God
Three Who Are One
God
Three Who Are One
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Paperback / softback
£15.99
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 9780814659908
Number of Pages: 152
Published: 01/09/2008
Width: 15.2 cm
Height: 22.9 cm
Drawing on the wisdom and teaching experience of highly respected theologians, the Engaging Theology series builds a firm foundation for graduate study and other ministry formation programs. Each of the volumes—Scripture, Jesus, God, Anthropology, and Church—is concerned with retrieving, carefully evaluating, and constructively interpreting the Christian tradition. Comprehensive in scope and accessibly written, these volumes, used together or independently, will stimulate rich theological reflection and discussion. More important, the series will create and sustain the passion of the next generation of theologians and church leaders. The word God, said Martin Buber decades ago, is the most heavy-laden of all human words. None has become so soiled, so mutilated. Twenty-first-century discourse and action often perpetuate that lack of reverence. In this volume Joseph Bracken shows us a better way.
• He begins with Christianity’s roots in Judaism and the inherent struggle to explain the reality of three persons in God who is one.
• He allows readers to engage in the lively and fruitful trinitarian debates of the early church and discover how the classical doctrine of the Trinity has shaped the church through the centuries.
• He offers a solid theological treatment of the history of the doctrine of God and its relevance for Christians today—for dialogue between Christian men and women, between Christianity and other religions, and between religion and science.
Systematic theology at its best, God: Three Who Are One helps us find unexpected unity and consensus in a world full of troubling differences. Along the way, Bracken urges us to pray as well as think and to let rational reflection lead to praise and worship, thereby giving the doctrine of the Trinity its due reverence and care.
• He begins with Christianity’s roots in Judaism and the inherent struggle to explain the reality of three persons in God who is one.
• He allows readers to engage in the lively and fruitful trinitarian debates of the early church and discover how the classical doctrine of the Trinity has shaped the church through the centuries.
• He offers a solid theological treatment of the history of the doctrine of God and its relevance for Christians today—for dialogue between Christian men and women, between Christianity and other religions, and between religion and science.
Systematic theology at its best, God: Three Who Are One helps us find unexpected unity and consensus in a world full of troubling differences. Along the way, Bracken urges us to pray as well as think and to let rational reflection lead to praise and worship, thereby giving the doctrine of the Trinity its due reverence and care.
CONTENTS
Editor’s Preface ix
Introduction: Faith and Ultimate Reality xi
PART ONE: Retrieval of the Tradition
Chapter One:
The Birth of a Revolutionary Belief 3
God as One in the Hebrew Bible 3
The New Christian Experience of God 5
Work of the Early Fathers of the Church 6
Origen’s Controversial Theories 7
Tertullian and Other Western Theologians 8
Arius and Arianism 10
The Council of Nicaea 11
Semi-Arianism 12
The Divinity of the Holy Spirit 13
Conclusion 14
Chapter Two:
The Standoff between East and West in Medieval Christianity 15
Augustine’s Theology of the Trinity 16
Between Augustine and Thomas Aquinas 17
Aquinas on the Trinity 19
A Fresh Look at the Doctrine 21
The Cappadocian Fathers in the Eastern Church 22
God as Mystery for John of Damascus and Gregory Palamas 24
The Breakup of East and West over the Procession of the Spirit 26
Conclusion 27
Chapter Three:
Mysticism and Rationalism 28
The Cloud of Unknowing 29
The Trinitarian Spirituality of Julian of Norwich 31
The German Mystical Tradition: Meister Eckhart 32
Teresa of Avila: An Early Modern Spanish Mystic 35
The New Approach to Science 37
Nicholas of Cusa: Mystic and Mathematician 37
Descartes and Newton 38
From Theism, to Deism, to Atheism 40
Conclusion 41
Chapter Four:
Recovery of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Twentieth Century 43
Karl Barth’s Approach to the Doctrine of the Trinity 44
Eberhard Jüngel and Karl Rahner 46
Catherine Mowry LaCugna: God for Us 48
Bernard Lonergan 49
Wolfhart Pannenberg 51
Conclusion 53
PART TWO: New Critical Perspectives
Chapter Five:
The Creative Suffering of God 59
Jürgen Moltmann: The Crucified God 60
Whitehead’s Worldview 62
Paul Fiddes: The Creative Suffering of God 64
Making Space for One Another: A New Approach to Intersubjectivity 66
Common Space: Where Separate Fields of Activity Overlap and Intermingle 67
Conclusion 68
Chapter Six:
The Problem of the One and the Many 69
The Trinity as Model for Contemporary Life 69
New Ideals for Modern Life in Community 71
Jürgen Moltmann: The Social Model of the Trinity 72
Leonardo Boff: The Trinity as Model for Social Change 74
Wolfhart Pannenberg: Spirit as Force-Field and Person 76
The Divine Matrix 78
Conclusion 79
Chapter Seven:
What’s in a Name? 81
The Origin of the Feminist Movement 81
Mary Daly: Sexism in the Roman Catholic Church 82
Two More Sources of Sexism in the Church 86
Rosemary Radford Ruether: God as the Divine Ground of Being 88
Sallie McFague: God as the “Soul” of the World 90
The Doctrine of the Trinity as an Asset to Christian Feminists 90
Elizabeth Johnson: God as She Who Is 92
Conclusion 93
Chapter Eight:
Perichoresis of the World Religions 94
Evaluation and Critique of Paul Knitter’s Approach 95
S. Mark Heim: Multiple Ways to be Saved 97
Different Dimensions of One and the Same Divine Life 99
Will Christians Have a Higher Place in Heaven? 100
Will Everyone Be Saved? 101
Still Another Trinitarian Approach to Interreligious Dialogue 102
Conclusion 104
PART THREE: Trinitarian Theology for Today
Chapter Nine:
Overcoming the Clash of Two Cultures 109
The Long-standing Connection between Religion and Science 109
The Key Issue: The Relation between Matter and Spirit 111
Whitehead’s Novel Approach to the Problem 112
Revision of Whitehead’s Scheme 114
Why This Makes a Difference 115
A Philosophical Explanation for Emergent Monism? 115
Application to the Mind-Body Problem 116
Belief in Life after Death 118
The End of the World and the Transformation of the Universe 119
Conclusion 120
Conclusion 123
Further Reading 128
Index of Names and Topics 130
Editor’s Preface ix
Introduction: Faith and Ultimate Reality xi
PART ONE: Retrieval of the Tradition
Chapter One:
The Birth of a Revolutionary Belief 3
God as One in the Hebrew Bible 3
The New Christian Experience of God 5
Work of the Early Fathers of the Church 6
Origen’s Controversial Theories 7
Tertullian and Other Western Theologians 8
Arius and Arianism 10
The Council of Nicaea 11
Semi-Arianism 12
The Divinity of the Holy Spirit 13
Conclusion 14
Chapter Two:
The Standoff between East and West in Medieval Christianity 15
Augustine’s Theology of the Trinity 16
Between Augustine and Thomas Aquinas 17
Aquinas on the Trinity 19
A Fresh Look at the Doctrine 21
The Cappadocian Fathers in the Eastern Church 22
God as Mystery for John of Damascus and Gregory Palamas 24
The Breakup of East and West over the Procession of the Spirit 26
Conclusion 27
Chapter Three:
Mysticism and Rationalism 28
The Cloud of Unknowing 29
The Trinitarian Spirituality of Julian of Norwich 31
The German Mystical Tradition: Meister Eckhart 32
Teresa of Avila: An Early Modern Spanish Mystic 35
The New Approach to Science 37
Nicholas of Cusa: Mystic and Mathematician 37
Descartes and Newton 38
From Theism, to Deism, to Atheism 40
Conclusion 41
Chapter Four:
Recovery of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Twentieth Century 43
Karl Barth’s Approach to the Doctrine of the Trinity 44
Eberhard Jüngel and Karl Rahner 46
Catherine Mowry LaCugna: God for Us 48
Bernard Lonergan 49
Wolfhart Pannenberg 51
Conclusion 53
PART TWO: New Critical Perspectives
Chapter Five:
The Creative Suffering of God 59
Jürgen Moltmann: The Crucified God 60
Whitehead’s Worldview 62
Paul Fiddes: The Creative Suffering of God 64
Making Space for One Another: A New Approach to Intersubjectivity 66
Common Space: Where Separate Fields of Activity Overlap and Intermingle 67
Conclusion 68
Chapter Six:
The Problem of the One and the Many 69
The Trinity as Model for Contemporary Life 69
New Ideals for Modern Life in Community 71
Jürgen Moltmann: The Social Model of the Trinity 72
Leonardo Boff: The Trinity as Model for Social Change 74
Wolfhart Pannenberg: Spirit as Force-Field and Person 76
The Divine Matrix 78
Conclusion 79
Chapter Seven:
What’s in a Name? 81
The Origin of the Feminist Movement 81
Mary Daly: Sexism in the Roman Catholic Church 82
Two More Sources of Sexism in the Church 86
Rosemary Radford Ruether: God as the Divine Ground of Being 88
Sallie McFague: God as the “Soul” of the World 90
The Doctrine of the Trinity as an Asset to Christian Feminists 90
Elizabeth Johnson: God as She Who Is 92
Conclusion 93
Chapter Eight:
Perichoresis of the World Religions 94
Evaluation and Critique of Paul Knitter’s Approach 95
S. Mark Heim: Multiple Ways to be Saved 97
Different Dimensions of One and the Same Divine Life 99
Will Christians Have a Higher Place in Heaven? 100
Will Everyone Be Saved? 101
Still Another Trinitarian Approach to Interreligious Dialogue 102
Conclusion 104
PART THREE: Trinitarian Theology for Today
Chapter Nine:
Overcoming the Clash of Two Cultures 109
The Long-standing Connection between Religion and Science 109
The Key Issue: The Relation between Matter and Spirit 111
Whitehead’s Novel Approach to the Problem 112
Revision of Whitehead’s Scheme 114
Why This Makes a Difference 115
A Philosophical Explanation for Emergent Monism? 115
Application to the Mind-Body Problem 116
Belief in Life after Death 118
The End of the World and the Transformation of the Universe 119
Conclusion 120
Conclusion 123
Further Reading 128
Index of Names and Topics 130
A masterful retrieval of the traditional teaching on the trinitarian mystery and a compelling introduction to its relevance today.
Barbara A. Finan, Professor of Religion and Humanities, Ohio Dominican University Bracken appears to have done the impossible. First, he has written a remarkably clear and accessible text that will be widely used as an introduction to the history of Trinitarian theology and its contemporary applications. At the same time, he offers a bold new proposal for thinking the triune nature of God in dialogue with science, philosophy, theology, world religions, and contemporary culture. . . . Perhaps the best one-volume presentation of constructive Trinitarian theology in print today.
Philip Clayton, Author of The Problem of God in Modern Thought and Adventures in the Spirit This book is clearly the work of a master. In accessible prose and with probing questions, Bracken introduces his reader to a wide range of issues surrounding the doctrine of God. With resources that span from science to spirituality, interpersonal experience and classic texts of the theological tradition, as well as major contemporary movements in philosophy and theology, this short book seems to cover it all! Bracken offers a comprehensive treatment of a classic theme with innovations relevant to our 21st century context.
Jeannine Hill Fletcher, Associate Professor of Theology, Fordham University This text, in its accessible format in an excellent series may be a first step in this reevaluation of the human relation to the triune God.
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