As a Mother Tenderly

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

As a Mother Tenderly AS A MOTHER TENDERLY Exploring parish ministry through the metaphor and analogy of mothering REVEREND EMMA PERCY MA Cantab BA Dunelm Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2012 As a mother tenderly: using mothering as a metaphor and analogy for parish ministry. The thesis sets out to use maternal imagery as a way of articulating the practice of parish ministry in the Church of England. The aim is to find a language which can affirm and encourage many aspects of good practice that are in danger of being over looked because they are neither well articulated nor valued. The ministry of a parish priest is a relational activity: characterised by care. It is because the priest has a responsibility to care for those entrusted to her that she engages in priestly activity. In doing so she is sharing in the collective ministry of the church in which she has a pivotal and public role. The church is to be a community in which people grow up in Christ and come to maturity of faith. In order to explore the relational activity of a parish priest the imagery of mothering is used. The changing place of women in society has made it more difficult to use gendered images and thus it is necessary to discuss whether mothering is an essentially female activity. After acknowledging the complexity of the gendered language and the reality that most women arrive at mothering through a specifically female bodily experience, the thesis goes on to state that the practice of mothering is not instinctual but learnt. It involves learning through a relationship with a particular child and what is learnt are human ways of being and doing which are not gender specific. As the child is a growing developing human being the relationship and activity needs to be adaptable and contingent, requiring concrete thinking. Sara Ruddick’s Maternal Thinking offers a philosophical understanding of mothering as a practice shaped by three demands which are all good and often conflict. Using her understanding of mothering and drawing on Hanah Arendt’s categories of human activity the thesis explores the practice of mothering. The thesis then uses this understanding of mothering as a way of reflecting on the practice of parish ministry. As a relational activity parish ministry needs to value particularity and concrete contingent responsiveness. Intersubjective relationships need to be maintained and the virtues cultivated that guard against the temptations to intrusive or domineering styles of care on the one hand or passive abnegation of responsibility on the other. Parish ministry cannot be understood in terms of tangible productivity so different ways of understanding success and evaluating priorities need to be articulated. The thesis suggests ways of thinking about and describing aspects of parish ministry that highlight the kinds of practices that enable people to flourish. The use of maternal imagery is not intended to suggest that women have a better access to these ways of being and doing, nor that congregations are like children. Mothering at its best seeks to create the relationships and spaces in which people grow up and flourish. Times of dependency are part of that but maturity and reciprocal relationships of interdependence is the goal. 2 CONTENTS Introduction Metaphorical language and ministerial practice 4 Chapter One Theology of parish ministry in the Church of England 18 Chapter Two Maternal imagery for clergy in the Christian tradition 53 Chapter Three Mothering – gender and culture 71 Chapter Four Mothering – a relationship of care 104 Chapter Five Using a maternal analogy to explore parish ministry 150 Chapter Six The limitations of a maternal model 194 Chapter Seven Using maternal language to articulate aspects of 221 parish ministry – some examples Conclusion 254 3 Introduction: Metaphorical language and ministerial practice The phrase ‘as a mother tenderly’ has become familiar to many in the Church of England as a metaphor about the love of God. It appears in Eucharistic prayer G in Common Worship. 1 It alludes to Isaiah’s description of God comforting like a mother2 and Jesus’ description of himself as a hen gathering her chicks.3 In this thesis I am choosing to use this metaphor not to explore the love of God but to think about the role of a parish priest. The purpose is to offer a different perspective for exploring the role of a priest, and in particular a perspective based on the centrality of relationship and care. The thesis provides an extended and intentional conversation between a way of understanding mothering and the work of a parish priest. It is not an empirical study, nor a study of how mothers function as parish priests. It does, however, draw on my own experiences of being a mother and a parish priest – experiences out of which the original thinking and exploration began. In Maternal Thinking, a philosophical reflection on mothering that I will return to in Chapter Four, Sara Ruddick reflects on her own process of writing about mothering. She begins by admitting that at one level she has ‘made it up’;4that is, she has not conducted an empirical study of thinking mothers. However, she is grateful to accept the observation of another scholar who defined her approach anthropologically and called Ruddick ‘a participant- observer of mothering’. She describes how she draws on both her own experiences and wider observation: As an ‘anthropologist’ I begin by remembering as honestly and as deeply as I can my own experience as a mother and daughter and that of my closest friends. I then extend my memory as responsibly as I am able, by reading, by eavesdropping, by looking at films, and most of all by mother-watching.5 1 Common Worship, London: Church House Publishing, 2000. 2 Isaiah 66:13, RSV. 3 Matthew 23:37, RSV. 4 Ruddick, Sara, Maternal Thinking, Boston: Beacon Press, 1989, pp. 61–64. 5 Ibid., p. 62. 4 She notes the different writers and friends who have shaped her thinking. In this thesis I am working in a similar way and write as a participant-observer of mothering and of ministry. Like Ruddick, alongside the many books and articles credited in the bibliography I have mined my personal experiences of being a mother and a daughter, of being a member of a congregation and a parish priest. I have also reflected on the experiences of friends who are mothers or priests or both and engaged in plenty of mother-watching and priest-watching. This thesis is, therefore, an extended essay in which I draw out aspects of ministry that are in danger of being eclipsed by the prevailing language. It is a way of recovering and articulating the priority of relationship and care in parish ministry and locating the priest’s role in the mutual relationships that should be inherent in a parish community. It is not surprising that the fears associated with decline in status and numbers leads to a desire within the Church of England to formulate programmes of growth, but there is a danger that such programmes fail to understand the nature of human growth or the reality of the local church as a community of unique people. One strength of a maternal metaphor is that it highlights the reality that parish ministry involves a relationship and an activity that are inextricably linked. Too many discussions of ministry focus either on the relationship: What does it mean to be a priest? or the activity: What are the tasks of a priest? A parish priest has accepted the responsibility of a community or communities entrusted to him or her by the bishop. Because she has this responsibility, she needs to learn what it means to both know and care for them as a priest. I suggest that looking at the way mothers engage in their responsibility to relate and care for their children can help to articulate this practice. Inevitably, this thesis touches on issues of gender and I will return to them in a later chapter. However, one of the issues in writing is the need to use a gendered pronoun. I have adopted the convention of referring to a priest as female. This is a feminist piece of writing in the sense that it prioritises what can be learned from a way of being that has specifically female components and traditional female resonances, and in that it draws on the work of many feminist writers who critique assumptions about language, child development and the prioritising of abstract ways of reasoning over concrete practice. Yet it 5 is not written specifically for women. I have presumed that men and women can learn from female imagery. Therefore, when I talk about a parish priest I am assuming that the priest may be female or male. In the thesis I usually refer to a child as he, but clearly the child could be male or female. Metaphorical language This thesis is about how the language used shapes both the practice of ministry and the way it is valued. To speak of a priest being like a mother is to use a figure of speech. It is clearly not to say that a priest should be a mother or suggest that a priest should give birth to or feed children out of her own body. Nor, as I will explore more fully in the thesis, is it to say that women have a particular ability to be priests or that congregations need to be treated like children. It is to open up a way of looking at what mothers are like and how that might suggest ways of being priests.
Recommended publications
  • Annual Report from 1 August 2010
    6 Annual Report and Accounts 2014 - 15 Annual Report August 2014 - July 2015 Introduction Christ Church Cathedral was, as ever, full of exciting activities and events during 2014 - 15, the most significant of which was the appointment of a new Dean, Martyn Percy, who replaced Christopher Lewis on his retirement in September 2014 after eleven years at the helm. Martyn became the forty-sixth Dean of Christ Church since its establishment by Henry VIII in 1546. This year’s cover illustration features the summer 2014 art installation of paper pilgrims produced by Summerfield School pupils displayed in our 15th century watching loft, situated between the Latin Chapel and the Lady Chapel. Worship There are between three and six regular Cathedral services every day of the year. Our congregations are varied: supporting a core of regular worshippers are a significant number of tourists visiting Christ Church from around the world. The Cathedral’s informal Sunday evening reflective service, After Eight, continued throughout the Michaelmas and Hilary terms and covered a wide range of topics. These included ‘A Particular Place’, focusing on a location of special spiritual significance to each of four speakers, ‘Enduring War … Engaging with Peace’, addressing present day conflicts, and ‘When I needed a Neighbour’, a series of dialogues on Christian ministry at the margins of modern life. There were many special events and services among them the following: • Our new year was ushered in with a reminder of the First World War. The centenary of the outbreak
    [Show full text]
  • The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion
    College Theology Society The Human in a Dehumanizing World: Re-Examining Theological Anthropology and Its Implications Sixty-Seventh Annual Convention in conjunction with The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion Thursday, June 3 – Saturday, June 5, 2021 **ALL TIMES CENTRAL** Thursday Evening Opening 6:00-6:45pm (CDT) Online Auditorium Welcome, Business Meeting, Award Presentations Mary Doak University of San Diego (CA) President, College Theology Society Thursday Plenary 7:00-8:30pm (CDT) Online Auditorium ID: Convention Co-Chair and Session Moderator Jessica Coblentz, Saint Mary’s College (IN) Love for the Annihilated: A Black Theological Reading of Angela’s Memorial Memorial Andrew L. Prevot Boston College Andrew L. Prevot is an associate professor in the Department of Theology at Boston College. His research interests include: prayer, spirituality, and mystical theology; political, liberation, and black theology; phenomenology and continental philosophy of religion; and Catholic systematic and fundamental theology. He is the author of Thinking Prayer: Theology and Spirituality Amid the Crises of Modernity (Notre Dame Press, 2015), and a number of article and book chapters in the fields of liberation theology, political theology, and philosophical theology. Dr Prevot’s address belongs to a burgeoning field of scholarship that addresses current social issues by drawing on Christian mystical sources. In particular, it argues that Angela of Foligno's struggle with an inner sense of personal nothingness resembles the psychological burdens of many suffering under anti-blackness and other dehumanizing regimes. It further contends that God's loving response to Angela points to the sort of love that is needed to address such injustices.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History of Christ Church MEDIEVAL PERIOD
    A Brief History of Christ Church MEDIEVAL PERIOD Christ Church was founded in 1546, and there had been a college here since 1525, but prior to the Dissolution of the monasteries, the site was occupied by a priory dedicated to the memory of St Frideswide, the patron saint of both university and city. St Frideswide, a noble Saxon lady, founded a nunnery for herself as head and for twelve more noble virgin ladies sometime towards the end of the seventh century. She was, however, pursued by Algar, prince of Leicester, for her hand in marriage. She refused his frequent approaches which became more and more desperate. Frideswide and her ladies, forewarned miraculously of yet another attempt by Algar, fled up river to hide. She stayed away some years, settling at Binsey, where she performed healing miracles. On returning to Oxford, Frideswide found that Algar was as persistent as ever, laying siege to the town in order to capture his bride. Frideswide called down blindness on Algar who eventually repented of his ways, and left Frideswide to her devotions. Frideswide died in about 737, and was canonised in 1480. Long before this, though, pilgrims came to her shrine in the priory church which was now populated by Augustinian canons. Nothing remains of Frideswide’s nunnery, and little - just a few stones - of the Saxon church but the cathedral and the buildings around the cloister are the oldest on the site. Her story is pictured in cartoon form by Burne-Jones in one of the windows in the cathedral. One of the gifts made to the priory was the meadow between Christ Church and the Thames and Cherwell rivers; Lady Montacute gave the land to maintain her chantry which lay in the Lady Chapel close to St Frideswide’s shrine.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecclesiology of the Anglican Communion: Rediscovering the Radical and Transnational Nature of the Anglican Communion
    A (New) Ecclesiology of the Anglican Communion: Rediscovering the Radical and Transnational Nature of the Anglican Communion Guillermo René Cavieses Araya Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Faculty of Arts School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science February 2019 1 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from this thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2019 The University of Leeds and Guillermo René Cavieses Araya The right of Guillermo René Cavieses Araya to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by Guillermo René Cavieses Araya in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. 2 Acknowledgements No man is an island, and neither is his work. This thesis would not have been possible without the contribution of a lot of people, going a long way back. So, let’s start at the beginning. Mum, thank you for teaching me that it was OK for me to dream of working for a circus when I was little, so long as I first went to University to get a degree on it. Dad, thanks for teaching me the value of books and a solid right hook. To my other Dad, thank you for teaching me the virtue of patience (yes, I know, I am still working on that one).
    [Show full text]
  • Chris Church Matters
    Chris Church Matters MICHAELMAS TERM 2014 ISSUE 34 Editorial Contents In this Michaelmas edition we welcome our 45th Dean, the Very Revd Professor Dean’s Diary 1 Martyn Percy, who joined us in October after ten years as Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon. We also say goodbye to our former Dean, Christopher Lewis, and his wife Goodbye from Chrsitopher Lewis 2 Rhona as they retire to the idyllic Suffolk coast. Much has been achieved in this year Cardinal Sins 6 of change, and we celebrate the successes of members past and present in this issue. If you have news of your own which you would like to share with the Christ Church Christ Church Cathedral Choir 8 community, we invite you to make a submission to the next Annual Report – details Cathedral News 9 of this can be found in College News. A new Christ Church website will be launched in the spring, and with this a new Christ Church People: digital platform for Christ Church Matters. If you would like to receive the magazine Phyllis May Bursill 10 digitally, please let us know. Conservation work We wish you a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and hope to see you in 2015. on the Music Collection 12 Simon Offen Leia Clancy Cathedral School 14 Christ Church Association Alumni Relations Officer Vice President and Deputy [email protected] College News 16 Development Director +44 (0)1865 286 598 [email protected] Boat Club News 18 +44 (0)1865 286 075 Association News 19 FORTHCOMING EVENTS Sensible Religion: A Review 29 Event booking forms are available to download at www.chch.ox.ac.uk/development/events/future The Paper Project at Ovalhouse 30 MARCH 2015 APRIL 2015 SEPTEMBER 2015 Robert Hooke’s Micrographia 32 14 March 24-26 April 12 September FAMILY PROGRAMME LUNCH MEETING MINDS: ALUMNI BOARD OF BENEFACTORS GAUDY Who should decide on war? 34 Christ Church WEEKEND IN VIENNA Christ Church Parents of current or former All are invited to join us for 18-20 September Christ Church Gardens 30 students are invited to lunch at three days of alumni activities MEETING MINDS: ALUMNI Christ Church.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume 89 Number 1 March 2020 V Olume 89 Number 1 March 2020
    Volume 89 Volume Number 1 March 2020 Volume 89 Number 1 March 2020 Historical Society of the Episcopal Church Benefactors ($500 or more) President Dr. F. W. Gerbracht, Jr. Wantagh, NY Robyn M. Neville, St. Mark’s School, Fort Lauderdale, Florida William H. Gleason Wheat Ridge, CO 1st Vice President The Rev. Dr. Thomas P. Mulvey, Jr. Hingham, MA J. Michael Utzinger, Hampden-Sydney College Mr. Matthew P. Payne Appleton, WI 2nd Vice President The Rev. Dr. Warren C. Platt New York, NY Robert W. Prichard, Virginia Theological Seminary The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Prichard Alexandria, VA Secretary Pamela Cochran, Loyola University Maryland The Rev. Dr. Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr. Warwick, RI Treasurer Mrs. Susan L. Stonesifer Silver Spring, MD Bob Panfil, Diocese of Virginia Director of Operations Matthew P. Payne, Diocese of Fond du Lac Patrons ($250-$499) [email protected] Mr. Herschel “Vince” Anderson Tempe, AZ Anglican and Episcopal History The Rev. Cn. Robert G. Carroon, PhD Hartford, CT Dr. Mary S. Donovan Highlands Ranch, CO Editor-in-Chief The Rev. Cn. Nancy R. Holland San Diego, CA Edward L. Bond, Natchez, Mississippi The John F. Woolverton Editor of Anglican and Episcopal History Ms. Edna Johnston Richmond, VA [email protected] The Rev. Stephen A. Little Santa Rosa, CA Church Review Editor Richard Mahfood Bay Harbor, FL J. Barrington Bates, Prof. Frederick V. Mills, Sr. La Grange, GA Diocese of Newark [email protected] The Rev. Robert G. Trache Fort Lauderdale, FL Book Review Editor The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilbert Cleveland, OH Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook, Claremont School of Theology [email protected] Anglican and Episcopal History (ISSN 0896-8039) is published quarterly (March, June, September, and Sustaining ($100-$499) December) by the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, PO Box 1301, Appleton, WI 54912-1301 Christopher H.
    [Show full text]
  • Evangelism and Capitalism: a Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship
    Digital Commons @ George Fox University Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary Portland Seminary 6-2018 Evangelism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship Jason Paul Clark George Fox University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gfes Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, and the Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Clark, Jason Paul, "Evangelism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship" (2018). Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary. 132. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gfes/132 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Portland Seminary at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EVANGELICALISM AND CAPITALISM A reparative account and diagnosis of pathogeneses in the relationship A thesis submitted to Middlesex University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jason Paul Clark Middlesex University Supervised at London School of Theology June 2018 Abstract Jason Paul Clark, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A reparative account and diagnosis of pathogeneses in the relationship.” Doctor of Philosophy, Middlesex University, 2018. No sustained examination and diagnosis of problems inherent to the relationship of Evangeli- calism with capitalism currently exists. Where assessments of the relationship have been un- dertaken, they are often built upon a lack of understanding of Evangelicalism, and an uncritical reliance both on Max Weber’s Protestant Work Ethic and on David Bebbington’s Quadrilateral of Evangelical priorities.
    [Show full text]
  • Download File
    Ordaining the Disinherited: What Women of Color Clergy Have to Teach Us About Discernment Tamara C. Plummer Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary April 16, 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3 Conceptual Frame..................................................................................................................... 5 The Episcopal Church ............................................................................................................ 10 Methodology - Story as scripture ............................................................................................. 14 Data: Description and Deconstruction ..................................................................................... 17 Bishop Emma .......................................................................................................................... 18 Rev. Sarai ................................................................................................................................. 25 Rev. Isabella ............................................................................................................................ 31 Rev. Julian ............................................................................................................................... 37 Rev. Juanita ............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • IMAGINATIVE Apologetics
    IMAGINATIVE Apologetics Theology, Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition Foreword by John Milbank Edited by Andrew Davison k Andrew Davison, ed. Imaginative Apologetics Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2011. Used by permission. Davison_ImagtinativeApolo.indd 3 2/21/12 10:00 AM foreword These websites are hyperlinked. monologues take the form (in some measure) of apologias, which are never without extreme ambiguity. In his first long poem,Paracelsus, the www.bakerpublishinggroup.com message would seem to be that the speaking protagonist has tried to www.bakeracademic.com perfect the human race through power under the inspiration of romantic love, while wrongly despising the little that can be made of faint loves or www.brazospress.com even hates that conceal an unadmitted love at their hearts. And yet he is www.chosenbooks.com brought to the realisation that he is ‘from the over-radiant star too mad / to drink the light-springs’ by one ‘Festus’, whose very name surely invites www.revellbooks.com caution in the reader who recalls Acts and another eponymous diagnosti- www.bethanyhouse.com © 2011 by Andrew Davison cian of supposed insanity. This surely further invites her to read Paracel- sus’ final hope for a day when human advance through a mere refusal of E-book copyright sample. Published in 2012 by Baker Academic the worst will be surpassed, and his own offer of full ‘splendour’ can be a division of Baker Publishing Group admitted on earth, as truly belonging to Christian eschatology parsed in © 2000 by Copyright holder P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakeracademic.com terms of a magical or technological release of all natural powers.2 Published by Baker But in other poems by Browning this order of apologetic and of suspi- a division of Baker Publishing Group First published in the UK by SCM Press (an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern) in 2011 cious counter-apologetic is exactly reversed.
    [Show full text]
  • Christian Theology Edited by Ian A
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-41496-9 - The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology Edited by Ian A. McFarland, David A. S. Fergusson, Karen Kilby, Iain R. Torrance Frontmatter More information the cambridge dictionary of Christian Theology With over 550 entries ranging from ‘Abba’ to ‘Zwingli’ composed by leading contemporary theologians from around the world, The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology represents a fresh, ecumenical approach to theological refer- ence. Written with an emphasis on clarity and concision, all entries are designed to help the reader understand and assess the specifically theological significance of the most important concepts. Clearly structured, the volume is organized around a small number of ‘core entries’ which focus on key topics to provide a general overview of major subject areas, while making use of related shorter entries to impart a more detailed knowledge of technical terms. The work as a whole provides an introduction to the defining topics in Christian thought and is an essential reference point for students and scholars. ian a. mcfarland is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Emory University. His publications include Difference and Identity: A Theological Anthro- pology (2001) and The Divine Image: Envisioning the Invisible God (2005). davida.s.fergussonis Professor of Divinity and Principal of New College at the University of Edinburgh. His recent publications include Church, State and Civil Society (Cambridge, 2004) and Faith and Its Critics (2009). karen kilby is Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham and President of the Catholic Theological Associ- ation of Great Britain. She is the author of A Brief Introduction to Karl Rahner (2007) and Karl Rahner: Theology and Philosophy (2004).
    [Show full text]
  • Transformation in Practice: Sacramental Ministry As a Vehicle of Change
    The University of Manchester Research Transformation in Practice: Sacremental Ministry as a Vehicle of Change Link to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer Citation for published version (APA): Travis, M. (2015). Transformation in Practice: Sacremental Ministry as a Vehicle of Change. University of Manchester. Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Explorer are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Takedown policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please refer to the University of Manchester’s Takedown Procedures [http://man.ac.uk/04Y6Bo] or contact [email protected] providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim. Download date:05. Oct. 2021 TRANSFORMATION IN PRACTICE: SACRAMENTAL MINISTRY AS A VEHICLE OF CHANGE A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Practical Theology in the Faculty of Humanities 2015 MARY TRAVIS SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES CONTENTS Abstract 5 Declaration 6 Copyright Statement 6 Acknowledgements 7 Overview of the Portfolio 9 Part A 1. Introduction 13 1.1 Purpose of Research 19 1.2 Background of Research 21 2. Literature Review 23 2.1 The history of the liberal catholic Anglican tradition 23 2.2 Priesthood in the liberal catholic Anglican tradition 37 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Karl Barth and Hans Urs Von Balthasar: a Critical Engagement
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository KARL BARTH AND HANS URS VON BALTHASAR: A CRITICAL ENGAGEMENT by STEPHEN DAVID WIGLEY A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion School of Historical Studies The University of Birmingham January 2006 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Karl Barth and Hans Urs von Balthasar: a critical engagement Abstract This thesis examines the relationship between two major twentieth century theologians, Karl Barth and Hans Urs von Balthasar. It seeks to show how their meeting, resulting in von Balthasar’s seminal study The Theology of Karl Barth, goes on to influence von Balthasar’s theological development throughout his trilogy beginning with The Glory of the Lord, continuing in the Theo-Drama and concluding with the Theo-Logic. In particular it explores the significance of the debate over the ‘analogy of being’ and seeks to show that von Balthasar’s decision to structure his trilogy around the transcendentals of ‘being’, the beautiful, the good and the true, results from his re-affirmation of the role of analogy in light of his debate with Barth.
    [Show full text]