DOCSLIB.ORG

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit in the Trinitarian Theology of Colin E Gunton

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit in the Trinitarian Theology of Colin E Gunton The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2008 The Lord and Giver of Life: The person and work of the Holy Spirit in the trinitarian theology of Colin E Gunton Michael D. Stringer University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Religion Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Stringer, M. D. (2008). The Lord and Giver of Life: The person and work of the Holy Spirit in the trinitarian theology of Colin E Gunton (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/3 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Lord and Giver of Life: the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the trinitarian theology of Colin E Gunton By Michael D Stringer A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Notre Dame Australia Fremantle, Western Australia 2008 Contents Abstract ..........................................................................................................................iv Declaration of Authorship...............................................................................................v Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................vi Preface ........................................................................................................................ vii Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................x Introduction.....................................................................................................................1 1 Colin Gunton’s personal context..............................................................................17 Education.............................................................................................................20 Christian vocation................................................................................................24 Academic context ................................................................................................28 International lectureships.....................................................................................33 Academic honours ...............................................................................................37 Bibliographical ....................................................................................................38 2 Colin Gunton’s historical, philosophical and theological context ...........................44 Historical context...................................................................................................47 Philosophical and theological influences – Early church ......................................51 Irenaeus of Lyons ................................................................................................53 Cappadocian Fathers............................................................................................55 Augustine of Hippo..............................................................................................59 Medieval period .....................................................................................................65 Reformation – John Calvin ....................................................................................67 Enlightenment period.............................................................................................70 John Owen...........................................................................................................74 Edward Irving......................................................................................................75 Modern era.............................................................................................................77 Samuel Taylor Coleridge.....................................................................................79 Karl Barth ............................................................................................................81 Eberhard Jüngel ...................................................................................................86 John Zizioulas......................................................................................................87 King’s College colleagues...................................................................................89 3 Gunton’s trinitarian theology ..................................................................................93 Trinitarian methodology ........................................................................................97 Metaphysics .........................................................................................................102 Colin Gunton’s trinitarian theology.....................................................................107 Creation................................................................................................................110 Christology...........................................................................................................112 The person of the Son: humanity and particularity ...........................................116 Pneumatology: the person and work of the Spirit................................................119 Colin Gunton’s doctrine of the Spirit...................................................................122 The complementarity of Son and Spirit.............................................................124 A theology of mediation....................................................................................126 The perichoretic relatedness of christology and pneumatology ........................129 - ii - 4 Spirit as person .......................................................................................................135 Person: historical development of a theological term..........................................139 Augustine: the unipersonal God ........................................................................142 Cappadocian Fathers: distinct persons in relation .............................................146 Person as a relational concept............................................................................147 Perichoresis: Spirit must be viewed as person...................................................150 Spirit as person.....................................................................................................154 Spirit as person: a comparison with Reformed thought.......................................159 Spirit as person and social trinitarianism...........................................................163 5 Spirit as transcendent..............................................................................................170 Influences.............................................................................................................171 Irenaeus of Lyons ..............................................................................................172 John Owen.........................................................................................................173 Edward Irving....................................................................................................174 From creation to mediation..................................................................................177 Holy Spirit as transcendent Spirit ........................................................................180 Transcendent Spirit as antidote against individuality........................................182 Transcendent Spirit and the authentic humanity of Christ ................................185 Spirit as transcendent: a comparison and contrast with Reformed thought.........192 Sinlessness of Jesus ...........................................................................................196 Christ’s humanity as salvific .............................................................................198 6 Spirit as perfecting agent........................................................................................206 Influences.............................................................................................................209 Irenaeus of Lyons ..............................................................................................209 Augustine of Hippo............................................................................................210 Basil of Caesarea ...............................................................................................211 Holy Spirit as perfecting agent.............................................................................212 Eschatology and the humanity of Christ............................................................216 Eschatology and reconciled relationship with God ...........................................220 Eschatology, its cosmic application and implications.......................................222 Hamartiological weakness.................................................................................225
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Capper 1998 Phd Karl Barth's Theology Of
    Karl Barth’s Theology of Joy John Mark Capper Selwyn College Submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy University of Cambridge April 1998 Karl Barth’s Theology of Joy John Mark Capper, Selwyn College Cambridge, April 1998 Joy is a recurrent theme in the Church Dogmatics of Karl Barth but it is one which is under-explored. In order to ascertain reasons for this lack, the work of six scholars is explored with regard to the theme of joy, employing the useful though limited “motifs” suggested by Hunsinger. That the revelation of God has a trinitarian framework, as demonstrated by Barth in CD I, and that God as Trinity is joyful, helps to explain Barth’s understanding of theology as a “joyful science”. By close attention to Barth’s treatment of the perfections of God (CD II.1), the link which Barth makes with glory and eternity is explored, noting the far-reaching sweep which joy is allowed by contrast with the related theme of beauty. Divine joy is discerned as the response to glory in the inner life of the Trinity, and as such is the quality of God being truly Godself. Joy is seen to be “more than a perfection” and is basic to God’s self-revelation and human response. A dialogue with Jonathan Edwards challenges Barth’s restricted use of beauty in his theology, and highlights the innovation Barth makes by including election in his doctrine of God. In the context of Barth’s anthropology, paying close attention to his treatment of “being in encounter” (CD III.2), there is an examination of the significance of gladness as the response to divine glory in the life of humanity, and as the crowning of full and free humanness.
    [Show full text]
  • Hermeneutical Resemblance in Rudolf Bultmann and Thich Nhat Hanh
    Hermeneutical Resemblance in Rudolf Bultmann and Thich Nhat Hanh Joel (J.T.) Young PhD Candidate, Theology, Global Center for Advanced Studies: College Dublin, Dublin, IE, [email protected] ABSTRACT: Over the last several decades, academic theology in America has seen a resurgence of interest in the 20th century German-speaking theological movement known as “dialectical theology.” While primarily focusing on the theology of Swiss Reformed theologian, Karl Barth, there has also been a revival of curiosity in Barth’s academic rival, Rudolf Bultmann, who cultivated the controversial program of “demythologization.” Though the recovery of Bultmann’s work in English-speaking circles is historically valuable to our understanding of how modern theology progressed, the question still stands as to how it might aid our dialogue in an increasingly pluralistic world. Unpacking one such opportunity is the aim of this paper. Through dialogue with the Zen Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hanh, I show how different contours of Bultmann’s thought can aid us in understanding and approaching interreligious discourse through hermeneutical consistencies and resemblance. While this paper discusses several different aspects of Bultmann’s and Nhat Hanh’s religious thought, the consistencies and resemblance between the two individual thinkers are, no doubt, emblematic of greater Familienähnlichkeit between their respective faith traditions – a topic to be taken up at a later time. KEYWORDS: Rudolf Bultmann, Thich Nhat Hanh, Demythologization, Zen Buddhism, Christianity, Dialectical Theology, Hermeneutics, Interreligious Dialogue Introduction Academic theology in America has seen a resurgence of interest in the 20th century German- speaking theological movement, "dialectical theology", for the last several decades.
    [Show full text]
  • Creation and God As One, Creator, and Trinity in Early Theology Through Augustine and Its Theological Fruitfulness in the 21St Century
    Creation and God as One, Creator, and Trinity in Early Theology through Augustine and Its Theological Fruitfulness in the 21st Century Submitted by Jane Ellingwood to the University of Exeter as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology in September 2015 This dissertation is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the dissertation may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this dissertation which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: _________Jane Ellingwood _________________________ 2 Abstract My primary argument in this thesis is that creation theologies significantly influenced early developments in the doctrine of the Trinity, especially in Augustine of Hippo’s theology. Thus this is a work of historical theology, but I conclude with proposals for how Augustine’s theologies of creation and the Trinity can be read fruitfully with modern theology. I critically analyse developments in trinitarian theologies in light of ideas that were held about creation. These include the doctrine of creation ‘out of nothing’ and ideas about other creative acts (e.g., forming or fashioning things). Irenaeus and other early theologians posited roles for God (the Father), the Word / Son, the Spirit, or Wisdom in creative acts without working out formal views on economic trinitarian acts. During the fourth century trinitarian controversies, creation ‘out of nothing’ and ideas about ‘modes of origin’ influenced thinking on consubstantiality and relations within the Trinity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Holy Trinity and Our Lutheran Liturgy Timothy Maschke
    Volume 67:3/4 July/October 2003 Table of Contents ~ -- -- - Eugene F. A. Klug (1917-2003) ........................ 195 The Theological Symposia of Concordia Theological Seminary (2004) .................................... 197 Introduction to Papers from the 2003 LCMS Theological Prof essorsf Convocation L. Dean Hempelmann ......................... 200 Confessing the Trinitarian Gospel Charles P. Arand ........................ 203 Speaking of the Triune God: Augustine, Aquinas, and the Language of Analogy John F. Johnson ......................... 215 Returning to Wittenberg: What Martin Luther Teaches Today's Theologians on the Holy Trinity David Lumpp .......................... 228 The Holy Trinity and Our Lutheran Liturgy Timothy Maschke ....................... 241 The Trinity in Contemporary Theology: Questioning the Social Trinity Norman Metzler ........................ 270 Teaching the Trinity David P. Meyer ......................... 288 The Bud Has Flowered: Trinitarian Theology in the New Testament Michael Middendorf ..................... 295 The Challenge of Confessing and Teaching the Trinitarian Faith in the Context of Religious Pluralism A. R. Victor Raj ......................... 308 The Doctrine of the Trinity in Biblical Perspective David P. Scaer .......................... 323 Trinitarian Reality as Christian Truth: Reflections on Greek Patristic Discussion William C. Weinrich ..................... 335 The Biblical Trinitarian Narrative: Reflections on Retrieval Dean 0. Wenthe ........................ 347 Theological Observer
    [Show full text]
  • 2020-CV-Sonderegger.Pdf
    CURRICULUM VITAE Katherine Sonderegger Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology Virginia Theological Seminary 3737 Seminary Rd. Alexandria, Va. 22304 703 461 1746 [email protected] Education: Brown University, Department of Religious Studies; PhD 1990 Western Religious Thought Dissertation: Karl Barth's Dogmatic Interpretation of Israel Wendell S. Dietrich, advisor Yale University Divinity School; M.Div (Biblical Studies) 1976; STM (Theology)1984 Smith College; AB, 1972 Medieval Studies Professional Experience: Virginia Theological Seminary Professor of Theology, 2002- Named William Meade Professor, 2014, Distinguished Professor, 2020. Middlebury College Department of Religion Visiting Instructor, 1987-90 Assistant Professor, 1990-93 Associate Professor, 1993-98 Professor, 1998-2002 Bangor Theological Seminary Hanover, NH Instructor in Theology, 1993-96 Chaplain Intern, Yale New-Haven Hospital, New Haven, Ct. 1980-82 Minister of Education, United Church of Christ, Milford, Ct., 1976-78 Ordained, United Church of Christ, 1977; Confirmed in the Episcopal Church, 1993; Ordained Deacon and Priest, 2000. Resident in the Diocese of Virginia. Administrative Experience and Institutional Service: Virginia Theological Seminary: Faculty Representative to Trustees Admissions Committee Curriculum Committee Library Committee Book Review Editor, Virginia Seminary Journal, 2007-09 Masters Committee Worship Committee Faculty Representative, Buildings and Grounds Seminary Representative to the Anglican Theological Review Middlebury College: Appeals
    [Show full text]
  • Reflections on Thomas F. Torrance's Theological Science
    FEATURE ARTICLE A MANIFESTO FOR INTELLECTUAL ENGAGEMENT: Reflections on Thomas F. Torrance’s Theological Science (1969) Alister E. McGrath, DPhil, DD, DLitt, FRSA Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion University of Oxford [email protected] This lecture was given to the T. F. Torrance Theological Fellowship at the 2016 meeting of the American Academy of Religion. It focuses on my own multiple readings of one of Torrance’s best-known works, Theological Science (1969), exploring its strategy for encouraging and informing intellectual engagement between theology and other disciplines, most notably the natural sciences. The lecture locates Theological Science within the context of Torrance’s overall theological project, and considers its distinct approach to theological rationality and its wider implications. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let me begin by expressing my delight at being able to honour the memory of Tom Torrance in this way. There is no doubt in my mind that Torrance is one of the most interesting and engaging British theologians of the 20th century, and it is quite likely that he’ll be one of the relatively few such theologians to find a readership in the next generation. Nobody really understands the mechanisms and factors governing the reception of the theological past. We can certainly try to make sense of why some writers continue to be read today where others have been discarded and forgotten. But we cannot predict whom the future will value and remember. Nevertheless, it seems to me that a core criterion is that a writer must continue to be useful; that is to say, a future generation must find a theological writer to engage meaningful questions in a manner and with a quality that seem to outshine more recent alternatives.
    [Show full text]
  • Enjoying God and Neighbor: Cultivating Desire for the Presence of the Other
    Please HONOR the copyright of these documents by not retransmitting or making any additional copies in any form (Except for private personal use). We appreciate your respectful cooperation. ___________________________ Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) P.O. Box 30183 Portland, Oregon 97294 USA Website: www.tren.com E-mail: [email protected] Phone# 1-800-334-8736 ___________________________ ATTENTION CATALOGING LIBRARIANS TREN ID# Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) MARC Record # Digital Object Identification DOI # Ministry Focus Paper Approval Sheet This ministry focus paper entitled ENJOYING GOD AND NEIGHBOR: CULTIVATING DESIRE FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE OTHER Written by JOSEPH STANLEY WILSON and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry has been accepted by the Faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary upon the recommendation of the undersigned readers: _____________________________________ Alan J. Roxburgh _____________________________________ Kurt Fredrickson Date Received: April 30, 2015 ENJOYING GOD AND NEIGHBOR: CULTIVATING DESIRE FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE OTHER A MINISTRY FOCUS PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY JOSEPH STANLEY WILSON MARCH 2015 ABSTRACT Enjoying God and Neighbor: Cultivating Desire for the Presence of the Other Joseph Stanley Wilson Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2015 The goal of this study is to explore the cultivation and diffusion of new habits of engagement with neighbors through experimental actions and the introduction of four bodily practices: Lectio Divina, daily prayer, weekly Eucharist, and inhabiting a third place. It is argued that the introduction of bodily practices within a praxis form of theological reflection can alter the habitual engagement of a church with its neighbors.
    [Show full text]
  • MICHAEL ROOT School of Theology and Religious Studies the Catholic University of America
    MICHAEL ROOT School of Theology and Religious Studies The Catholic University of America EMPLOYMENT 2011-Present: Ordinary Professor of Systematic Theology, The Catholic University of America 2003-2011: Professor of Systematic Theology (also Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs, 2003-9) Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC 1998-2003: Edward C. Fendt Professor of Systematic Theology Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio 1988-1998: Research Professor; Director (1991-93; 1995-97) Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg, France 1980-1988: Assistant (1980-84) and Associate (1984-88) Professor of Systematic Theology Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary 1978-80: Instructor in Religion Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina OTHER ACTIVITIES 2006-2015: Executive Director, Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology 2006-Present: Associate Editor, Pro Ecclesia EDUCATION 1979: Ph.D., in Religious Studies - Theology; Yale University 1977: M.Phil., Yale University 1974: M.A., Yale University 1973: A.B., Dartmouth College (Summa Cum Laude, Salutatorian) MEMBERSHIPS Editorial board, Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible, 2003- present Editorial Advisory Board, Ecclesiology, 2006-2015 Board of Directors, Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, 2016- present Member, USA Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue, 1998-2010, 2013-present Member, International Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue, 2008-2010 Drafting committee for Lutheran-Episcopal full communion agreement Called to Common Mission, 1997-99 Drafting committee to
    [Show full text]
  • Impassibility and Revelation: on the Relation Between Immanence And
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by VID:Open Impassibility and revelation: On the relation between immanence and economy in Orthodox and Lutheran thought Knut Alfsvåg, School of Mission and Theology, [email protected] Abstract What is the relation between divine unchangeability and the reality of change as implied in ideas of creation and redemption? Western Trinitarian theology in the 20th century tended toward emphasizing the significance of change above divine unchangeability, giving it a modalist and Hegelian flavour that questioned the continuity with the church fathers. For this reason, it has been criticized by Orthodox theologians like Vladimir Lossky and David Bentley Hart. Newer scholarship has shown the significance of Luther’s appropriation of the doctrine of divine unknowability and his insistence on the difference between revelation and divine essence for his understanding of the Trinity, which thus may appear to be much closer to the position of the Orthodox critics than to the Lutheran theologians criticized by them. There thus seems to be an unused potential in Luther’s doctrine of the Trinity that should be of interest both for systematic and ecumenical theology. Keywords Theology of the Trinity, Orthodox theology, Lutheran theology, Vladimir Lossky, David Bentley Hart, Martin Luther I. The problem One of the most basic and at the same time most challenging problems of the Christian doctrine of God is the question of the relation between divine unchangeability
    [Show full text]
  • John Bainbridge Webster MA, Phd (Cantab.), DD Hc (Aberdeen) 20 June 1955 – 25 May 2016 One of the Most Distinguished Anglican Theologians of His Generation, the Revd
    1 John Bainbridge Webster MA, PhD (Cantab.), DD hc (Aberdeen) 20 June 1955 – 25 May 2016 One of the most distinguished Anglican theologians of his generation, The Revd. Canon Professor John Webster served both church and academy internationally, and played a substantial role in the revitalization of the discipline of systematic theology. Born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, he was brought up in West Yorkshire. Educated at Bradford Grammar School, he specialized in languages and literature, going up to Clare College, Cambridge as an Open Scholar in 1974. He read English initially but switched to Theology at the end of his first year. An outstanding student, he graduated with a First and the Burney Prize and proceeded to PhD study at Clare as Beck Exhibitioner. His doctoral research was on the demanding work of the German theologian, Eberhard Jüngel (b. 1934), whose repertoire, then little known in Britain, traversed New Testament studies, systematic theology, ethics, and the history of philosophy, with major debts to existentialist Lutheranism as well as to the work of the great Swiss theologian Karl Barth. Through Jüngel Webster moved on to extensive critical and constructive interpretation of Barth himself, becoming one of Barth’s foremost analysts in English. But it was as a theological thinker in his own right that Webster would shine. After Cambridge, he held a one-year research fellowship at the University of Sheffield before being appointed in 1982 to his first teaching position at St John’s College, Durham. Ordained priest in the Church of England in 1984, he served an assistant curacy in County Durham and as Chaplain at St John’s.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    INTRODUCTION During the latter part of the 20th century and early into the 21st century, Colin E. Gunton (1941–2003) was an important voice in the contempo- rary theological dialogue, especially in the area of trinitarian studies. He has been heralded as a key figure in the “renewal of systematic theology in Britain” and is credited with contributions that led to a resurgence of trinitarian theology in both Britain and the United States.1 Gunton’s most well-known and discussed aspects of his work revolve around his concep- tion of the Trinity and how the Trinity acts as a hermeneutical key that shapes the content and nature of theology. While Gunton is well known for his work on the doctrine of the Trinity, he has also crafted a trinitarian account of the doctrine of creation that is, according to Alan Spence, “a rich and complex body of constructive theology.”2 John Webster notes that, “along with T.F. Torrance, Gunton is one of the few theologians in Barth’s tradition to devote serious thought to the theological description of the created order.”3 Even though there is agreement that Gunton’s doctrine of creation is a significant aspect of his work, there remains relatively little research available on his constructive views of creation. Furthermore, no full-scale study has attempted to expli- cate his doctrine of creation and locate the significance of the doctrine of creation within the wider spectrum of his theology. This volume proposes a reading of Gunton’s work that takes his theolog- ical description of creation as an integral aspect of Gunton’s theology, and argues that his doctrine of the Trinity cannot be read in abstraction from his doctrine of creation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Psychological Analogy and the Problem Of
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ETD - Electronic Theses & Dissertations A PNEUMATOLOGY OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE: THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MYSTERY OF GOD IN AUGUSTINE AND BARTH By Travis E. Ables Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Religion May, 2010 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor Paul J. DeHart Professor Ellen T. Armour Professor J. Patout Burns Professor John J. Thatamanil Copyright © 2010 by Travis E. Ables All Rights Reserved TO HOLLY iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks are due, first of all, to the members of my dissertation committee, each of whom had a significant impact on my thinking and work. Ellen Armour could always be depended upon for a fascinating and incisive perspective. The idea for this dissertation first took shape in a seminar on Augustine with Patout Burns, whose unparalleled expertise in the great bishop’s theology constantly spurred me on to greater precision and care. My relationship with John Thatamanil was one of the cornerstones of my time in graduate school. John has been a true mentor, and I thank him for his always generous support and advice. Paul DeHart, who directed this dissertation, accepts nothing less than excellence, and I have learned from him, more than anything, to be a careful and sympathetic reader and interlocutor. His encouragement and confidence in this project has been invaluable. There are of course many other professors who had a major part in shaping my thought.
    [Show full text]