Schleiermacher and Spirit Christology: Unexplored Horizons of The Christian Faith

One of the more recent efforts at christological construction has focused on Spirit christology, issuing in sometimes opposing constructions. At first sight, considering Schleiermacher's synthetic approach to the doctrine of the Trinity, one would suspect the irrelevance of his christology for these present efforts. However, an analysis of the convergence between christology and pneumatology in the Glaubenslehre could contribute significantly to this debate. By interpreting the God-consciousness of Jesus as the presence of the Spirit in him and correlating this with the communication of this consciousness as the work of Christ in regeneration and sanctification we achieve an identity between Christ as Spirit-bearer and Spirit-sender (viz. the Redeemer understood according to his 'peculiar activity' and 'exclusive dignity'). By lending a stronger pneumatological bearing to Schleiermacher's theological discourse (picking up the suggestion of Karl Barth) Schleiermacher helps illuminate some of the issues that have arisen in debate over Spirit christology.     

Toward a Cosmic Christology: A Kerygmatic Proposal

This kerygmatic (Tillich) proposal for a cosmic christology presupposes (with Sittler) that in our times the scope of christology must be as large as the whole creation. Noting a body of extant literature pertaining to the theme (Teilhard de Chardin, Tillich, Gunton, Moltmann, Fox, McFague, Edwards), this article argues that Martin Luther's “ubiquity Christology” should receive a fresh hearing in order to broaden and deepen the current discussion, in a way that can contribute both to kerygmatic and apologetic theological constructions. Concerns of critics of Luther's ubiquity Christology are addressed and its underdeveloped character is noted, with suggestions for expanding Luther's vision. At the end, the potential ecumenical benefits of this kind of reclamation of Luther's thought are affirmed, as is the need for kerygmatic theologians to develop not only cosmic christologies, but also cosmic pneumatologies.     

The Theology of Jean Daniélou: Epochs,Correspondences, and the Orders of the Real

After a survey of the life and work of Jean Daniélou considered as the classic theologian of twentieth century 'ressourcement', his theological method is explored under three headings: 'epochs' indicates his reliance on the theology of history as developed by 'biblical theology'; 'correspondences' his cosmic aesthetics, indebted to French Symbolism, and invoked theologically by way of typology; 'orders' his Pascalian emphasis on a distinction between levels of reality and the variety of epistemological approaches they require. The article concludes by applying Daniélou's method, so understood, to the heart of his theological doctrine, his account of God in Jesus Christ.     

THE PARTICULARITY OF ANIMALS AND OF JESUS CHRIST

Clough's theological account of animals critiques the familiar negative identification of animals as not‐human. Instead, Clough highlights both the distinctive particularity of each animal as created by God and the shared fleshly creatureliness of human and nonhuman animals. He encourages Christians to recognize Jesus Christ as God enfleshed more than divinely human, and consequently to care for nonhuman animals as those who share with human animals in the redemption of all flesh. This move risks downplaying the possibilities for creaturely specific forms of redemption; limiting the cosmic efficacy of salvation in Christ; and losing the particularity of Christ's divine and human natures. Another, possibly less risky, direction to take Clough's insights about creatureliness and well‐formed theological ethics might attend to the perverse ways that humans assess the worthiness of human and nonhuman animals by substituting particularities of use and abuse for the particularities of creation and salvation.     

Six Different Theological Responses to the Scientific Prediction of the Decaying Universe*

This article explores six different theological responses to the scientific prediction of the ultimately decaying universe. They are atheistic resignation, scientific creationism, futureless eschatology, physical eschatology, process eschatology, and, finally, resurrection hope in mutually critical dialogue with scientific prediction. In the conclusion, the author argues that the ultimate ground for the cosmic hope must be derived from the distinctively theological norm, that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ, which encourages us to envision the new creation as the redemptive transformation of the present universe.     

Teilhard at Ore Place, Hastings,1908–1912

The crucial role of the French Jesuit theologate in exile at Ore Place, Hastings (1906–26) in the development of  la nouvelle théologie  has been greatly overlooked in favour of Lyons and Fourvière. In fact, Ore Place played a key early role in the  ressourcement  of twentieth century French Catholic theology through constituting a unified and sympathetic scholarly community during an era of theological and political turmoil. One of the theologate's best-known students was Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1908–12), while other teachers and students included Pierre Charles, Joseph Huby, Henri de Lubac, Ferdinand Prat, Pierre Rousselot, and Auguste Valensin. Within this congenial scholarly community, Teilhard developed some key theological foundations of his thought on topics including grace and nature (miracles, anthropology, and evolution) and christology, and was ordained. The full importance of theological formation at Ore Place for the thought of Teilhard and other French Jesuits of his generation has rarely been recognized.     

Order in the house?

Abstract

The notion that human life at Creation had been set into a series of ordered relationships was central for the Lutheran reformers’ understanding of Church, home, and state. Expositors developed this imaginative theological construct primarily out of the narrative of the Creation and Fall, and they used it as a framework for understanding the obligations of humankind in relation to the Creator, as well as for homes and societies rightly ordered. The Christian home, however, did double duty, serving as an archetype not only of life rightly ordered (law) but also of the love and freedom given by Christ in union with the Church (gospel). Lutheran expositors struggled to balance these two, especially when they derived the coercive authority of the state from parental, or paternal power. Could the institution of marriage simultaneously provide the foundation for state authority, and image the love between Christ and the Church?     

THE CHURCH AS THE AXIS OF CONVERGENCE IN TEILHARD'S THEOLOGY AND LIFE

Abstract. During the lifetime of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the Roman Catholic Church passed through deep changes of doctrines as well as ecclesiastical structures, marked by the First and Second Vatican Councils. In that historical period, the perceived threat of the more and more encompassing theory of universal evolution was the main reason that Teilhard was forbidden to publish anything about its theological or philosophical significance. Teilhard survived these lifelong restrictions within his beloved church by embracing the paradigm of the church as “the axis of universal convergence.” His scientific background as a geobiologist gave him the necessary distance from the temporary statements of the magisterium of the Church. Over the whole of human history, however, he believed the Church to be the “phylum” whose development leads to the cosmic Christ as a guidance beam leads to a goal.     

‘The Indivisible Whole of God's Reality’: On the Agency of Jesus in Bonhoeffer's Ethics

In conversation with Karl Barth, this article explores Bonhoeffer's account in his Ethics of the character of the agency exercised by Jesus Christ in the world today in relation to the principal task of theological ethics: namely, the engendering of the most humane form of existence possible within the mandates of work, family, government and church. The article argues that the theological work undertaken by the command of God ensures that these mandates remain christologically determined spheres in which concrete obedience is enacted, and thus the places in which the reality that Jesus Christ is achieves social and historical form.     

The Person and work of Christ in the theology of Heinrich Bullinger

In christology, as elsewhere, Bullinger's approach is both biblical and patristic. Although the starting point is biblical, the emphasis is often patristic, especially when he is engaged in controversy. He begins with the Person of Christ — stressing the divinity. This is the basis for what he says on the work of Christ, not least as mediator. This determined his use of traditional language (one Person, two natures), but the emphasis, especially in debates on the Eucharist, is on the distinction of the two natures. The fundamental importance of christology is evident in the way his 1534 work on the two natures of Christ, described as an orthodox and Catholic confession refuting various heresies, prefaces the collected edition of his commentaries on the epistles. It is shown how Bullinger defends the use of non-biblical terms in the classic definition as consonant with Scripture and necessary because of the cunning of heretics. In his biblical approach he uses first testimony, and then argument.     

Trinity and revelation: An appraisal of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen

In Trinity and Revelation, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen surveys a broad theological landscape before constructing a theological edifice for grasping the mystery of God's revelation in Christ with its significance for religious pluralism. This reader applauds Kärkkäinen for providing an integrated theological proposal that considers significantly not only the rich Christian theological tradition but also current scientific knowledge while respecting local or contextual theologies. This work will definitely contribute towards a more inclusive, open-minded, balanced, and dynamic theological enterprises in the field of constructive theology.     

The Heart of the Reformation Faith

Abstract: This historical and theological study of Reformation theologians, principally Martin Luther and John Calvin, examines three dimensions of faith: (1) faith as belief; (2) faith as trust; and (3) faith as the indwelling presence of Christ. To the question, “how does faith justify?,” the answer is found in the third, the indwelling of Christ, wherein the justness of Christ is present in the sinful person.     

Calvin in the Context of Lutheran Consolidation1

Abstract

This study investigates the perception of Calvin and his theology in the polarizing domain of confessional reinforcement, and what image of him was formed and conveyed by the heirs of Wittenberg theology and later Lutheranism respectively. Historical circumstances and associated theological issues are taken into account, with a three-phase model emerging. Its interfaces are marked by the Zurich Consensus (1549) and by the experience of electoral Saxon ‘crypto-Calvinism’ in the 1570s. Drawing on the relevant sources, the article highlights issues specific to Lutherans in the interaction with Calvin and his doctrine. It shows how Calvin, who in the pre-confessional period was regarded as a distant kindred spirit, became increasingly discredited on the issuing of the Zurich Consensus and by the interventions of Joachim Westphal; how, apart from heated discussion between both sides on the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, christology increasingly took centre stage, accentuating the lines of demarcation; and finally how relatively late on admittedly, the person of Calvin himself (if not his personal integrity) also became the focus of polemics and apologetics.     

The Apostasy of the Church and the Cross of Christ: Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Mystery of the Church as Casta Meretrix

The ongoing moral and theological catastrophe of persistent and pervasive clergy sexual abuse across the Catholic Church makes theological reflection on sin in the church essential. This essay has two parts. The first, longer part is a hermeneutical argument. I offer a contextualized interpretation of Hans Urs von Balthasar's 1960 essay “Casta Meretrix,” in which he traced the image of the church as a “chaste harlot” through the Christian tradition. I demonstrate that several recent interpretations of this essay have not penetrated to its radical heart. A close reading of the text reveals that here Balthasar affirmed that the church sins precisely as the church, and not merely as individual members. The motivation for this affirmation was not the empirical failures of individuals, but was properly dogmatic—a necessary implication of christology. In the second and concluding part of the essay, I contend that even though Balthasar's use of the feminized image of the casta meretrix does have significant problems and should not be uncritically adopted today, the underlying theological claim regarding the church as sinner is theologically significant. He affirmed a necessary ecclesiological truth, one that can help the church recover its visibility and better understand its essence in repentance, which is all the more essential in light of the continuing revelations of clergy sexual abuse.     

The Emotional Christ: Bonaventure and Deep Incarnation1

This article has the twofold aim of bringing the Christology of St. Bonaventure into dialogue with contemporary attempts to formulate an informational worldview, and with the recent theological proposal of deep incarnation. It is argued that even though Bonaventure is a pre‐modern theologian, he anticipates central aspects of a contemporary informational worldview based on differential information, structural information, and semantic information. Moreover, the article explores Bonaventure's unique combination of a “high” exemplarist Christology with a “low” Franciscan view of the humility of Christ. While Bonaventure shares seminal concerns of deep incarnation, his strong view of divine perfection prohibits him from assuming that the divinity of Christ embraces the full gamut of human emotions and anxieties related to the future.     

Is penal substitution unjust?

Penal substitution in a theological context is the doctrine that God inflicted upon Christ the suffering which we deserved as the punishment for our sins, as a result of which we no longer deserve punishment. Ever since the time of Faustus Socinus, the doctrine has faced formidable, and some would say insuperable, philosophical challenges. Critics of penal substitution frequently assert that God’s punishing Christ in our place would be an injustice on God’s part. For it is an axiom of retributive justice that it is unjust to punish an innocent person. But Christ was an innocent person. Since God is perfectly just, He cannot therefore have punished Christ. Virtually every premiss in this argument is challengeable. Not all penal substitution theories affirm that Christ was punished for our sins. The argument makes unwarranted assumptions about the ontological foundations of moral duty independent of God’s commands. It presupposes without warrant that God is by nature an unqualified negative retributivist. It overlooks the possibility that the prima facie demands of negative retributive justice might be overridden in Christ’s case by weightier moral considerations. And it takes it for granted that Christ was legally innocent, which is denied by the classic doctrine of imputation. It thus fails to show any injustice in God’s punishing Christ in our place.     

Theology and Interpretation: The Case of Aquinas and Calvin on Romans

This article explores how Aquinas's and Calvin's theology of justification, the law and the nature of human works integrate with their interpretations of Romans by analyzing their commentaries on 1:16b–17, focusing on the iustitia Dei, and 2:13, which addresses the relationship between works and justification. Aquinas's interpretation unfolds by emphasizing the work of Christ in and through sinners, while Calvin's interpretation emphasizes the work of Christ for and to sinners. I also demonstrate how the theological judgements embedded in these sections inform their reading of Romans as a whole.     

Eschatological companions: Christian hope in virtual worlds

ABSTRACT

The Christian faith is oriented around the hope that is found in the birth, life, death, resurrection and return of Jesus Christ, and this hope shapes Christian understandings of being human and human flourishing. What then might this Christian hope have to say about our technological developments and, in particular, how those shape our reflection on being human? Moreover, how do the various virtual worlds that we inhabit in continuity with our physical environment shape our thinking on bodies, gender, sexuality, identity and relationships? This article adds constructive theological reflection on technologically shape virtual worlds through the lens of Christian hope, moving beyond only eschatological dimensions to focus also on technological narratives of purpose and novelty and theological thinking around humanity, Christology and salvation. It is our contention that Christian hope provides a unifying theme for fruitful theological reflection on virtual worlds and our lives within them.     

Fearfully Wonderfully Made: The Interconnectedness of Body-Mind-Spirit

This article describes the interconnection of body-mind, mind-spirit, and body-spirit from scientific, theological, and pastoral perspectives, and also from a Christian viewpoint, as exemplified in the words and actions of Jesus Christ. Using this background, the author, a physician, theologian, and lay pastoral minister, describes a course which she has developed for the ecumenical evening session of a local seminary.     

Thinking Theologically about Consumer Society

Abstract : To my knowledge, the first Christian theological monograph published in English on consumer society was John Kavanaugh's Following Christ in a Consumer Society, which appeared in 1982. Kavanaugh's groundbreaking text did not exactly open a floodgate. Sixteen years passed before the multi‐authored The Consuming Passion: Christianity and the Consumer Culture appeared, edited by Rodney Clapp. The intervening decade has seen a modest flow of publications on the topic. Most influential in the general theological discussion have probably been Vincent Miller's Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture, and Tom Beaudoin's Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are with What We Buy. In view of the spiritual challenges of consumer society, and in comparison with the attention given to consumer society by theoreticians other than theologians, there is a pressing need for more theological reflection on the topic. Thus the current issue of Dialog is before you.