Theosis

Inhabiting the Cruciform God is a stimulating work by Micahel J. Gorman.  “Theosis” does not mean “becoming God,” but rather  that humans become like God by entering the Trinitarian life through the work of Christ and the Spirit.  Here is the thesis of the book:

“Theosis is transformative participation in the kenotic, cruciform character of God through Spirit-enabled conformity to the incarnate, crucified, and resurrected/glorified Christ.” (p. 7)

Gorman argues that the Pauline phrase “in Christ” is shorthand for “in God/in Christ/in the Spirit.”  Paul’s christocentricity is really an implicit Trinitarianism.  (p. 4)

This book takes the conversation about the “new perspective” on Paul and the law to a new level.

The Trinitarian Life

Tim Gombis preached a first rate sermon in chapel this morning at Cedarville University on the Trinitarian life and its implications for theology and the life of believers.  The Church needs this kind of preaching: it lies at the heart of the gospel.  The sermon is available here and is well worth the $5.  Tim will deliver a follow up sermon next week.

Schreiner’s NT Theology and Christology

Justin White has posted an interesting interview by Andy Naselli with Tom Schreiner on his NT theology volume. I found the following question particularly helpful.

“How would you respond to someone who criticized your NTT for duplicating a chief flaw of Guthrie’s NTT (redundancy) without possessing a chief strength (organizational predictability and thoroughness)?

I think the chief flaw of Guthrie is that his NT theology is too much like a systematic theology, so that it can be questioned whether he has really, at the end of the day, written a NT theology.
In terms of my own work, I would contend that I have focused on what Matthew, John, Paul, etc. focused on. For example, a large part of my book is Christological, but that is because my task was to listen to the NT writers. And whether we read Matthew, Luke, John, Paul, Hebrews, or Revelation, we find that Christology dominated their writings! Our task is not to concentrate on what fascinates us but what the documents themselves say. Furthermore, I think there
is a rich variety in terms of Christology, not a boring redundancy.”

Another View of “the Story”

The value of seeing the theological big picture is well illustrated at the practical level in James Choung’s evangelistic presentation, True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In. In my theology classes I have often assigned students to write their own view of Christian story in 200 words or less (which generally elicits a few frustrated responses). In a second stage, I have them revise the story in a smaller collaborative group (still keeping it at the 200 word limit); this helps to illustrate some aspects of the communal nature of theology. Finally, in a third stage I ask them to rework their narrative in some kind of creative and practical way (e.g., with a PowerPoint presentation, art work, or by converting thei narrative into some type of specific application). While one might quibble about details, James Choung’s napkin sketch would have earned an A+.  The book is published by InterVarsity Press, and was recently reviewed in Christianity Today.

The Integration of Faith and Learning: A Dialogue

In a fascinating little volume by Mark Noll and James Turner, with a helpful introductory chapter by Thomas Howard (the editor), two scholars discuss the future of Christian Learning. This evangelical and Catholic dialogue is filled with honesty and perceptive insights. Mark Noll’s definition of Christian learning confirmed the direction of my own thinking in recent years:

“Christian learning worthy of the name must be as genuinely Christian as genuinely learned. Here I take “real Christianity’ to mean a trinitarian understanding of God, and also fo the world as fully understandable only in relation to the Trinity. Real Christianity, in these terms, acknowledges God as creator and providential sustainer of all that exists; it looks upon Christ as the only effective agent for the salvation of humankind, which has denied its own creaturely status by turning away from God; and it regards the Holy Spirit as the active presence of God in the world whose task, in the words of John’s Gospel, is to ‘convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment’ (16:8).” [p. 28]

How (Not) to Read Peter Rollins or “The Storyteller”

Two years ago I read and reread Peter’s How (Not) to Speak of God. I intended to post on that inaugural volume, but first wanted to read it yet again. I did (not) recommend it to my brighter students. Now his second work has arrived on my desk: The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief. I have finished the first reading (underlined, annotated with lots of question marks, exclamation points, smiley faces and frowns).

For years I have been trying to persuade my students to always listen to their interlocutors carefully and empathetically, especially if they intend to respond in a critical way. I have been afraid that few would do this with Peter Rollins. I still think he is being largely ignored (he is not easy to read [the little stories can be deceiving], though easy to react to). That will probably change. I have not met Peter Rollins, though I heard him speak at a panel once with McClaren and others.

Most theology books don’t matter. This one does. Not because it is right or wrong. But because it may change the conversation. Not everyone can easily read it. And few who can, will be able to quickly glean the wheat from the chaff. That’s what makes a good book; it is over our heads (and perhaps, in places, over our hearts).

I once read a critique of Paul Tillich’s Systematic Theology by Alexander McKelway (a student of Karl Barth’s). It was a model of careful critical engagement. Only when such empathetic and discerning work is done is one really in a position to say something worthwhile about a theologian. I hope some will give Peter Rollins this courtesy. As with Tillich we may well have serious disagreements (and deep pastoral concerns), but we may also have something useful to learn. For an example of some preliminary discussion see the conversation going on at Christians in Context.

By the way, for all their differences, I note some interesting connections between Rollins and Tillich. For example, Tillich was concerned about the tendency in Protestantism wherein “faith as the state of being grasped [is reduced to] the belief in doctrine” (S.T., II, 85). Compare Peter throughout his two volumes, and for example: “God is not a problem to be solved but rather a mystery to participate in” (Fidelity of Betrayal, 115). Tillich famously defines God as “the ground of being.” Peter writes, “God is that which grounds our world and opens a world up to us” (115). There are, of course, vast differences as well.

Rollins makes for a stimulating read. Many of his stories are insightful, and he tells them well. My biggest concern, and I am willing to listen more, is well summarized in McKelway’s critique of what he sees as the central problem in Tillich: “This problem and danger, to put the matter simply, is the lack of a consistent focus on the revelation of God in Jesus Christ” (177). Peter would probably object.

The Trinitarian Story in 100 Words or Less

From the Triune God comes a narrative centering on Christ, God’s incarnate Son, and supernaturally recorded in Scripture. This story begins with creation, reports humanity’s fall, Israel’s history, and God’s redemption in Jesus, the Messiah. People, who by the Spirit’s power repent and believe this good news, experience salvation: deliverance from sin, Satan, and death. United with the crucified and resurrected Lord, believers participate in Christ’s Body, the eschatological community that worships God, serves a needy world, and provisionally embodies God’s coming Kingdom. This blessing is for the whole creation, which will soon be judged and renewed for God’s glory.

“Who Can Understand It?”

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9

The line between good and evil runs straight through every human heart. On the one side is the imago Dei which reflects all that is true, and good, and beautiful; on the other is the darkness of human and demonic depravity. To underestimate this is to live in a fatal dream. Whether we are Muslim, Jew, or Christian (or one of the many “others:), whether we are anti-Christian, anti-semitic, or Islamophobic, we should see clearly the divide in our own hearts between good and evil. The only sure sign that the kingdom of God is among us is the spread like a virus of repentance. [My own deep sadness was provoked by this post at MEMRI.org, whether or not one agrees completely with the perspective].

Again, while one might quibble about the details and the precise perspective here and there, a quick read through the just released Amnesty International Human Rights Report for 2008 exposes the global dark side of the human heart. When we read it in sorrow, it points however faintly to our better side, our true home.  But the journey across the dividing line is often long…and cruciform.

Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective

This introduction to Christology is an excellent model of careful, creative, and yet confessing theology. The intentional integration of Christology with a rich Trinitarian theology is refreshing. Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective is edited by Fred Sanders and Klaus Issler.

Here is a sample (following a wonderfully concise and helpful summary of the early church councils on Christology):

“At the center of the open space marked out by the boundaries of Chalcedon are two things: the apostolic narrative of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and the confession that this person in the gospel narrative is an eternal person distinct from the Father, yet fully divine. What stands in the middle of the Chalcedonian categories is the biblical story of Jesus, interpreted in light of the Trinity” (p. 25).

The following also resonates with me:  “To think rightly about the Trinity, the incarnation, or the atonement, the theologian must think about all of them at once, in relation to each other.” (p. 226).

Creation

Theology at the movies takes a significant step forward with this important work by Ben Stein: Expelled. Take a few moments to watch the trailer. May the conversation flourish.