Revisiting the Somatic Death Objection to Penal Substitution: Original Sin and the Nature of Consequences

In an essay titled ‘The Logic of Reparative Substitution: Contemporary Restitution Models of Atonement, Divine Justice, and Somatic Death,’ Joshua Farris and S. Mark Hamilton articulate a largely ignored objection to the penal substitutionary atonement theory: the Somatic Death Objection. In this essay I respond to Farris and Hamilton’s Somatic Death Objection by appealing to the doctrine of original sin and the distinction between, what I call, mere consequences and penal consequences. I begin by defining the model in question: Penal Substitutionary Atonement. I then examine the Somatic Death Objection as Farris and Hamilton articulate it. Having done this, I provide two eschatologically based responses to the objection but argue that these responses are found wanting for various reasons. Finally, I turn to the doctrine of original sin and the distinction between mere consequences and penal consequences to argue that the Somatic Death Objection need not undermine penal substitution.

Divine Action is Constitutive of Theology: William Abraham, John Webster, and Theological Theology

This article puts forward the view that divine action is constitutive of Christian theology. More precisely, it claims that what makes a theologian’s work theological is her commitment to a narrative composed by God’s actions to create, redeem, sustain and perfect creatures. It begins with a systematic summary of William Abraham’s four-volume Divine Agency and Divine Action. Two objections are then put to it, one regarding the breadth of the concept ‘action’ and another regarding its ability to facilitate a complete theological method. It then argues that these objections can be overcome when partnered with John Webster’s ‘theological theology’ approach, as it supplies the crucial concept of an ‘economy’ of divine action. A final section presents a ‘Websterian/Abrahamic’ approach, with the result that divine action is no longer relegated to discussions of special divine providence but is the defining feature of all theological work.

Graded Theism: A Fundamental Theology of Religions

This article is set in the context of the pastoral difficulties in embracing interreligious dialogue. Tracing the problem to the seeming incompatibility between dialogue and proclamation, it goes on to argue that this difficulty can be overcome by providing an adequate conceptual framework. Using some recent work in fundamental theology, the article proposes ‘graded theism’ as providing the needed conceptual grounding for overcoming the said incompatibility. This article clearly distinguishes fundamental theology from theology of religions, philosophy and theology from scientific study of religions, the common ground required for dialogue from the lowest common denominator of religions postulated on the basis of scientific study. The last distinction enables one to maintain both commonalities as well as particularities of religions, and collaborate with people of other faiths without undermining proclamation.

The Delicate Art of Putting Intractable Disputes into Question

The conflicting evaluations given to moral issues beg for an explanation. Can such an explanation be found in the invisible presence of competing rationalities that result in intractable disputes? This essay seeks to explore how the work of Alasdair MacIntyre can be useful in making visible the way competing traditions of moral inquiry hamper our attempts to make tractable currently intractable disputes in the field of moral theology. A comparison between the approach of MacIntyre and Charles E. Curran aims at developing a methodology for evaluating such competing modes of inquiry.

Fritz Tillmann, Discipleship and the Renewal of Moral Theology

The notion of discipleship has come to be considered an essential foundation and perspective in modern Catholic moral theology. Fritz Tillmann’s manual Die Idee der Nachfolge Christi was a landmark work in the early 20th century whose popularity led to a wide diffusion of the biblical concept of discipleship in Catholic moral theology. However, little mention is made of Tillmann in current academic writing. The article aims to explore the thought of Tillmann by outlining his understanding of Christian moral discipleship in conjunction with examples of key authors who influenced Tillmann, such as Hirscher and Linsenmann of the Tübingen School, as well as Neo-Scholastic authors who severely criticized his approach. The article concludes with a reflection on the current implications of discipleship in moral theology, calling for a greater recognition of the need for a transformative, loving relationship with Christ to fuel the desire to choose the good.

Retrieving At-one-ment in the English Soteriological Tradition

This article examines the use of the word atonement in biblical-theological discourse in the English language and early English translations of the Bible. It traces the word’s origin and development, and it uncovers its original signification and the meaning of the words from which it derives. It suggests that modern English-speaking theologians could benefit from a re-evaluation of this word given that it was first introduced in English translations of the Bible and subsequently used in Christian theological discourse for a specific purpose which is no longer operative. It suggests that a recovery of its original signification can be helpful to understanding how some medieval and early Renaissance English Christians interpreted that word, scriptural passages, and Christ’s salvific work.