenty Lives that Illuminate the Christian Way by Rowan Williams

Reviewed by: Luminaries: Twenty Lives that Illuminate the Christian Way by Rowan Williams Dominic Rainsford (bio) Rowan Williams. Luminaries: Twenty Lives that Illuminate the Christian Way. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2019. Pp. xii + 146. £12.99. ISBN 9780281082957. Rowan Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, is best known for his tenure as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, from 2002 to 2012. Many Dickensians were greatly impressed by his speech at the Dickens bicentenary ceremony at Westminster Abbey on 7 February 2012. It seemed considerably longer – in a good way – than its c. 1,200 words, and gave us a bit more to think about than Prince Charles’s silent wreath-laying. Lord Williams kindly agreed to the publication of the speech in Dickens Quarterly (vol. 29, no. 2, June 2012). It is reprinted, with only very minor changes, in the collection that is the subject of this review. Dickens is one of Williams’s twenty “luminaries,” a company whose other members include eight actual saints, starting with St. Paul (c. 5–67 ce) and ending with St. Óscar Romero (1917–80), as well as uncanonized theologians and martyrs ranging from Meister Eckhart (1260–1328) to Etty Hillesum (1914–43). The only other literary author to be included is John Milton. [End Page 75] Dickens’s appearance in such company is to some extent accidental: Williams explains that he could have chosen other individuals, and that most of those included were the subjects of sermons or addresses that he was invited to give (xi). However, there are strong themes running through this book that show why Dickens is a central figure for Williams, who is perhaps unique in our time for his polyglot immersion and scholarship in both theology and secular literature. The main focus of the Dickens speech was on Bleak House, especially the figure of Sir Leicester Dedlock. But there is no doubt that Williams knows the whole novel (and Dickens’s work in general) intimately. Dickens “portrays human beings excessively and extravagantly”; he “portrays human beings in hell; and yet, when we read him, it does not read like bad news” (92). There “is a tension again and again in his books between a carefully, neatly resolved, happy ending and an immense burden of recognized, almost unbearable, unresolved suffering” (93). Williams relates this split to the double narrative of Bleak House, which he sees as dividing finished from unfinished business. This is also the way Christianity works, for Williams, in a paradoxical balance between ongoing suffering and perpetual redemption. The “theological” significance of Dickens’s work, in other words, isn’t just a matter of portraying the human predicament in individual characters, it also has to do with literary form. Not only that, but specific linguistic constructions play their part, as in Williams’s reading of Sir Leicester Dedlock’s “appallingly stiff phrase” which nevertheless holds “the hope of mercy” (for himself, as well as his wife): “I revoke no dispositions I have made in her favour” (93, very slightly misquoting Bleak House, ch. 58). Here and in many other places in this book, it is possible to discover unexpected parallels, and assemble them into a broader picture of Williams’s thought. Sir Leicester’s “stiff phrase,” for example, rises in significance by comparison with the description of Thomas Cranmer’s final achievement of clarity and freedom (as Williams movingly and almost believably imagines it) in 1556, as he “held out his right hand, his writing hand” to the flames, “for a final composition, a final liturgy” (52). Williams does not suggest that Sir Leicester, or indeed Dickens (in any simple sense) is a man of God, but Sir Leicester’s utterance, Dickens’s placement of that utterance, and indeed Williams’s celebration of what Dickens has done, all come to seem liturgical – part of a sense-making process, against the odds. Sir Leicester’s finally breached stiffness is bodily as much as mental or linguistic. Mind and body work together throughout Williams’s thinking. The hagiographic method of this book, describing the vicissitudes of its subjects’ lives alongside their thought, greatly enriches Williams’s understanding of writing as a kind of action, or as a...

On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts by James K. A. Smith

Reviewed by: On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts by James K. A. Smith Scott Dermer James K. A. Smith On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2019 Pp. xiv + 240. $24.99. Bridging the centuries-long gap between Augustine and ourselves is no easy task. On the one hand, there is the danger of presentism: allowing our contemporary concerns to drive our reading of the ancient bishop. On the other hand, there is the danger of ahistoricism: thinking that Augustine’s ideas can be effortlessly extracted from their contexts and transported to our own. In this book, Smith avoids both dangers and provides a reflection on Augustine’s life and thought that is compelling both in its historical sensitivity and contemporary relevance. Smith came to an appreciation of Augustine as a doctoral student studying existentialist philosophy at Villanova University in the 1990s. As he was tracing Augustine’s reception in figures like Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt, Fr. Robert Dodaro urged him to examine not only the bishop’s treatises but also his sermons and letters. Since then Smith’s scholarship in philosophical theology [End Page 475] has been marked by a clear dependence on Augustine, especially the Augustinian notion of ordered love. This, however, is his first book-length project on the bishop of Hippo. Smith finds Augustine deeply relevant to contemporary life. In the introduction, he describes the book as an invitation “to move forward by looking back, to make progress by considering ancient wisdom” (xiii). Augustine’s relevance lies precisely in what Smith calls his “refugee spirituality”: “We are migrants, strangers, resident aliens en route to a patria, a homeland we’ve never been to” (51). For Smith, Augustine’s “refugee spirituality” features prominently in the Confessions, where he tells the story of his heart’s journey toward rest in God. Yet the story told in the Confessions, according to Smith, is really the story of every human heart. Indeed, Smith contends, Augustine wrote his story so that others might find themselves in it: “What the Confessions ask of a reader is not, ‘What do you think of Augustine?’ but rather, ‘Who do you think you are?’” (161). The wisdom of Augustine, for Smith, is that he saw himself and us as refugees whose desire for home is fulfilled only in the eternal God. The book is divided into two sections. In the first (Chapters 1–3), Smith describes the “refugee spirituality” of Augustine and how it resonates with contemporary life. In the second section (Chapters 4–13), Smith focuses on the fundamental problem of human life: namely, the disordered attempt to find rest in things that cannot give it. He analyzes how the human heart seeks rest in created goods (e.g., freedom, ambition, sex, friendship, enlightenment, and justice) but finds rest only in the eternal God who becomes incarnate in Christ. Seasoned students of Augustine will not find anything especially new in regard to Augustine’s thought on these themes; they will, however, be intrigued by the unique way in which Smith explicates these themes. Smith uses examples from Augustine’s own story, depictions of Augustine in art, and numerous references to modern philosophy and contemporary literature and film. Readers will also be delighted by Smith’s ability to translate Augustine’s thought in accessible prose. For example, in describing Augustine’s teleological understanding of human life, he states that “conversion is not an arrival at our final destination; it’s the acquisition of a compass” (50). Or, in summarizing the difference between Augustine’s Christianity and Platonism, Smith says, “Platonism offered a ladder to (re)connect God and humanity; in Christianity, God climbs down” (155). Smith’s rendering of Augustine’s thought with such straightforward, vivid language makes this book a great resource for lay people, clergy, and students of all levels who are looking for a guide to Augustine’s thought. Throughout the work, Smith never loses sight of Augustine the pastor. His references to Augustine’s sermons and Rule remind the reader of Augustine’s responsibility to guide the Christian community in their journey to...

Augustinus:'n Studie oor die Etiek van'n Kerkvader uit Afrika by J.H. Van Wyk

Reviewed by: Augustinus:'n Studie oor die Etiek van'n Kerkvader uit Afrika by J.H. Van Wyk Chris L. de Wet Van Wyk, J.H. 2018. Augustinus:'n Studie oor die Etiek van'n Kerkvader uit Afrika. Stellenbosch: SUN Press. Pp. 233. ISBN 978-1-928357-66-7. ZAR250.00. One should read this book for what it is. First, the genre of the book falls between that of a popular publication and an academic monograph, although I would argue that it is probably more of a popular than a critical academic study. The book reads well; the writing is very accessible to experts and non-experts alike. Second, although it displays some historical insights, the book is mainly written from a theological perspective. The author, J.H. (Amie) van Wyk, is a rather well-known South African Reformed scholar of systematic theology. Third, the book is written in Afrikaans, which does presuppose that the author engages primarily with a South African audience. However, the book certainly does address the wider scholarly community also, especially those working in theological disciplines. At the outset, it may be said that the book does a good job of contextualising Augustine's ethics diachronically. In other words, Van Wyk brings Augustine into a sensible and constructive dialogue with other theologians, especially Luther, Calvin, and others. For this, the author should be lauded. It should also be said that, although the book is semi-popular, theologians will certainly benefit from it, especially those who have not done thorough studies of Augustine or Patristics in general. Scholars of Classics, Ancient History, and more critically Early Christian Studies might find the book frustrating because of its theological focus, and perhaps a bit elementary, but reading it is not without some gain even for them. The short first chapter of the book, 'Inleiding' (pp. 1–8), starts with a justification: why is there a need for another book on Augustine? As justification, Van Wyk argues, rightly, that Augustine's influence, and popularity, especially as a figure that resonates ecumenically, is reason alone for the need to study his ethics. Furthermore, Augustine is crucial to Van Wyk because of his focus on the kingdom of God as a theological theme, and finally, Van Wyk considers Augustine a typical biblical theologian, which is further reason for his importance. The latter two points are, of course, debatable, but these also act as presuppositions for Van Wyk's approach to Augustine's ethics. The second chapter, 'Oriëntering' (pp. 9–50), contextualises Augustine's life. Given that this book is written for a popular audience, this chapter is quite important to the whole endeavour. This chapter is very similar to Peter Brown's biography of Augustine18 in that it examines Augustine from his many possible backgrounds: first, as an African, second, as a Roman, and [End Page 285] third, as a Christian bishop and theologian. The chapter also highlights the roles of Augustine as a preacher, catechetical teacher, pastor, letter writer, attendee of councils, and peacemaker. Finally, Augustine is also theologically contextualised as an apologete and polemicist, especially in his fight against Arianism, Manichaeanism (to which a long, detailed, and helpful section is devoted), Donatism, and Pelagianism (Van Wyk still uses this term, although it is often disputed whether there was actually any such thing). Although Van Wyk writes from his own theological perspective, anyone who can read Afrikaans and who wants a rather compact summary of Augustine's life and person will find this chapter helpful. Chapter Three, 'Fundering' (pp. 51–88), focuses mainly on Augustine's theological, that is, dogmatic, foundations. Whereas Chapter Two contextualised Augustine historically, here we have his theological contextualisation. Van Wyk delineates the following aspects of Augustine's theology: God as mystery, God as Spirit, God as the Father of Christ, and God as a Triune God. Thereafter, Van Wyk comments on the centrality of Scripture in Augustine's theology. This is followed by a discussion of Augustine's ecclesiology, with a focus on the sacrament of baptism as affecting salvation, catechism, preaching, the eucharist, and liturgy. He then moves on to Augustine's anthropology, with a focus on human beings as agents with...

Arvo Pärt's Resonant Texts: Choral and Organ Music 1956–2015 by Andrew Shenton

Reviewed by: Arvo Pärt's Resonant Texts: Choral and Organ Music 1956–2015 by Andrew Shenton Thomas Robinson Arvo Pärt's Resonant Texts: Choral and Organ Music 1956–2015. By Andrew Shenton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. [xxi, 288 p. ISBN 9781107082458, $99.99; ISBN 9781107442894 (paperback), $29.99; ISBN 9781108514866, $80.] Figures, tables, music examples, two appendices, bibliography, index. [End Page 462] While its subtitle implies a targeted niche, this latest contribution to Arvo Pärt scholarship aims for more and succeeds. Andrew Shenton, an organist and choral conductor, includes "at least a brief description of every piece that is written for, or can be played on the organ and every work that includes one or more singers" (p. xvi). But Shenton, also a scholar of music and theology, considers compositional technique and the spiritual implications of the composer's entire oeuvre. He addresses Pärt's works not covered anywhere else, and the entries for virtually every piece discussed make some reference to the most recent research available. For twenty years, Paul Hillier's Arvo Pärt (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997) has been the principal monograph on Pärt's music. Now, subtitle notwithstanding, Arvo Pärt's Resonant Texts stands as the go-to reference for performers, scholars, concert curators, and fans, as Pärt's prominence continues to rise. Of the book's ten chapters, five constitute a compositional timeline that divides Pärt's output into five distinct eras, each named for a major, representative work. The remaining are standalone essays: a brief prelude, a primer on Pärt's "tintinnabuli" technique (pp. 30–47), a look into Pärt's theology and spirituality, a discussion of performance practice, and a short postlude situating the composer in Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker's "metamodernism" (p. 267). These perceptive essay chapters are smartly interspersed among the matter-of-fact timeline chapters, assisting the flow of a front-to-back reading. A straight read-through, however, may conceal the book's true value as a reference work that provides specific data and discussion. The data includes details of commissions and dedications, dates of composition and premieres, alternate titles and translations, texts, instrumentations, lengths, recordings, and publications. Shenton establishes the provenance of the works but also manages their numerous revisions, arrangements, re-orchestrations, and even the musical borrowings between them. While some users might prefer the efficacy of a tabular listing in an appendix, Shenton's smooth integration of this information into the prose might more deeply engage the researcher originally seeking a quick reference. The discussion is a mix of description, analysis, and commentary. At some points, it reads as a straightforward, measure-by-measure account of the music. Its real strength, however, lies in Shenton's description of a composition's "core," or "what Pärt called the 'nucleus'" (p. xvi). Pärt's tintinnabuli works often can be summarized by a small excerpt and a figure outlining the compositional plan (see his quasi-Stravinskian rotational array for Summa [p. 68] and his tintinnabular plan for Spiegel im Spiegel [p. 70]). Where this is impractical, Shenton usually includes an excerpt that shows the musical flavor and texture. He finds reasonable similarities to other composers (Benjamin Britten, Philip Glass, Leoš Janáček, Carl Orff, Franz Schubert) but sometimes uses a more critical, subjective ear, deeming certain pieces "(un)successful" or "(un)remarkable." Some researchers may balk at this, but a performer assembling a concert program likely will appreciate Shenton's expert opinion. The first of the book's major topics is the development of tintinnabuli, the technique whose foundation is the interaction of an arpeggiating (tintinnabular) "T-voice" and a melodic "M-voice," indeed a "whole new species of counterpoint" (p. 34). The essay [End Page 463] chapter on the topic reviews the existing analytical literature and intriguingly proposes analysis by "dissonance values" (p. 45), something Shenton has explored in prior research but does not pursue much further here. He hints at its potential in analysis of text-setting, but one supposes it has implications in rhythmic analysis too. Music theorists (Paul Hindemith, Ernst Krenek, and others) have long proposed rankings of...

Gendered African (biblical) scholarship: An ode to Talitha

Attributed in Christian scripture to Jesus’s very lips, the intriguing Aramaic phrase ‘Talitha, Kum!’ has emerged as an important refrain within gendered African theological scholarship. African women’s experiences in the hands of religion and culture do so resonate with the two tangled stories that comprise the phrase’s literary context. The resonance is such that African women’s Bible reading strategies have come to be referred to as ‘Talitha cum African women’s biblical hermeneutics’ or some variant thereof. The ensuing panegyric by a male admirer engages the fresh ways whereby African women biblical hermeneutics (aka Talitha) are breathing new life into (African) biblical scholarship. In appreciation and tribute to African women theologians’ fragrant contributions to Christian life and reflection, the ode samples their work in a manner that in places feels intrusive whilst certainly nowhere near complete.

Reflections on Schleiermacher’s God

Schleiermacher’s approach to the doctrine of God has attracted interest in contemporary theological scholarship. The article tries to map the major features of his God-construal and a number of perspectives are highlighted. Attention is given to the general sentiments of his project, the history of interpretation, the question of a primary referent for ‘God’ and the centrality of causation, the role of structure in his Glaubenslehre and finally the attribute tradition and the doctrine of the Trinity. The second part of the article engages Schleiermacher’s interpretation from the developments in especially the Trinitarian Renaissance since the last part of the 20th century. A number of critical divergences are identified, for example, the preference given to plurality, greater appreciation for the immanent Trinity, a Trinitarian approach to the attributes and an expansive notion of the ‘practical’ implications of the Trinity. Critical questions about ‘Schleiermacher’s God’ are raised in the conclusion.

The Nexus between Traditional Healing and Societal Organisation: Reflections on Busoga Society Socio–Cultural, Economic and Political Organisation

Studies on traditional healing have received a lot of attention from several academic disciplines, including; anthropology, sociology, religion, and medicine. The study of use, practice, organisation, measurement and social distribution of traditional medicine has, over the years, been a case of sociological inquiry. On the other hand, anthropological studies are engrossed in the confluence of traditional healing with witchcraft practices. Whereas the world of medicine academia has been preoccupied with analysing the medicinal values of herbs and their efficacy in the treatment of infections; religious and theological scholars have discussed traditional healing as an extension of spirituality beliefs. None has ventured to analyse the relationship that exist between traditional healing and society organisation since traditional healing practices are society specific. My major proposition is that unlike biomedicine that operates on universal principles, traditional healing practices differ from one society to another, and they are a reflection of the location, beliefs, socio-cultural, economic and political organisation of those societies. There exists an inextricable relationship between a society’s healing traditions and its socio-cultural, political, economic, religious beliefs, and everyday life. Using Busoga society of Uganda as a case study, this article analyses the interconnectedness between healing and society organisation. It attempts to show how healing traditions proceed from the way societies think and organise themselves. Healing practices are then presented as not only a form of medicine to treat biological infections but an ‘institution’ upon which society’s everyday activities are based.

Investigation of South African Black Theology and Its Lessons to Other African Christian Liberation Theologians

The Paper discusses South African kind of liberation theology called South African Black Theology showing that it is a unique liberation approach which has crucial lessons to other African Christian liberation theologians just as it too learns from them in mutual enrichment. It will explicate that liberation theology in this region of Africa concerns itself with the struggle and reaction against apartheid and the after effects of it together with other oppressive factors with the finality of emancipation towards freedom and re-establishment of life in Christ as the Liberator par excellence. This will mainly be done using secondary sources in libraries to get insights from renowned South African Black theology scholars like Boesak, Moore, Buthelezi, Tutu, Sebidi, Motlhabi, Mosala, Tlhagale, Goba and Mofokeng and a few others from North America like Conn and Wilmore. The term “black consciousness” will be accentuated as the key concept in their theologizing illumined by North American related slogans like “Black is Black,” “Black is Beautiful” and “Black Power.” It will be pointed out that the concept is further triggered by blacks’ “ontological” music with exponents like the legendary James Brown’s soul music of “I am Black and I am Proud”, Martin Luther King Jr of “I have a dream” and Marcom X- among others. It will further be elaborated as founded on socio-religio-cultural belief that Jesus is the “Black Messiah,” a title they attribute to Him functionally not ideologically hence its specificity. In this regard, a brief exposition of Mofokeng’s Black Christology will come in handy. The Paper will then end by drawing out SABT lessons to other African Christian liberation theologians. The Paper has two fundamental objectives. The first one is to explore and verify that South Africa has a unique mode of liberation theology which when properly perused has significant teaching to other African Christian liberation theologians. The second objective is to discuss South African Black Christology, with Mofokeng’s Black Christology as a model, to find out whether there are useful lessons to other African scholars. The main hypothesis is that South Africa has a unique mode of liberation theology which when properly perused has significant teaching to other African Christian liberation theologians. The second assumption is that South African Black Christology whereby Jesus is viewed as the “Black Messiah,” as exemplified by proponent Mofokeng, provides both positive aspects and shortcomings to learn from. The procedure the paper will follow to realize the above is: introductory remarks; distinctiveness of SABT; operationalizing key concepts in SABT; brief historical setting of SABT; black consciousness as the key concept and its meaning; six main sources of SABT; Jesus the “Black Messiah”; Mofokeng’s liberation black Christology within the context of SABT; SABT lessons to other African Christian liberation theologians; concluding remarks followed by references. Among the findings is that of intrinsic employment of an African title “Black Messiah” analogically attributed to Jesus in specifically liberational orientation since the other African titles analogically attributed to Jesus are fundamentally in Inculturation approach.

A Companion to the Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris, ed. Hugh Feiss and Juliet Mousseau

This volume is one of Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition. The series’ purpose is to provide an overview of Christian movements at an advanced level, drawing together eminent scholars to write chapters on a range of topics. This Companion to the Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris, edited by Hugh Feiss and Juliet Mousseau, does just that. It is an extraordinarily useful tool for graduate and post-doctoral researchers and will be an important touchstone for scholars in theology, musicology and intellectual history working on twelfth-century Paris. The Companion is divided into four parts, with a substantial introduction by Marshall Crossnoe which examines the historiography of Saint Victor from the twelfth century onwards. The four parts consider different themes and are entitled ‘Life and Ministry at Saint Victor’, ‘The Interpretation of Scriptures’, ‘Sacraments and Theology’ and ‘Prayer and Christian Life’. There are between three and five chapters in each section,...

A Theology of Seeing, Experiencing, and Vision. An Editorial Introduction

Abstract What may seem astonishing is the near dismissal of the beatific vision doctrine in the last 50+ years of biblical and theological scholarship in contrast to the emphasis given to it throughout church history. The state of theological scholarship is changing. In what follows, we set forth a short survey of a theology of the beatific vision, while also introducing the rest of the volume on the beatific vision and theosis, of which we take to have an intimate and overlapping relationship. The editorial article has four parts: it begins by (1) introducing some of the relevant biblical material on the vision, proceeding to (2) develop a theological interpretation of those passages, and then (3) offer a short historical survey of the doctrine, focusing on the relevant medieval and Reformed developments. It finally (4) introduces the articles of the issue.

Greater Resurrections and a Greater Ascension

ABSTRACT Elijah is among the greatest figures of the Old Testament; Jesus, of course, is the greatest of the New. A good body of recent scholarship has emphasized the way in which the Gospels portray Jesus as an Elijanic figure. This article exposits the figural relationship between Elijah and Jesus in relation to narratives of resurrection and ascension in their ministries and at the climax of their earthly lives. To do so, it draws extensively on premodern or precritical interpretations that are little known in present biblical or theological scholarship. By retrieving this classical exegetical tradition, light is cast on the biblical narrative portrayal of Jesus’s superiority over against Elijah. The latter appears as a prophet ever dependent upon the word and work of YHWH; the former is illuminated as the Lord himself in human flesh.

The Bible Abbreviated: Summaries in Early Modern English Bibles

AbstractEarly modern English Bibles are among the most significant texts in western Christianity. They contained the translation of the Bible into English and its authorisation, they facilitated the Protestant Reformation, and their effects on English Christianity and culture are felt vividly to this day. A vital facet of these editions are paratexts: the titles, summaries, glosses, and other non-canonical additions appended to scripture to aid its organisation and interpretation. Though neglected by literary, historical, and theological scholarship, these paratexts comprised huge portions of early modern Bibles and acted as productive vehicles to disseminate politics and theologies. One such form of paratext are the casus summarii, the chapter summaries that precede many chapters in early modern Bibles. In these summaries, significant biblical events or controversial subjects were condensed, omitted, reframed, rephrased, or otherwise represented to suit the editor’s purposes. This article provides the first survey of the chapter summaries in early modern English Bibles, with a table detailing the extent to which they were copied between editions. The article focuses on the Matthew, Geneva, and KJV Bibles, with additional discussion of the Coverdale, Great, and Bishops’ Bibles. The article addresses notable aspects of this material, including practices of translation, representations of Sodom, the anglicisation of names, and the sexualisation of Eve. By explicating the origins and influences of these summaries, this article facilitates the understanding and study of paratexts and demonstrates their importance to scholarship of early modern Christianity.

De waarheid, absoluutheid en eigenheid van het christendom volgens Nederlandse protestanten

This article describes and analyses the views of 20th Dutch Protestant scholars of religious studies, systematic theology and missiology on ‘the absoluteness of Christianity/the revelation of God in Jesus Christ’, and their response to Western relativism rooted in the Enlightenment. Previous adherence to the Augustinian concept of Christianity as ‘the true religion,’ was exchanged for new ideas and positions that took them back to the essentials behind the concept of ‘the absoluteness of Christianity;’ to rethinking ‘absoluteness;’ ‘the non-absoluteness of Christianity;’ and alternative terms such as ‘finality,’ ‘originality,’ and ‘normativity.’ The concept of ‘the absoluteness of Christianity’ may have disappeared but elements thereof survive in new forms.

“Piers Plowman” and the Poetics of Enigma: Riddles, Rhetoric, and Theology. Curtis A. Gruenler. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017. Pp. xii+586.

<i>“Piers Plowman” and the Poetics of Enigma: Riddles, Rhetoric, and Theology</i>. Curtis A. Gruenler. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017. Pp. xii+586.

Reconciling Cultures and Generations: Reflections on Today's Church by Korean American Catholics ed. by Simon C. Kim and Francis Daeshin Kim

Reviewed by: Reconciling Cultures and Generations: Reflections on Today's Church by Korean American Catholics ed. by Simon C. Kim and Francis Daeshin Kim Angelyn Dries, OSF Reconciling Cultures and Generations: Reflections on Today's Church by Korean American Catholics. Edited by Simon C. Kim and Francis Daeshin Kim. Chicago: Catholic Theological Union, 2018. 142 pp. $14.99. Perhaps the earliest study of what happens to the faith of Catholic immigrants in the context of the United States was Gerald Shaughnessy, Has the Immigrant Kept the Faith? (1925). Ninety plus years later, editors Simon C. Kim and Francis Daeshin Kim have drawn upon diverse categories of thought to examine the historical background undergirding current issues in the life and identity of Korean American Catholics. While influenced by Korean history and culture and by American contexts, Korean, American, and Catholic identity has taken place in a situation where negotiating identity interfaces with an already racialized framework of White, Black, and Protestant. Another factor is the navigation of generational differences within families, often related to the Korean experience of arrival before or after the Korean War. Some common migration issues, albeit with individual particularities for Korean Catholics, are presented with diversity and breadth. Co-editor Francis Daeshin Kim shares his background—Korean heritage, English, and Protestant to Korean American Catholic, [End Page 81] when he married a Korean Catholic woman in California. Chapters are written by scholars in theology (Kevin P. Considine, who married a Korean), Elizabeth Anne Park (child psychologist), James K. Lee (history of Early Christianity), Elizabeth Oh (English), Mi-Kyoung Hwang (ministry), Franklin Rausch, a non-Korean married to a Filipina (historian, late nineteenth century to 1945 Korea and Catholicism), Irene Park (pastoral theology), and co-editor Simon C. Kim (theology). Analysis of cultural and religious factors in the transmission of Catholic faith is central throughout the book. Koreans are known for their strong evangelization efforts. Because women have assumed a key role in handing on culture and faith, Oh's chapter on the psychological effects for women of the misinterpretation of Confucian and Christian teachings about women is especially insightful. Park's chapter explores the role of stories in navigating difficult situations and bridging a generational gap in addressing acculturation issues in immigrant families. Co-editor Simon C. Kim has also played a large role in connecting the experience of Korean Catholics with the church in the United States through the document he wrote for the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference, Harmony in Faith: Korean American Catholics (2016), written for the jubilee celebration of Korean Catholics in the United States. The Kim and Kim edited volume is an excellent entrée to an underrepresented community in American Catholic history. Angelyn Dries, OSF Saint Louis University Copyright © 2019 American Catholic Historical Society

The Miracle Myth: Why Belief in the Resurrection and the Supernatural Is Unjustified by Lawrence Shapiro

Reviewed by: The Miracle Myth: Why Belief in the Resurrection and the Supernatural Is Unjustified by Lawrence Shapiro Glenn B. Siniscalchi lawrence shapiro, The Miracle Myth: Why Belief in the Resurrection and the Supernatural Is Unjustified (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016). Pp. xvii + 168. $27.95. One of the steps for establishing the credibility of a divine revelation consists in identifying the reality of miracles in a religiously charged context. If miracles have not accompanied the teachings of a self-proclaimed prophet, then his revelatory claims should be considered spurious. Although Lawrence Shapiro does not deny the possibility of miracles tout court, he reports that believing in them is unjustified: "My goal in this book is to convince you that no one has ever had or currently has good reasons for believing in miracles" (p. xiv). Shapiro's accessible and thought-provoking book will appeal to fundamental theologians, philosophers, and intelligent laypersons for establishing the epistemic warrants for believing in miracles. After explaining the differences between justification, explanation, knowledge, and belief, S. introduces the reader to the way in which an inference to the best explanation should be understood and formulated. When garnering the evidence for a purported event, one must test the available hypotheses that can account for the data. Hypotheses are strengthened or weakened by the assumptions that affect them. Because miracles should be understood as improbable "events that are the result of supernatural, typically divine, forces" (p. 18), naturalistic hypotheses should always be preferred over supernatural ones. Undoubtedly, S. has been influenced by David Hume's case against miracles. There are two weaknesses in the book, both of which relate to assessing the merits of competing hypotheses as they pertain to the evidence for Jesus's resurrection. The first is that S. does not consider the arguments and implications of natural theology. Contemporary defenders of miracles not only provide arguments for the existence of God; they also show why God is likely to communicate with humans in a publicly accessible way. It is fitting that God will reveal meaningful answers to questions about human origins, purpose, identity, morality, and destiny. S. sees the implications: "Well, of course, the existence of a god who wanted to resurrect Jesus would increase the probability of Jesus's resurrection. Indeed, if that god were omnipotent, I would say it raises the probability of the resurrection to one" (p. 84; cf. pp. 52, 55). Unless S. presents sound arguments for the existence of finite gods or the semipotent deity (pp. 46, 49), the prima facie conclusion is that theism strengthens the case for the resurrection. Instead of interacting with recent scholarship in natural theology, S. maintains that theism is epistemically equivalent to other worldviews: "But how do we verify [End Page 554] assumptions about god's characteristics and 'personality?' . . . We don't have in our possession the equivalent of a god baseball card on which god's stats are revealed" (p. 44; cf. pp. 47, 50-51, 56, etc.). Though S. describes miracles as "improbable events," natural theology allows us to conclude that miracles should be expected at one point or another in a theistic universe. The second weakness is that S. does not recognize the religious context in which Christianity emerged. Miracles do not occur in a vacuum but accompany claims and practices that supposedly come from God. Instead of taking the surrounding socioreligious context of miracle claims into consideration, Shapiro affirms that miracles should always be explained by natural causes that we do not currently understand: "If we take as a background assumption the idea that people don't understand everything that goes on in the natural world, . . . then the possibility that an unknown natural cause is responsible for the weeping statue [read: miracle] is no less compelling than the hypothesis that says something supernatural is the cause" (p. 51; cf. 56). This objection harks back to Baruch Spinoza's argument against miracles. Moreover, critical historians can provide clues about the past that coincidentally correspond with God's intentions in revealing the answers to the deep questions of human existence. In the case of early Christianity, the best tentative conclusions have been used to tip the scales in favor...