Remythologizing Theology: Divine Action, Passion, and Authorship

Half-title......Page 3
Series title......Page 4
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 11
Preface......Page 14
Introduction: What is remythologizing?......Page 23
Myth......Page 25
Mythos......Page 27
Metaphysics......Page 30
A modern solution: demythologizing......Page 35
Deobjectifying God......Page 36
Dedramatizing the cross......Page 37
Demythologizing Bultmann......Page 38
“Soft” vs. “hard” demythologizing: Feuerbachian slips......Page 39
Projecting “God”......Page 40
Ja and nein......Page 42
Which system? Whose projection?......Page 43
An alternative approach: remythologizing......Page 45
The basic premise: triune authorship......Page 46
Ten theses on remythologizing......Page 48
The argument: a brief summary......Page 52
PART I: “God” in Scripture and theology......Page 55
1 Biblical representation (Vorstellung): divine communicative action and passion......Page 57
Genesis 1:1–3......Page 58
Genesis 18:22–33......Page 59
Exodus 3:13–15......Page 62
Exodus 33:7–17......Page 66
Exodus 34:5–7......Page 67
Job 38:1–4......Page 69
Hosea 11:8–9......Page 71
Hebrews 1:1–3......Page 72
John 1:14......Page 73
John 12:27–30......Page 75
Mark 15:33–4, 37......Page 77
Romans 8:15–16......Page 78
A miscellany of theological issues......Page 79
Active voice......Page 80
Anthropomorphism......Page 82
The Creator–creature distinction......Page 87
The covenant Lord/servant relation......Page 88
The economic and immanent Trinity......Page 91
Time and eternity......Page 94
Passive voice......Page 98
Scripture, hermeneutics, and metaphysics......Page 100
2 Theological conceptualization (Begriff): varieties of theism and panentheism......Page 103
A pagan inheritance?......Page 104
“Being” as a conceptual scheme: Christian religion within the limits of Greek reason alone?......Page 107
Was there a historical “Fall”? Towards the retrieval of a biblical-theological classical theism......Page 111
The critique of ontotheology: why are they saying such awful things about perfect being?......Page 115
A neoclassical theism? Thinking infinite perfection......Page 116
Against ontotheology: smashing the conceptual idols......Page 120
From being to gift: towards a postmetaphysical theology......Page 124
A Trinitarian revolution......Page 127
The Trinity in history and narrative......Page 129
The crucified Trinity?......Page 131
The relational turn......Page 134
Persons as relations: the social God......Page 136
The panentheist gambit: children of a greater God......Page 146
Rethinking divine infinity: the “open Trinity”......Page 147
Process panentheism: involuntary metaphysical relationality......Page 149
Kenotic panentheism: voluntary metaphysical relationality......Page 152
3 The new kenotic–perichoretic relational ontotheology: some “classical” concerns......Page 161
Nothing but relations?......Page 163
Kinds of relations or ways of relating?......Page 166
Perichoresis and/as relationality......Page 171
Perichoresis as participation: what it means to be “in” God......Page 173
Perichoresis as projection: why the turn to relationality may not be Trinitarian......Page 179
The fundamental problem......Page 184
Love as relatedness: two types of kenosis......Page 187
Does the one who loves in freedom suffer out of necessity?......Page 193
Passing over/out of Egypt: remythologizing the God–world relation......Page 196
PART II: Communicative theism and the triune God......Page 201
4 God’s being is in communicating......Page 203
The being of God: a who or what question?......Page 205
The divine identity: who?......Page 206
The divine identity: what kind of who?......Page 207
Thinking biblically; interpreting theologically......Page 209
Theology as exegetical reasoning: biblically in-formed thinking......Page 210
The “Grand Rhetorician”: indirect communication as divine accommodation......Page 213
Incarnation as accommodation: the analogy of being-through-Christ......Page 216
Word of God or divine discourse? Back to (and beyond) Barth......Page 220
The being of God in speech......Page 227
From the analogia dramatis to the analogy of being-in-act......Page 238
Being-in-communicative-act: elements of a theodramatic metaphysic......Page 244
Self-communicative action as a metaphysical principle......Page 245
A note on angels......Page 250
Persons as communicative-agents-in-relation......Page 252
5 God in three persons: the one who lights and lives in love......Page 263
Father, Son, and Spirit: communicative agents in immanent relation......Page 266
God is light......Page 269
God is life......Page 273
God is love......Page 278
What God communicates: triune “ways” into the far country......Page 281
Light: the Word of God......Page 284
Life: the Spirit of God......Page 287
Love: the fellowship of Father and Son in the Spirit......Page 290
A “simple” schema: shapes of triune communicative action......Page 293
“Schemas” of divine communicative action......Page 294
Schemas of simplicity? God’s being......Page 296
Triune performatives: theodrama......Page 299
Communicating triune life: remythologizing “participation in God”......Page 301
The issue: parsing “participation in God”......Page 302
Union with Christ: the “author and finisher” of faith (Heb. 12:2)......Page 305
PART III: God and World: authorial action and interaction......Page 317
6 Divine author and human hero in dialogical relation......Page 319
Theistic authorship: unpacking the analogy......Page 324
The analogia auctoris......Page 325
Tolstoy or Dostoevsky? Monarchic vs. democratic authorship......Page 327
Authoring humanity: the God–world relation as divine dialogue......Page 338
Authoring answerable persons: the imago Dei as vocation......Page 339
Authoring time: economic forms of dialogical life......Page 341
“Outsideness”: from aesthetic to eschatological consummation......Page 346
The play’s the thing: dialogical consummation......Page 351
Dialogical authorship......Page 353
His dark materials: does God author evil?......Page 360
Pharaoh’s hardened heart: whose doing? which agency?......Page 361
Satanic dialogues......Page 364
Exploring the powers: the poetics of biblical discourse......Page 368
Perspectives: multiple views......Page 369
Poetics: multiple lenses......Page 371
Powers: multiple levels......Page 373
God’s authorial Word enters in......Page 378
Corporeal discourse: incarnation......Page 379
Corporeal discourse......Page 381
Convincing discourse: incardiation......Page 383
Triune dialogics: prayer and providence......Page 388
Providence: God speaks to us......Page 389
Prayer: we respond to God......Page 399
8 Impassible passion? Suffering, emotions, and the crucified God......Page 409
Feuerbach on the suffering heart of God......Page 410
Testing the proposal......Page 412
Posing the question: why would anyone think that?......Page 414
Sharpening the question: what does passibility mean?......Page 416
Motions and emotions: can humans move God?......Page 420
Passions, affections, emotions......Page 422
What an emotion is: two types of theories......Page 426
Concern-based construals: a proposal......Page 430
Divine emotions: covenantal concern-based theodramatic construals......Page 434
The “voice” of the crucified God: active or passive?......Page 438
Christomorphism and the hermeneutics of impassibility......Page 439
Who cries out? Christ’s suffering and the communicatio idiomatum......Page 442
Active, passive, middle: the Son’s suffering as authorial, mediatorial, and medial......Page 448
9 Impassible compassion? From divine pathos to divine patience......Page 456
Empathy and sympathy......Page 458
Kenotic compassion......Page 459
Divine promise: lordly love......Page 463
Covenantal concern......Page 464
Kyriotic compassion......Page 466
Divine patience: enduring love......Page 470
“Slow to anger”: wise waiting......Page 471
“Silence in heaven”: suffering time’s lapse......Page 473
“Long-suffering”: fullness of life......Page 477
The triune God and the people of God: a fellowship of suffering?......Page 485
Conclusion: Always remythologizing? Answering to the Holy Author in our midst......Page 491
Mythos revisited: between mystery and metaphysics......Page 493
Schematizing the mystery of God......Page 494
Always reformulating......Page 495
Biblical reasoning: the formal principle of divine communicative action......Page 497
Remythologizing and first theology......Page 498
The dramatics of biblical literature......Page 500
Once upon an anthropomorphism......Page 501
Triune authorship: the material principle of divine communicative action......Page 508
Divine authorial action......Page 509
Divine speech sovereignty: triune dialogical interjection......Page 512
Speaking in and out of session: royal authority......Page 517
Select bibliography......Page 527
Index of subjects......Page 545
Index of scriptural references......Page 555