Editorial Address & Advisory Board

The second issue of volume two of the Journal of the Council for Research on Religion (JCREOR) came out of a colloquium in honour of Professor Emeritus Douglas John Hall, entitled “Christian Theology after Christendom: Engaging the Thought of Douglas John Hall.” The event was held at McGill University in November 2019, hosted by the McGill School of Religious Studies and Emmanuel College in the University of Toronto. These articles were chosen for this issue because of their focus on themes central to the corpus of Douglas Hall’s work. While some engage his work directly, others raise interesting questions and concerns related to the theme. These articles should be considered as an accompaniment to the volume of papers published in 2021 by Lexington Books/Fortress Academic and entitled Christian Theology after Christendom: Engaging the Thought of Douglas John Hall, edited by Patricia G. Kirkpatrick and Pamela R. McCarroll.

Christ, Reality, and Freedom: Trinitarian Metaphysics as a Theology of Culture

This essay explores the possibility of a narrative theology of culture by drawing on the trinitarian metaphysics of Robert W. Jenson. Postliberal or narrative theologies have often been said to hinder the intercultural translation of the gospel by promoting the cultural forms of Western Christianity as the ideal, but I argue here that Jenson’s theology (enlisting some distinctively postliberal themes) creates a critical distance between the church and Christian civilization, while also enabling the free creation and expression of diverse cultural expressions of the gospel. The first section of the paper is a critical project, using a trinitarian metaphysics to rule out any reduction of Christian culture to its Western expressions. Since the community of the Trinity is the one cultural form to which God’s people strive, and because the church’s full participation in this community is eschatological, Christian cultural expression cannot be reduced to one particular cultural form. This creates distance between the church and the world, preventing a strict identification of Christianity with Western culture. The second part of the paper then offers a constructive project, demonstrating how a trinitarian understanding of creaturely freedom enables the development of human culture. By grounding creation’s freedom in the freedom of the triune persons, a trinitarian metaphysics enables the free and loving development of creation in an infinite number of ways. In doing so, Jenson’s metaphysics does not compromise the diversity of human cultures, but instead allows human cultures to flourish in their endless variety.

African Christian Inculturation Project: Theological Motifs of Liberation and Decolonization

This paper discusses the African Christian theology of inculturation. The theology of inculturation – the African indigenization of Christianity – is one of the African theological movements advocating for the liberation and decolonization of African religious, cultural, and political thought. It is a theological motif that emerged from the African experience of suffering and political and cultural denigration under European colonialism. This paper argues that the African theology of inculturation is a theological outlook that addresses African political, spiritual, and social conditions in the post-colonial era. It is modest and transformative because it offers hope to Africans and empowers them to seek positive change and inclusion, while rejecting a narrative of religious and cultural dominance. It demands recognition of Africa and its cultures by the West as an equal stakeholder in Christ’s victory on the cross. The African theology of inculturation expresses a unique African response to the gospel of salvation; in other words, Christian Scriptures are read and interpreted in line with African values, which situate Christian theology in the African cultural and cosmological worldview. The African cosmological worldview takes African indigenous cultures and philosophy as instruments that explain to Africans the relationship between Christianity and the realities of political and religious life in Africa.

Christ, Reality, and Freedom: Trinitarian Metaphysics as a Theology of Culture

This essay explores the possibility of a narrative theology of culture by drawing on the trinitarian metaphysics of Robert W. Jenson. Postliberal or narrative theologies have often been said to hinder the intercultural translation of the gospel by promoting the cultural forms of Western Christianity as the ideal, but I argue here that Jenson’s theology (enlisting some distinctively postliberal themes) creates a critical distance between the church and Christian civilization, while also enabling the free creation and expression of diverse cultural expressions of the gospel. The first section of the paper is a critical project, using a trinitarian metaphysics to rule out any reduction of Christian culture to its Western expressions. Since the community of the Trinity is the one cultural form to which God’s people strive, and because the church’s full participation in this community is eschatological, Christian cultural expression cannot be reduced to one particular cultural form. This creates distance between the church and the world, preventing a strict identification of Christianity with Western culture. The second part of the paper then offers a constructive project, demonstrating how a trinitarian understanding of creaturely freedom enables the development of human culture. By grounding creation’s freedom in the freedom of the triune persons, a trinitarian metaphysics enables the free and loving development of creation in an infinite number of ways. In doing so, Jenson’s metaphysics does not compromise the diversity of human cultures, but instead allows human cultures to flourish in their endless variety.

The Rise of the Third Rome: Russkii Mir and the Rebirth of Christendom

This essay brings Douglas John Hall’s engagement with the theology of the cross for a post-Christendom context into dialogue with the political theology of Russkii mir by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Russkii mir is a theology that claims to be Christendom reborn. It signals a new alliance between the ROC and the Russian Federation by sanctioning military conquest of foreign lands, including Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. This essay documents the emergence of this new political theology in terms of its historical precedents and how this history is being distorted, and even invented, to justify the claims to Christendom. Particular attention is given to the architecture and militaristic symbolism for the newly christened Cathedral for the Russian Armed Forces, dedicated on June 14th, 2020. Finally, these claims are critically examined using Hall’s theology of the cross as a disestablishment for all such “theologies of glory” in light of scripture, tradition, and the true mission of the church. I also bring Hall’s work into dialogue with similar thought from the Orthodox East.

African Christian Inculturation Project: Theological Motifs of Liberation and Decolonization

This paper discusses the African Christian theology of inculturation. The theology of inculturation – the African indigenization of Christianity – is one of the African theological movements advocating for the liberation and decolonization of African religious, cultural, and political thought. It is a theological motif that emerged from the African experience of suffering and political and cultural denigration under European colonialism. This paper argues that the African theology of inculturation is a theological outlook that addresses African political, spiritual, and social conditions in the post-colonial era. It is modest and transformative because it offers hope to Africans and empowers them to seek positive change and inclusion, while rejecting a narrative of religious and cultural dominance. It demands recognition of Africa and its cultures by the West as an equal stakeholder in Christ’s victory on the cross. The African theology of inculturation expresses a unique African response to the gospel of salvation; in other words, Christian Scriptures are read and interpreted in line with African values, which situate Christian theology in the African cultural and cosmological worldview. The African cosmological worldview takes African indigenous cultures and philosophy as instruments that explain to Africans the relationship between Christianity and the realities of political and religious life in Africa.

The Rise of the Third Rome: Russkii Mir and the Rebirth of Christendom

This essay brings Douglas John Hall’s engagement with the theology of the cross for a post-Christendom context into dialogue with the political theology of Russkii mir by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Russkii mir is a theology that claims to be Christendom reborn. It signals a new alliance between the ROC and the Russian Federation by sanctioning military conquest of foreign lands, including Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. This essay documents the emergence of this new political theology in terms of its historical precedents and how this history is being distorted, and even invented, to justify the claims to Christendom. Particular attention is given to the architecture and militaristic symbolism for the newly christened Cathedral for the Russian Armed Forces, dedicated on June 14th, 2020. Finally, these claims are critically examined using Hall’s theology of the cross as a disestablishment for all such “theologies of glory” in light of scripture, tradition, and the true mission of the church. I also bring Hall’s work into dialogue with similar thought from the Orthodox East.

The Social Good of a Sacramental Ecclesiology: De Lubac, Liberation Theology, and Progress

Joseph Flipper has recently charged Henri de Lubac with a failure to extend notions of sacramental significance beyond the liturgical fellowship of the Church. This apparent restriction is displayed most prominently in de Lubac’s reservations about liberation theology and programs of “progress.” This article examines de Lubac’s criticisms of – and convergences with – liberation theology, with a focus on the work of Gustavo Gutiérrez, who admits the influence of de Lubac on his own thought and offers a somewhat different version of a sacramental ecclesiology. I show that considering the socio-political and post-conciliar context of de Lubac’s work can inform a proper understanding such differences and convergences. While de Lubac certainly maintains an ecclesial center in his political theology, he is clearly concerned about the pursuit of the social good beyond the Church. I conclude that the inconsistency perceived by Flipper is mitigated by these considerations, and by reading de Lubac’s later comments on progress and liberation in the light of his earlier efforts in resisting anti-Semitism and racist nationalism

Freedom, Happiness, and the Communion of Life

The first part of this paper discusses the question of freedom and happiness through the prism of Dostoyevsky's Story of the Grand Inquisitor and Evgenyi Zamyatin's dystopia We. It argues that the goal of human life is not happiness but freedom, and that materialistic utilitarianism and rationalism do not oppose totalitarianism. The second part of the paper shows, through the philosophy of Nikolai Berdyaev, that freedom is both personalistic and communitarian and that death and separation in our lives cannot destroy life and the meaning of life. According to Berdyaev's eschatological vision, there is no individual salvation; life is eternal and essentially communal. The argument of this paper could be described as theologia crucis.

Freedom, Happiness, and the Communion of Life

The first part of this paper discusses the question of freedom and happiness through the prism of Dostoyevsky's Story of the Grand Inquisitor and Evgenyi Zamyatin's dystopia We. It argues that the goal of human life is not happiness but freedom, and that materialistic utilitarianism and rationalism do not oppose totalitarianism. The second part of the paper shows, through the philosophy of Nikolai Berdyaev, that freedom is both personalistic and communitarian and that death and separation in our lives cannot destroy life and the meaning of life. According to Berdyaev's eschatological vision, there is no individual salvation; life is eternal and essentially communal. The argument of this paper could be described as theologia crucis.