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Download Thesis EXISTENTIAL DIMENSIONS OF THE CONTEMPORARY IMPASSIBILITY DEBATE: A PASTORAL APPROACH TO THE QUESTION OF DIVINE SUFFERING WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALISM BY THOMAS SPEED BLAIR MOUNT A RESEARCH PROPOSAL FOR THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPY PROGRAMME AT THE SOUTH AFRICAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY SUPERVISOR: PROF. DAN LIOY APRIL 2015 The opinions expressed in this thesis do not necessarily reflect the views of the South African Theological Seminary. DECLARATION I hereby acknowledge that the work contained in this dissertation is my own original work and has not previously in its entirety or in part been submitted to any academic institution for degree purposes. ______________________________ Thomas SB Mount Chico, CA, USA Christmas Day, December 25, 2014 ii Joyfully dedicated to my family— Lynn, Lauren, Bobby, Joseph, Jesse, Natalie, Art and Lorraine, Gracie and Weston— for your understanding, love and unflagging support without which this project would not have been possible. I love you all! iii Copyright © 2014 by Tom Mount All rights reserved iv ABSTRACT The hegemony of passibilist theological construals since the last quarter of the twentieth century has garnered a mixed response from within the conservative evangelical subtradition, from outright rejection, to widespread acceptance, to various qualified (im)passibilist via media. The seismic shift from impassibilist to passibilist ways of representing the God-world relationship has been documented, as have the historical-critical and philosophical developments that contributed to the shift. However, the existential dimensions of the phenomenon have not been extensively inventoried and assessed. This project seeks to address this lacuna. Following the Loyola Institute of Ministry (LIM) practical- theological model, the work surveys the more important contemporary (post- 1973) literature; proposes a typology of existential considerations (denominated devotional, psychological, ethical, apologetic and missional); critically assesses these five species of argument by means of two benchmark Biblical texts (Acts 17:24-28 and Hebrews 2:17-18) and twin core conservative evangelical theological foci (God’s transcendence and God’s relatedness) and evaluates the impact of passibilist proposals on conservative evangelicals, including scholars, leading opinion-shapers and rank-and-file believers. The hypothesis is that passibilist arguments are unsustainable Biblically and theologically, that qualified impassibilist existential arguments are more compelling than their counterparts and that an impassibilist account best meets the Biblical and theological demands of the conservative evangelical academy as well as the existential needs of rank-and-file church members. The research confirmed the hypothesis. The dissertation concludes with practical suggestions for teaching a more balanced theology of divine transcendence-relatedness that honors the Biblical witness and makes use of the conceptual resources within the inherited Tradition, including a Chalcedonian two-natures Christology and a Cyrillian communicatio idiomatum. v A song of ascents. Of David. O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. 2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. 3 O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever. – Psalm 131, NASB "There may be great lawyers, doctors, natural scientists, historians, and philosophers. But there are none other than little theologians..." Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It has often been noted that the production of any publication is a group effort. The present one is no exception: more than any other section of the dissertation, this one acknowledges the unabashedly communal character of the theological enterprise. I understand the unpayable debt I owe to those who have borne with my reclusive lifestyle and inordinate preoccupation with often arcane scholarly pursuits the last several years. They all deserve medals. But there are a few, in particular, to whom I want to express my special thanks. First, I want to honor, extol, and thank the exquisite triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—for your unfailing goodness shown me. Your luminous beauty and incomparable compassion have afforded me the richest possible subject for sustained and reverent reflection, equaled in wonder only by the personal kindness you have extended to me throughout my life. Dominus meus, tu autem eras superior summo meo et interior intimo meo! Next, to my extraordinarily patient and understanding wife, Lynn: heartfelt thanks! You uncomplainingly tolerated my long absences, unsightly stacks of books in every corner of the house (including bathrooms) and a myriad of other indignities—concomitants of the scholarly life—that no human being should be made to endure. Thank you for loving me with that agape with which the Lord loves us. More than any other, you embody His grace in extraordinary ways. To my children—Lauren, Bobby, Joseph, Jesse, and Tilly. All of you graciously put up with my extended absences. Thanks especially to you, Till, for never taking umbrage at the time I devoted to research and for your patient reading of the text, identifying all 131 of my errant Americanisms. And to you, Lauren and Bobby, for your thoughtful questions, unstinting support and gracious accommodation at the five-star “Hotel Avilla” for writing purposes. vii To my good friend and Lead Pastor, Andrew Burchett and the entire Neighborhood Church board and family. You have consistently supported my efforts to bridge academy and church as a pastor-scholar, and I am inexpressibly grateful. Andrew, you’re the best! To my dear “band of brothers”—Gaylord Enns, Chris Reyes and Gil Wesley— whose unconditional love, animated discussion, prayers and twenty years of weekly fellowship have formed me deeply in Christ and given invaluable aid from the inception of this research through its completion. To my vastly knowledgeable and helpful supervisor, Dan Lioy, who guided my work with alacrity and competence. To my friend and Duke-trained theologian Elliott Haught, who carefully poured over the manuscript and provided invaluable expert editorial help. To my family and friends—Papa and Fuffy, Greg and Janet, Rod and Norma—all of whom encouraged the work in countless ways. To my friends, Dale and Danielle Penne, for your love, encouragement and generous use of your cabin for research purposes. Also, to the library staffs of Simpson and Duke Universities, both of which proved so immensely helpful. And to my trusted academic friends: Jim Sawyer—my graduate theology professor—who bequeathed to me the basic conceptual tools for the work and recommended multiple sources to explore. To Sarah Sumner: your fertile mind and fervent loyalty inspire me, and you never stop believing in me—thank you! To Mark Wynn, my supervisor at Exeter University (now at Leeds), whose uncommon wisdom guided me in the earliest stages of the project. To Leron Heath—scholar and pastor extraordinaire—who models godly intelligence. And to Jack Painter, my New Testament professor and friend: your support and sage advice—“Just finish the sucker”—sustained me during interminable hours of lonely dissertating. Well Jack, I finally did. Deo gratias. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Problem 7 1.3 Objectives 8 1.4 Theological and practical value of the study 9 1.4.1 Typology of existential arguments 9 1.4.2 Analysis of passibilist claims 9 1.4.3 Practical recommendations 10 1.4.4 A model for divine relatedness 10 1.5 Delimitations 11 1.5.1 Existential scope 11 1.5.2 Contemporary history 11 1.5.3 Biblical witness 12 1.5.4 Ecclesial setting 12 1.5.5 Practical approach 13 1.6 Definitions 13 1.6.1 Impassibility 13 1.6.2 Passibility 14 1.6.3 Conservative evangelical 14 1.7 Presuppositions 15 1.7.1 Epistemic modesty 15 1.7.2 Biblical authority 16 1.7.3 Christological restraint 16 ix 1.7.4 Predicative balance 17 1.7.5 Historical continuity 17 1.8 Design and methodology 18 1.8.1 Transformative LIM model 18 1.8.2 Organisation and threefold structure 19 1.9 Hypothesis 22 1.10 Summary of Chapters 2-6 22 CHAPTER 2: SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS – THE HISTORY OF THE RESEARCH 2.1 Chapter introduction 26 2.2 Introduction to the literature 27 2.3 Delimitations and organisation of the review 28 2.4 Overview of the pre-contemporary (im)passibilist literature 30 2.5 Contemporary existential (im)passibilist literature 34 2.5.1 Jürgen Moltmann (1974) 34 2.5.2 Jung Young Lee (1974) 40 2.5.3 Terrence Fretheim (1984) 42 2.5.4 Warren McWilliams (1985) 44 2.5.5 Richard Creel (1986) 45 2.5.6 Paul Fiddes (1986) 51 2.5.7 Marcel Sarot (1992) 57 2.5.8 Dennis Ngien (1997) 59 2.5.9 Thomas Weinandy (2000) 61 2.5.10 David Bentley Hart (2002) 66 2.5.11 Paul Gavrilyuk (2004) 69 2.5.12 Daniel Castelo (2009) 72 2.5.13 Anastasia Scrutton (2011) 75 x 2.5.14 Robert Lister (2012) 77 2.6 Synthesis of the review 80 2.6.1 Typology of argumentation 80 2.6.1.1 Devotional considerations 82 2.6.1.2 Psychological considerations 84 2.6.1.3 Ethical considerations 87 2.6.1.4 Apologetic considerations 88 2.6.1.5 Missional considerations 89 2.6.2 General trends and observations 90 2.6.2.1 Passibilist theodical rhetoric 90 2.6.2.2 Impassibilist existential rhetoric 92 2.6.2.3 Impassibilist emotionality rhetoric 93 2.7 Relevance to the topic of research 99 2.7.1 Scholarly conservative evangelical responses
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