scholarly journals Holiness without the holy One(s): Towards an ‘evental’ account of holiness

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Urbaniak
Keyword(s):  
Process Theology ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Popular Imagination ◽  
Creative Transformation ◽  
Dynamic View ◽  
Mode Of Being ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Moral Relation

Should holiness be conceived as a predicate (an attribute), a state (a mode of being) or an event (a process)? It can certainly be understood as God‘s primary attribute. This is how much of classical Christian theology sees it. It can also be thought of as a particular modus of existence shared by God and the holy ones (the saints and the angels), as attested by much of Christian tradition and popular imagination. A more dynamic view of holiness can be found in Scripture and throughout Christian theological tradition; and yet, in the modern era, it has been overshadowed by the first two tendencies. This article offers a tentative enquiry into an ‘evental’ account of holiness by drawing from (1) Niels Gregersen’s and Elizabeth Johnson’s reflection on ‘deep incarnation’ and ‘deep resurrection’ as well as (2) John B. Cobb’s and Marjorie Suchocki’s process theology of the Spirit. Firstly, the ‘from above’ approach to holiness, prevailing in modern Christian theology, is briefly discussed based on John Webster’s understanding of holiness as God’s personal moral relation to humanity. Secondly, I suggest an alternative ‘from below’ approach to holiness based on Gregersen’s and Johnson’s deep Christology. Thirdly, Cobb’s and Suchocki’s take on ‘creative transformation’ and Suchocki’s original appropriation of Cobb’s insights on process pneumatology are used as a hermeneutic key to reinterpret holiness as an ‘evental’ category. Finally, the notion of the holiness of life is reconsidered in light of my proposal.

scholarly journals God and Religion in the Postmodern World

1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-172
Author(s):  
Eric A. Winkel
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Process Theology ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Logical Conclusion ◽  
Dynamic View ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Persuasive Arguments ◽  
New Religion

Griffin's larger program in God and Religion in the Postmodern Worldis to develop a process theology able to meet the challenges and opportunitiespresented by science and modernity. This process theology draws extensivelyon the work of Whitehead and Hartshorne and essentially entails destroyingmodernity as an ideology while retaining certain parts of the scientificworldview, returning to some aspects of premodernity (such as the view ofenchanted nature), and creating a holistic, pluralistic, dynamic view of thenature of God and humanity.Besides this program, Griffin develops a number of insightful ideas.Getting around the problem of describing a phenomenon like postmodernism,which wants to preclude all closure and definition, Griffin makes the casethat destructive postmodemism is really ultramodernism, modernism carriedto its logical conclusion. This avoids the confusion of "constructive" postmodernthought.Griffin also makes the case for panentheism, as opposed to pantheismor the absolute dichotomy popular two or more centuries ago among Christiantheologians. Throughout the book, Griffin puts forward many original andinsightful ways of looking at Western thought, Christian theology, and therise of modernism. These insights deserve to be explored; they certainly shouldstimulate fruitful discussion.The major problem of Griffin's work for the Muslim is his desire, andthat of process theologians as a whole, to create a new religion. Huston Smithaddresses this issue in a forthcoming work where the two debate this andother issues. (I look forward to reading this book.) Griffin is not sufficientlyaware of the perennial perspective, which makes me predict that Huston Smithwill offer quite persuasive arguments against process theology. This perspectiveholds that no meaningful religious experience can take place without agrounding and foundation in a divinely revealed tradition. Islam has beencompleted and protected by Allah Himself in the form of the Qur'an andthe Sunnah, and so we need not create a new religion to appreciatepremodernity or to destroy modernity. It is the task of Islamic scholars toengage the issues Griffin brings up, a project which will surely lead us torediscover ideas and processes in our heritage which may be fruitfully ...

On Two Reasons Christian Theologians Should Reject The Intermediate State

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 121-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Intermediate State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Bodily Resurrection ◽  
Two Stages

Typically, Christian theology includes an understanding of human afterlife consisting of two stages. The first is a disembodied existence as an immaterial being in the time between death and resurrection. Normally, it’s affirmed that some disembodied humans go to Heaven/Paradise between one’s death and resurrection; this is a state I call The Intermediate State. The second stage is the bodily resurrection. In this paper, I focus on The Intermediate State. Though the majority of the Christian tradition affirms it, I think it’s mistaken. To show two reasons why, I argue that a traditional metaphysics of human persons deployed to explicate The Intermediate State brings with it one or the other of at least two untoward consequences for Christian theology.

scholarly journals Christian Theology in the Post-Modern Era

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Knitter
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
Reign Of God ◽  
The Times ◽  
It Ethics ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
The Church ◽  
Moral Convictions ◽  
The Way

Responding to postmodernity as one of the “signs of the times”, Christians will have to carry out a balancing act between commitment to their own convictions and openness to those of others. This has implication for five areas of Christian theology and praxis. In theological method, we must recognise that all our beliefs are symbols that tell us something but never everything about God, self, world. In christology, we understand and follow Christ as the Way that is open to other Ways. The Church will be seen as a community that seeks a Reign of God that will always be more than what we now know of it. Ethics will be based on the principles and practice of non-violence: full commitment to moral convictions joined with genuine respect and compassion toward the convictions of others. Such a theology will need to be rooted in a spirituality in which we are “absolutely” committed to truths that we recognise are always “relative” - a truly eschatological spirituality that is always “on the way”.

scholarly journals African theology and African Christology: Difficulty and complexity in contemporary definitions and methodological frameworks

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Magezi ◽  
Jacob T. Igba
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Theology ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Methodological Approaches

There is an ongoing challenge in defining African theology because of two important reasons: (1) the quest for a definitive African theology is a fairly recent pursuit and (2) the vastness and diversity of the African continent. Given this, this article presents the complexity of defining African theology and its methodological approaches through a background sketch of the development of African theology. Regardless of many definitions of African theology and its purposes, the article acknowledges African Christian theology as theology that should be derived from the interplay between Scripture, Christian tradition and African cosmology. In deriving theology from the aforementioned aspects, African theology should also seek to develop contextual African theologies with global relevance. In this way, African theology can claim its space in the universal church. Although we are conscious of the values and challenges associated with the task of doing African theology, we argue for its necessity. We further argue that if the centrality of Scripture is maintained in the African theological endeavour, it will cause African theologies to have some shared reference point with other Christian theologies and hence engaging globally, while contributing unique African perspectives to global theological discourse.

Syncretism and Christian Tradition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Kane
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Cultural Continuity ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
History Of ◽  
Material History

Studying the history of syncretism’s use indicates wider interpretative problems in religious studies and theology regarding race and revelation. It also indicates the importance of seeing “tradition” as adaptive and amalgamating rather than static. In theology and religious studies alike, discourses of syncretism are positioned within racialized perceptions which construct a center and periphery based upon white European knowledge. In Christian theology more specifically, syncretism’s use also shows ways that theologians try to protect the category of divine revelation from human interference, leading to interpretative problems that sidestep material history. The book makes this case through an intellectual history of the word syncretism, tracking its changing associations and especially its pejorative turn in Christianity in the early twentieth century. After diagnosing challenges related to syncretism, the book makes two constructive arguments. First, it defends the concept of “tradition”—for religious studies and theology alike—as a means of understanding cultural continuity amid the perpetual flux of syncretism. Second, in Christian theology specifically, it offers a constructive response to syncretism drawing from theologians Jean-Marc Éla and Rowan Williams. The Holy Spirit, through tradition, builds knowledge of the divine Logos across history often by way of contested religious mixtures with culture. The book concludes by examining positive examples of syncretism in Christianity like the incorporation of ancestor reverencing.

scholarly journals Principles of Christian Theology in Augustine’s Perspective with An Attitude to the Divine Justice

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Sajad Zangane-tabar ◽  
Ghorban Elmi ◽  
Jafar Shanazari
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Formal Theory ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Concept Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Divine Justice ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Modern Era

Faith had a special place in the thought of Augustine, so that it should be considered essential as a starting point in the process of human purification. In this opinion, our knowledge to the seen and believable affairs would be the thoughts and faith respectively. This approch stated about the role of faith in the understanding that revelation invites us to believe and we cannot understand as long as we don’t believe. The Greek ideas have been used during Fathers period and its subject matter emphasized that there is a great and infinite God. The concept of God in Greek philosophy was close to the God of the Bible in some ways. Justin martyr confirmed that the Christian faith is the only valid and useful philosophy. More righteous God should be inclusive to the extent of justice’s concept. God worship must be a responsibility not just for the chosen nation, but other people also worship him. Augustine and holy texts considered attributes to God such as infinite, substantive, creative, love, goodness, justice, almighty, creator, eternal and penetrating. Augustine knew the God's righteousness attribute eternal and said about God that he is an eternal and immutable truth that is present in our minds and he agreed the formal theory of three hypostases (God, Christ or the Logos and the Holy Spirit). He was one of the greatest Christian theorist of the Trinity; the only real God has been formed from three persons under the names of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit in his view. The most important attribute of God is unity. The doctrine of grace is as the basic Christian concepts. Paul knew the grace implies on the act of mercy of God and also a major factor for salvation. Augustine knew the first humanity's sin great and unjust somehow our minds are unable to understand the damages caused by it. No one are known to be exempted of this just and true punishment unless, free mercy and grace of God release him. Religious reformation motion also questioned the authoritarianism in religious life and its emphasis on the personal aspect of faith that played a role in the transition from the medieval world to the modern era. The impact of Christian classical teachings and the ideas of Augustine was undeniable on the development of Christian theology.

Process Theology and Liberation Theology: Theological and Ethical Reflections

Horizons ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-248
Author(s):  
June O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Alfred North Whitehead ◽  
Process Theology ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Contemporary Christian ◽  
The Future ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Ethical Reflections

AbstractProcess theology, inspired by the thought of Alfred North Whitehead, and liberation theology, prompted by the experience of oppression in Latin America, are two distinct and separate forms of contemporary Christian theology that both provoke and compel our attention. Although they vary dramatically in the standpoints from which they speak, the audiences to whom they speak, and the languages with which they speak, process and liberation theologies nonetheless share some striking similarities of viewpoint that bear ethical import. The author thus details their positions on existence in community, freedom and creativity, and resonsibility for the future, as well as the differences noted above, and claims that it is on ethical grounds that their contributions are most profound and their potential impact most far-reaching.

Christian Theologies of Salvation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin S. Holcomb
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Church History ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The One ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Historical Periods

This book introduces the reader to the great variety of distinctive interpretations within the Christian tradition regarding theologies of salvation, distinctive interpretations expressed by a wide range of Christian theologians. Christian theology is reflection on the one whom Christians confess as Lord and Savior. This reflection has been informed by the interest in salvation. The role of soteriology is to show why and how Jesus is significant. All Christian theologians would agree that Jesus Christ is the one through whom salvation comes, but to explain what that means has been debated throughout the tradition. Various contributors from a wide variety of Christian traditions address theologies of salvation, each bringing his or her own expertise to bear on theologies of the salvation as expressed in the work of specific theologians and in historical periods of church history, as well as cultural and sociological perspectives of the present. The theologies of the salvation are addressed from several angles—theological, historical, pastoral, and others. While there are many different perspectives regarding theologies of salvation, the recurring unifying theme is the role of the Trinity and the focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Teologi Ekologi dan Mistik-Kosmik St. Fransiskus Asisi

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Peter C. Aman
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Data ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
The World ◽  
Ecological Spirituality ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
The Given

Abstrak: Untuk mengembangkan suatu teologi ekologi, yang dikenal sebagai ekoteologi, mesti didasarkan pada fakta mengenai keterhubungan semua ciptaan sebagai suatu ekosistem. Metodologinya adalah induktif dan interdisipliner. Kosmologi dan antropologi amat membantu memberikan data ilmiah. Data-data tersebut merupakan titik awal untuk melakukan teologi ekologi, selain sumber-sumber yang diperoleh dari Wahyu, seperti Kitab Suci, Tradisi dan Magisterium. Artikel ini merupakan suatu upaya mengembangkan teologi ekologi berdasarkan tradisi teologi Kristiani yang menggaris bawahi sejumlah titik pandang teologis, seperti penciptaan sebagai suatu proses melalui itu Allah menciptakan dunia; peran khas manusia sebagai partner Allah Pencipta, selaku gambar dan rupa Allah, merawat dan memelihara ciptaan atas nama Allah; antroposentrisme tidak memiliki akar dalam teologi ekologi Kristiani. Mistisisme kosmik St. Fransiskus sebagaimana diajukan Paus Fransiskus dalam ensiklik Laudato Si’ akan menjadi bagian kedua dari artikel ini, agar dapat memahami spiritualitas ekologis yang meresap dalam seluruh ensiklik. Bagi orang-orang Kristen memelihara ciptaan merupakan suatu kewajiban yang berakar dalam iman Kristiani. Kata-kata Kunci: Teologi ekologi, ekosistem, penciptaan sebagai proses, Teosentrisme, antroposentrisme, gambar dan rupa Allah, mistisisme, penyair ontologis. Abstract: A theology on ecology, known as eco-theology, should be based on the reality of the interconnection of all creations as an ecosystem. The methodology should be both inductive and inter-disciplinary. Cosmology, biology and anthropology are helpful in contributing scientific data. The given data could be the starting points in doing a theology of ecology, besides the resources from Revelation, such as Scriptures, Tradition and Magisterium. This article is an effort to elaborate a theology of ecology based on Christian Tradition of Theology which underlines several theological points of view such as: creation as a process through which God creates the world; a special role as co-partner of the Creator for human being as “imago Dei” has to conserve and to take care of creation as God’s representative; anthropocentrism has no root on Christian theology of ecology. The Cosmic mysticism of St. Francis, promoted by Pope Francis in his encyclical letter Laudato Si’, occupies the second part of this article in order to understand ecological spirituality which emerges throughout the encyclical letter. For Christians, taking care of creation is also an imperative rooted in their Christian faith. Keywords: Theology of ecology, ecosystem, creation as a process, Theocentrism, anthropocentrism, imago Dei, cosmic mysticism, ontological poet.

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