The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology

Transcription

1 The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology Edited by Gareth Jones

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3 The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology

4 Blackwell Companions to Religion The Blackwell Companions to Religion series presents a collection of the most recent scholarship and knowledge about world religions. Each volume draws together newly commissioned essays by distinguished authors in the field, and is presented in a style which is accessible to undergraduate students, as well as scholars and the interested general reader. These volumes approach the subject in a creative and forward-thinking style, providing a forum in which leading scholars in the field can make their views and research available to a wider audience. Published The Blackwell Companion to Judaism Edited by Jacob Neusner and Alan J. Avery-Peck The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion Edited by Richard K. Fenn The Blackwell Companion to the Hebrew Bible Edited by Leo G. Perdue The Blackwell Companion to Postmodern Theology Edited by Graham Ward The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism Edited by Gavin Flood The Blackwell Companion to Political Theology Edited by Peter Scott and William T. Cavanaugh The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism Edited by Alister E. McGrath and Darren C. Marks The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology Edited by Gareth Jones The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics Edited by William Schweiker The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and Sam Wells Forthcoming The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion Edited by Robert A. Segal The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity Edited by Ken Parry The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality Edited by Arthur Holder The Blackwell Companion to the Bible and Culture Edited by John Sawyer The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament Edited by David Aune

5 The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology Edited by Gareth Jones

6 2004 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd except for editorial material and organization 2004 by Gareth Jones 350 Main Street, Malden, MA , USA 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Gareth Jones to be identified as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2004 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for ISBN X A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10 on 12.5 pt Photina by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by MPG Books Limited, Bodmin, Cornwall Index compiled by Meg Davies, Registered Indexer, Society of Indexers. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website:

7 Contents Notes on Contributors Preface vii xii Part I Theology and The Practice of Faith Robin Gill 3 2 Biblical Studies John Barton 18 3 Philosophy David B. Burrell 34 4 Culture Charles T. Mathewes 47 5 Social Theory Don Browning 65 6 Theological Anthropology Ray Anderson 82 7 History William Dean 95 Part II History Patristics G. R. Evans and Morwenna Ludlow Medieval Theology Stephen F. Brown Reformation Carl R. Trueman Modernity Garrett Green 162 Part III Themes Trinity Bruce D. Marshall Incarnation John Webster 204

8 vi contents 14 Redemption Esther D. Reed Eschatology Andrew Chester Church and Sacraments Gavin D Costa 258 Part IV Key Modern Figures Kant Gareth Jones Hegel Merold Westphal Schleiermacher Dawn DeVries Barth Mark Lindsay Rahner Karen Kilby Bonhoeffer John W. de Gruchy Bultmann and Tillich James M. Byrne Von Balthasar Mark McIntosh 388 Part V Contemporary Issues Christianity and Other Religions Ian Markham Economics and Social Justice Martyn Percy Feminism Patricia Daniel Rediscovery of Mysticism Ralph Norman The Context of Eco-theology Laurel Kearns Drama, Film and Postmodernity Richard Arrandale Race M. Shawn Copeland Science Robert John Russell and Kirk Wegter-McNelly 512 Index 557

9 Contributors Ray Anderson is Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He is the author of many books and articles, the most recent including The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis (2003) and Spiritual Caregiving as Secular Sacrament: A Practical Theology for Professional Caregivers (2003). His current research interests center on a post-theistic evangelical theology. Richard Arrandale taught religion and theology at Christ Church University College in Canterbury, Kent, from 1997 to 2003, and he is currently pursuing a career as a freelance writer on mysticism and new age spiritualities, based in Glastonbury, UK. His publications include articles on the work of Antonin Artaud, the tensions between psychology and theology, and the interface between religion and postmodernism. John Barton is the Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford. Among his many publications are The Spirit and the Letter (1997) and (with John Muddiman) his edition of the Oxford Bible Commentary (2001). His current research interests center on a project on the nature of biblical criticism. Stephen F. Brown is Director of the Institute of Medieval Philosophy and Theology at Boston College, Massachusetts. He is editor of five volumes of the Opera Philosophica et Theologica of William of Ockham, and editor of Bonaventure: The Journey of the Mind to God and Aquinas, on Faith and Reason. He is author of more than fifty articles on medieval philosophy and theology. He is currently working on an edition of Book 1 of Richard Fishacre s Commentary on the Sentences and collecting a number of translated medieval texts dealing with the development of theology as a scientific university discipline. Don Browning is Alexander Campbell Professor of Religious Ethics and the Social Sciences Emeritus of the Divinity School, University of Chicago. His most recent publication is Marriage and Modernization: Why Globalization Threatens Marriage and What to Do

10 viii contributors about It (2003). He is also Director of the Religion, Culture, and Family Project located at the University of Chicago. David B. Burrell, CSC, is Hesburgh Professor of Philosophy and Theology at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and author most recently of Friendship and Ways to Truth, as well as translator of al-ghazali s Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence. James M. Byrne is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at St. Michael s College, Vermont. He is the author of God: Thoughts in an Age of Uncertainty (2001) and Religion and Enlightenment (1997), together with other articles and publications. His research interests center on philosophy and modern theology. Andrew Chester is Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He is the author of many books and articles, including work on the Pentateuchal Targums and the Letter of James. His research interests center on messianic hope and eschatology in early Judaism and Christianity. M. Shawn Copeland is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Boston College, Massachusetts, and (adjunct) Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies, Xavier University, Louisiana. Her academic research and publications include the areas of theological and philosophical anthropology, political theology and philosophy, and embodiment, with special attention to gender and race. Gavin D Costa is Reader in Christian Theology and Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Bristol, UK. He is a consultant to the Church of England, the Catholic Bishop s Conference, and the Vatican on issues regarding other religions. In 1998 he served as the Joseph McCarthy Visiting Professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Recent publications include The Trinity and the Meeting of Religions (2000) and Sexing the Trinity (2000). His research interests are in contemporary theology, theology of religions, and gender and psychoanalysis. Patricia Daniel teaches feminism and religious studies at Christ Church University College, Canterbury, and other institutions in Kent, UK. The author of several articles on feminist theologies, she continues to research in contemporary feminism. William Dean is Professor of Constructive Theology at the Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado. Specializing in the distinctively American tradition of religious thought, his books include American Religious Empiricism (1986), History Making History (1988), The American Spiritual Culture (2002), and The Religious Critic in American Culture (1994), which received the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence. Dawn DeVries is John Newton Thomas Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Richmond, Virginia. She is currently working on a major study of Schleiermacher s dogmatic theology. She is the author of Jesus Christ in the Preaching of Calvin and Schleiermacher and the editor and translator of Servant of the Word: Selected Sermons of Friedrich Schleiermacher.

11 contributors ix G. R. Evans is Professor of Medieval Theology and Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of numerous books in the fields of patristic, medieval and ecumenical history and theology, including Philosophy and Theology in the Middle Ages (1994), Law and Theology in the Middle Ages (2001), and Anselm (1998). She is also the author of A Brief History of Heresy (2003) and the editor of The Medieval Theologians and The Early Christian Theologians. Robin Gill is Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. He is the author of some twenty books, including most recently Changing Worlds (2002), The Empty Church Revisited (2003), and A Sense of Grace (2004). Garrett Green teaches religious studies at Connecticut College. He is the author of Imagining God: Theology and the Religious Imagination (1998) and Theology, Hermeneutics, and Imagination: The Crisis of Interpretation at the End of Modernity (2000). His current research centers on the relationship between philosophy, aesthetics, and modern theology, particularly contemporary debates about modernism and postmodernism. John W. de Gruchy is Robert Selby Taylor Professor of Christian Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. The author of many books and articles, he has recently edited the Cambridge Companion to Bonhoeffer (1999), as well as Reconciliation: Restoring Justice (2002). He remains deeply involved in the work for truth and reconciliation in South Africa, as well as continuing his long-term work on the life and thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Gareth Jones is Professor of Christian Theology and Director of the Centre for Anglican Studies, at Christ Church University College, Canterbury, UK. He was founder editor of Reviews in Religion and Theology, and was recently theological consultant to the House of Bishops of the Church of England. His publications include Critical Theology (1995) and Christian Theology: A Brief Introduction (1999), and his current research interests center on the role of theological reflection in the contemporary Anglican Communion. Laurel Kearns is Associate Professor of Sociology of Religion and Environmental Studies at Drew Theological School and the Casperson School of Graduate Studies at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey. She is co-editor of the Christianity-related articles for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature and a member of the Religion and Ecology Steering Committee for the American Academy of Religion. Her research and writing have focused on religious (predominantly Christian) ecological activism, greening the ethnography of religion, and environmental justice. Karen Kilby is Lecturer in Systematic Theology at the University of Nottingham, UK. She has written a brief introduction to the thought of Karl Rahner, Karl Rahner (1997) and is about to publish a more substantial study, Rahner: Theology and Philosophy. Mark Lindsay is Director of Studies at Trinity College, University of Melbourne. He has been researching the theological basis of Karl Barth s opposition to Nazism and the Holocaust, and has published a number of articles and chapters in the broad field of post-holocaust theology.

12 x contributors Mark McIntosh, Associate Professor of Theology at Loyola University, Chicago, is an Episcopal priest and canon theologian to the Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, USA. The author of Mystical Theology and other books investigating the intersection of spirituality and theology, he is also the author of the forthcoming Blackwell Guide to Christian Theology. Ian Markham is the Dean of Hartford Seminary and Professor of Theology and Ethics, Hartford Seminary, Connecticut. He is the author of Plurality and Christian Ethics (1994), Truth and the Reality of God (1999), and A Theology of Engagement (2003). His current research centers on Christian and Hindu explanations for disagreement. Bruce D. Marshall is Professor of Historical Theology at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, where he teaches medieval and Reformation studies, and systematic theology. He is the author of several books and articles, including Christology in Conflict (1987) and Trinity and Truth (2000). His research interests include the Trinity and Christology, philosophical issues in theology, and Judaism and Christian theology. Charles T. Mathewes is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, where he teaches theology, ethics, and culture. He is the author of Evil and the Augustinian Tradition and the forthcoming A Theology of Public Life during the World. His research interests center on moral and political theory and Christian doctrine. Ralph Norman is Lecturer in Historical Theology at Christ Church University College at Canterbury, Kent, UK. His monograph on the doctrine of the ascension is in preparation, and his current research interests center on the doctrine of God. Martyn Percy is Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute based at the University of Manchester, UK, where he is also Reader in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. His recent publications include Salt of the Earth: Religious Resilience in a Secular Age (2002). He is currently researching into Christianity and contemporary culture, and modern ecclesiology. Esther D. Reed is Lecturer in Theology and Ethics at the University of St. Andrews, UK, and editor of Studies in Christian Ethics. She is author of The Genesis of Ethics (2000) and A Theological Reading of Hegel s Phenomenology of Spirit, with Particular Reference to its Themes of Identity, Alienation and Community (1996). Her current research interests lie in the ethics of human rights and Protestant traditions of natural law associated with Richard Hooker, Robert Sanderson, Hugo Grotius, and more recent thinkers in this tradition. Robert John Russell is Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and Professor of Theology and Science in Residence, at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. He is co-editor of the 5-volume CTNS/Vatican Observatory series on science and divine action. He is currently working on the book, Time in Eternity: Theology and Science in Mutual Interaction, for which he won a PCRS/Templeton Grant for research and writing on the constructive engagement of religion and science.

13 contributors xi Carl R. Trueman is Associate Professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is author of Luther s Legacy: Salvation and English Reformers, (1997) and The Claims of Truth: John Owen s Trinitarian Theology (1998). His current research interests include seventeenth century Reformed Orthodoxy in relation to medieval and Renaissance thought. John Webster is Professor of Systematic Theology at Aberdeen University, having until recently been Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford. He is the author of many books and articles on modern and systematic theology, including most recently Holiness (2003), and he edited the Cambridge Companion to Barth (2000). His research interests center on constructive Christian dogmatics and modern historical theology, with particular interest in Barth s theology in the 1920s. Merold Westphal is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University in New York City. He is past president of the Hegel Society of America and of the Søren Kierkegaard Society, and has served as Executive Co-Director of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP). He is the author of History and Truth in Hegel s Phenomenology (1979), Hegel, Freedom, and Modernity (1992), and Overcoming Onto-Theology (2001), among many other publications.

14 Preface What is Modern Theology? Attempts to define Christian theology can be notoriously facile. One is often told that such theology is faith seeking understanding. Alternately, it is often remarked that theology is the interpretation of doctrine, so that one regards interpretation as the business of testing and applying doctrine to the experienced life of the Church. Richard Hooker defined theology as the science of things divine, and developing Hooker s statement is Locke s famous definition of theology, from 1698: Theology, which, containing the knowledge of God and his creatures, our duty to him and our fellow-creatures, and a view of our present and future state, is the comprehension of all other knowledge, directed to its true end. Each of these definitions works quite straightforwardly, as do many others. One of the things one constantly discovers is that if Christian theology is Christian talk of God, then the fact that there are many different ways of doing that in today s world demonstrates that pluralism is inherent to any question of how to define theology. What matters then is to what extent such pluralism is true; or, better, to what extent theological ideas allow for different interpretations. Attempts to define modern theology exacerbate this difficulty, for the singular reason that the concept modernity itself allows for no unambiguous definition. To support this argument, consider solely whether modernity is concerned with time, or scope. Is modernity a period of history, or is it a particular way of understanding? In other words, if one is attempting a first definition of modern theology, does one try to define a particular period of Christian history, with a start and an end, or does one try to define a way of thinking about Christian ideas that might be coterminous with a specific historical period, but which is intellectual rather than circumstantial? If the former as is often the case then modern theology is roughly the period , with early modernity arguably evident in the sixteenth century, and late

15 preface xiii modernity giving way to postmodernity in the 1980s. If the latter, then modern theology begins when people seek to think about their faith in terms of the world in which they live, rather than the other way round. One might characterize this intellectual definition in relation to time one might still trace its origin to around 1600, for example but the essential quality is the way of thinking, rather than the historic moment when it started to occur. These initial definitions need greater attention, however. If the governing factor is time, then questions about modernity s beginnings and ends, and hence questions about premodernity and postmodernity, become identifiable with specific historical texts and contexts, ideas and arguments. As a way of testing this argument, one can consider how it works as a way of interpreting a classic text. And, taking a text that is well beyond the usual scope of modern theology (if modernity is defined temporally), then one can legitimately ask whether or not Dante s Divine Comedy is a work of modern theology, and thereby whether or not modernity itself is a viable concept in interpreting a text written in On this reading, it is clearly nonsensical to argue that Dante s Divine Comedy is a modern text, since overwhelmingly scholarship contends that modern theology begins no earlier than the mid-sixteenth century. The argument is elementary: 1321 is earlier than 1550; quod erat demonstrandum. If modernity is defined in terms of scope, however, the situation becomes much more complex. Considering the same, unusual example, Dante s Divine Comedy, one now has to ask whether or not the text itself betrays what one might call a modern theological understanding of the relationship between God and the world, and then whether or not this betrayal is deliberate or accidental; i.e., intended by Dante, or not. If Dante intended to write a text that demonstrates a modern understanding of the relationship between God and the world, then his Divine Comedy is a work of modern theology, whether or not it was written in Such an exercise requires that one first decide what criteria one considers fundamental to one s definition of modernity. That argument, however, is itself circular, because: What comes first, a modern understanding, or criteria of the modern? Or, stated more clearly: What possible criteria for defining modernity can one identify, that do not arise naturally from the texts that were written in modern times? One recognizes the problem: criteria of interpretation that are alien to the texts to be interpreted are often worse than useless. All of this becomes quickly and unnecessarily baffling, almost as if the sheer difficulty of defining the way Christians speak of God is not in itself sufficiently difficult. For the sake of argument, therefore, this Companion grants that questions of historical contingency time are secondary to questions of critical thinking scope and that consequently modern theology is to be defined in terms of how we consider the problems that arise when theologians attempt to understand the relationship between God and the world. Here we can make a first assertion that governs the philosophy of this volume: modern theology begins when theologians look beyond the Church for answers to their questions. Such an argument allows one to focus upon certain key texts, individuals, themes, and arguments, whilst not covering others. To some extent it is arbitrary, of course: decisions about inclusion and exclusion generally are. Modern theology has a