Between the Rock and a Hard Place: In Support of (something like) a Reformed View of the Eucharist

In this article, Calvin's eucharistic theology is re-read in the light of Aquinas, Augustine, Irenaeus, Luther, Jean-Luc Marion, Graham Ward and Catherine Pickstock. It is found to have great strengths, sucessfully avoiding both static ideas of Christ's presence and individual nominalism, while allowing a prominent place for the Holy Spirit and room for the believer's faith. Calvin took account of the doctrine of the Ascension quite differently from Luther by stressing Christ's bodily absence from this world. The article argues that this dialectic of presence and absence would gain from giving it a temporal dimension, giving more weight to eschatology.     

Visual Theologies and Material Form

This article offers a reading of a feature of John Calvin's theology that has received little attention – the role of visuality in his writings on the sacraments as developed between the years of 1536 and 1561. As an intervention into longstanding debates over the legacy of his sacramental theology, I argue that Calvin's use of visual categories to describe the sacramental event is best understood in terms of what I will call the ‘apoiconic’: a vision of divinity had through visual negation. I suggest that for Calvin the sacramental elements signal a divine absence that, in turn, redirects the gaze upward to Christ, whose spiritual presence constitutes the sacraments' substance. To make this argument, I trace the trinitarian dynamics of this ‘apoiconic vision’, where the Spirit unveils the living Christ by illumining the eyes of faith to comprehend the power of God that dwells therein. I close by reflecting on ‘apoiconicity’ as a strategy for moving beyond anxieties over materiality's idolatrous entanglements and for developing a sacramental theology that is cosmic in scope.     

The Internal Logic of Holy Saturday in the Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar

Abstract:  While consensus reigns that Balthasar's theology of Christ's descent into hell on Holy Saturday constitutes both the center of his theology and his most significant innovation on the tradition, the question remains open whether that innovation marks a true development on this theologoumenon or a radical departure from it. This article argues for the former alternative by drawing on all those elements in the history of theology, both Catholic and Protestant, that point to an increasing – indeed inevitable – radicalization of this doctrine. Then, using the norms set forth by Cardinal Newman's Essay on Development , it shows how Balthasar's 'innovations' meet Newman's criteria for authentic development.     

Forms of logic in faith development theory

A fundamental characteristic of structural-developmental psychology is that development is governed by a logico-mathematical, hence scientific, principle of equilibrium. In this article I examine James Fowler's proposal for a metaphorical interpretation of logic in his theory of faith development. I intend to argue that a metaphorical understanding of logic radically shifts the theory of faith development away from Piagetian structuralism and towards dialectical psychology. A metaphorical reading of stages and their transformation raises serious questions about the attempt to define faith in terms of stages of individual psychological development. A secondary proposal to be considered is the relevance of metaphorical theology to faith development theory.An earlier version of this paper was read at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Association in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 29, 1989. I am indebted to Professor Brown from the University of New South Wales, Australia for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

'The Christian as Christ to the Neighbour': On Luther's Theology of Love

Abstract: This article explores the theology of love advanced by Martin Luther, relating it to his account of the presence of Christ by faith in other people, and to his biblical expositions. In outlining Luther's contrast between the love of God and the human loves, it is argued that Luther nonetheless is still able to value human love. Finally, the relationship between love and faith in Luther is described: love is chief among the many gifts of God that we receive by faith.     

"Where Theologians Fear to Tread"

This essay appeals to the practice of Baroque musical ornamentation as an analogy to the place of reflection on angels and demons in Christian theology. In ways left to the discretion of the performer, this reflection functions to enhance the main theological melody of God, Christ, human salvation, and, in particular, eschatology. Jonathan Edwards and Karl Barth are the text cases for this thesis. While Edwards' treatment of angels and Satan mutes his eschatology of glory by drawing attention to the humility and suffering of Christ, Barth's treatment underscores the sovereignty of God and Christ's victory over sin.     

Leibniz and Luther on the Non-Cognitive Component of Faith

Leibniz was a Lutheran. Yet, upon consideration of certain aspects of his philosophical theology, one might suspect that he was a Lutheran more in name than in intellectual practice. Clearly Leibniz was influenced by the Catholic tradition; this is beyond doubt. However, the extent to which Leibniz was influenced by his own Lutheran tradition—indeed, by Martin Luther himself—has yet to be satisfactorily explored. In this essay, the views of Luther and Leibniz on the non-cognitive component of faith are considered in some detail. According to Luther, the only non-cognitive aspect of faith worth favoring is trust (fiducia), since it is trust in God’s promise of mercy that warrants justification for the sinner. Leibniz, for his part, sides with the Thomistic tradition in emphasizing love (caritas) as the non-cognitive element of faith par excellence. I argue that Leibniz falls into a trap forewarned by Luther himself, even if Leibniz had systematic metaphysical reasons for his disagreement.     

PANNENBERGS POLANYIANISM: A RESPONSE TO JOHN V. APCZYNSKI

Abstract. John V. Apczynski, while presenting a helpful analysis of Wolfhart Pannenberg and Michael Polanyi, does not succeed in showing that Pannenberg's theology is incoherent. Contrary to Apczynski, I hold that Pannenberg's concern for theoretic assertions is not extrinsic but intrinsic and central to his program. Moreover, this concern does not rest directly upon the cultural dominance of impersonal knowing but is a countering of the theological overreaction against it. Polanyi has pioneered the critique of impersonal knowledge, but in Pannenberg's judgment much theology tends to espouse too cheaply the Polanyian elevation of faith as ground of knowing. Pannenberg, while appreciating the relative justification of Polanyi's work, is attempting to thematize afresh—in interesting contrast to Polanyi and, for instance, Paul Tillich—the public, rational structure of faith.     

After justification: Toward a Dalit public Lutheran theology

The aim of this article is to construct a “Dalit public Lutheran theology” as an “after‐justification” conversation, which drafts an agenda for the future of Lutheran theology in the twenty‐first century. In moving toward that construction, I first briefly explain Dalit theology, public theology, and Lutheran theology and shall discuss the rationale for a Dalit public Lutheran theology. From there I propose that Lutheran theology needs to take a contextual, post‐colonial and subaltern turn. Then I discuss the contours of Dalit public Lutheran theology by discussing one of the pivotal doctrine of Luther, “justification by grace through faith,” by engaging in a Dalit public discourse and propose “hospitality by love” as what comes after justification. Finally, I bring out the relevance of such a theology for our present‐day context. The method I employ in this article is subaltern methodology, which is to “read from below” or “read against the grain.” “After justification” is understood as “beyond” the understanding of doctrine of justification, as a forward‐looking public theological understanding of justification, where it finds fecundity and validity.     

The Christian Faith in an Inter‐Faith Context

Abstract :  In developing a Christian Theology of the World Religions, this article makes the following claims: (1) the central issue is Christology including the all‐sufficiency of Christ's work to accomplish salvation for all; (2) by distinguishing between general and special revelation, Christians can confirm that God has witnesses among all the world's religions; (3) Christianity ought to continue to live out of its missionary impulse, to proclaim the gospel of salvation, and to provide an apologetic defense of its truth claims; (4) Christian clergy should approach inter‐faith settings with extensive knowledge of the world's religions; (5) and seminaries should revamp their curricula to teach a truly Christian theology of World Religions.     

Redemption Revisited: Doing Theology at Shawshank

This article examines recent scholarly attempts to revisit the Christian theme of redemption by making various uses of Frank Darabont's 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption. While the appropriation of this film has generated much insightful theology, there has been an insufficient regard for the extent to which ‘redemption’ is a diverse and heterogeneous term which is not intrinsically transferable beyond the specific contours of the Christian faith. I suggest that a new way of doing theology through film is needed. As an alternative to hijacking the film for theological purposes, my premise is that the most judicious way of entering into conversation with the film is to pay particular attention to what actual audiences are saying about it and from that point seeing what sort of theological encounter—if any—can be facilitated.     

Reaping the Right Fruits: Luther's Meditation on the 'Earnest Mirror, Christ'

Abstract:  To meditate aright, for Luther, is not to arouse in us an emotive piety for the crucified, but to be acquainted with the knowledge of our sinnerhood, and be devastated by it. Thus there is no natural knowledge of sin. The knowledge of sin flows directly from Christ, whom he called 'the earnest mirror'. This mirror causes sin to surface in our conscience so that it might cause it to disappear from it. This is made possible in Christ's atoning efficacy, where Christ, after exposing our sins, appears to us as our sin-bearer, the one who suffers our sins but suffers them into defeat in his cross and resurrection, if only we believe. The mirror then leads us beyond Christ's heart to the friendly heart of God, the one and same heart, which from eternity beats with such earnest love for us. Thus to grasp God aright, as the mirror reveals, is to grasp him not in his power and majesty, which might be terrifying, but in his opposites, that is, in his weakness and humility. God's way of being 'most himself' is by being for us ( pro nobis ), bearing and suffering the judgement of sin, and eventually dying on the cross. Then our faith and salvation stand immovably certain.     

William Tyndale on Covenant and Justification

Abstract

This article offers a fresh interpretation of William Tyndale’s doctrine of justification with particular reference to his concept of covenant. It resists past scholarly attempts to resolve the apparent tension in his theology between faith and works in favour of either solifidianism or legalism. Instead, a close examination of Tyndale’s publications suggests that he maintained the gracious nature of justification without adopting justification by faith alone in the style of Martin Luther. Tyndale emphasized love for divine law as the essence of Christian righteousness. The gradual development of reciprocity in his concept of covenant came to undergird this formulation. Greater clarity with regard to Tyndale’s own theological position exposes misplaced comparison between Tyndale and Luther whilst encouraging the identification of views shared with Erasmus and the Swiss reformers consistent with certain trends in late-medieval theology.     

Sebastian Rodrigues in Shusaku Endo's Silence as a Theologian of the Cross1

In his book, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, Gerhard Forde asserts, “[T]he theology of the cross is an offensive theology. The offense consists in the fact that unlike other theologies it attacks what we usually consider the best in our religion.” If causing an offense against Christian theologians and the populace in general is considered a criterion for this theology, Shusaku Endo surely sets forth the theology of the cross in his novel, Silence. Although he would not identify his thesis by such a term, Endo presents the theology of the cross challenging the conventional understanding of the Christian faith. This short article explores Endo's book, Silence, examines how it demonstrates an articulation of the theology of the cross, and argues that Sebastian Rodrigues, the main character of the novel, is a theologian of the cross.     

The Problem of Ontotheology: Complicating the Divide Between Philosophy and Theology

This paper examines the problem of ontotheology as it was defined by Martin Heidegger, and how it has subsequently been approached by those philosophers and theologians who have followed in his wake. It argues that Heidegger's initial analysis of the onto-theological condition was mistaken by its presumption of a radical divide between philosophy and theology. Furthermore, many of the key thinkers who have followed after Heidegger have merely reinscribed this supposed divide between thought and faith, rather than genuinely questioning the terms Heidegger thought self-evident. The result, even among some of the most radical and influential contemporary thinkers such as Emmanuel Levinas, John Caputo, and Jean-Luc Marion, has been a contemporary philosophy deprived of questions of faith and a theology unaccountable to its place in the world. In response to this shortcoming of contemporary philosophical and theological thought, Jacques Derrida has approached the problem of ontotheology from the dual perspective of both thought and faith, and thereby, has provided a new path of thought beyond the problem of ontotheology and towards a renewed appreciation for the possibilities for a genuine philosophical theology.     

D. Z. Phillips on Belief in God

In this paper I try briefly to say why I think that what D.Z. Phillips had to say about belief in God can be defended against certain familiar criticisms, and why I think that his treatment could have been improved. I note passages in his writings which might be thought not to reflect what belief in God amounts to, but I argue that these passages can be read as reflecting belief in God as we find it in biblical authors and in writers like Thomas Aquinas. Having noted that Phillips rejects attempts to do natural theology on largely Humean grounds, I argue against these grounds as echoed by Phillips and draw attention to a tradition of natural theology not subject to Humean objections, a tradition to which Phillips might have paid more attention than he did.     

The Descent into Hell as a Solution for the Problem of the Fate of Unevangelized Non-Christians: Balthasar's Hell, the Limbo of the Fathers and Purgatory

I critically examine Edward Oakes' claim that Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology of the descent into hell provides the best answer regarding the possible salvation of the unevangelized non-Christian. First, I contest Oakes' claim based on christological and trinitarian difficulties in Balthasar's descent theology. Second, I utilize the early Christian tradition's understanding of Christ's descent into the limbo of the just to address the problem of the salvation of the unevangelized. Third, I draw on Joseph DiNoia's use of purgatory to further elaborate upon the 'descent' tradition as a resource to address the question of the salvation of the unevangelized. My overall claim is that the descent into hell is indeed an important theological resource for addressing the question of the possible salvation for the unevangelized, but not in the way that Balthasar and Oakes construe it.     

Badiou,Keyser, and the Theo-mathematics of the Infinite

Abstract

This paper discusses Alain Badiou's dissolution of theology in light of his equation of ontology and mathematics and his separation of the infinite from the one. I argue, however, that Badiou leaves open a place for theology, and I exploit this for theology by drawing on the work of the American mathematician Cassius Jackson Keyser. Keyser suggests a more positive relationship between mathematics, ontology, and theology, and his claim that theology is the science of idealization allows us to begin to think about how one might go about doing philosophical theology after Badiou.