This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G
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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Ex Humano Templo Loquitur: The Eloquent God and Holy Scripture in the Theology of John Webster Richard F. Brash Submitted for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy, 2019 This thesis is entirely original research and has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Pages 88−100 appear in modified form in “Making Space for Politics: the Gift of Public Theology in the Work of John Webster,” International Journal of Public Theology 13, no. 3 (2019), 301−20 (currently in press). Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are mine. Where other published translations are available for comparison, references have been supplied. Richard F. Brash Abstract This thesis explores John Webster’s doctrine of Scripture in context. The contexts considered relate, first, to Webster himself in his personal, ecclesial, and institutional settings. Second, Webster’s theological project is approached in the setting of the western theological academy, and is characterised as a response to the perceived problems of modernity by means of a retrieval of premodern theological resources, articulated in and for a postmodern context. Third, Webster’s doctrine of Scripture is situated in the context of his theological architectonics, with special attention payed to his articulation of the relationship between God and creatures, and the idea of revelation. These issues are treated diachronically, with a particular focus on the shift from a basically Barthian paradigm, to one significantly influenced by Aquinas and other scholastic theologians. An heuristic distinction between an “earlier” and a “later” Webster is introduced and defended as a hermeneutical key to appreciating the changes in his constructive work. To summarise the findings of the first four chapters, John Webster’s doctrine of Scripture is a (theo)logical development from his theology proper, his wider concept of the God-world relation, and in particular his understanding of the interplay between divine and human agencies in the work of creating, saving, and perfecting creatures in the economy of grace. Together, these elements form the architectonic theological structure within which Webster’s doctrine of Scripture takes both its form and its material content. At the heart of this structure, it will be argued, is the Trinitarian concept of “revelation,” which for Webster is shorthand for the saving presence of the eternal God to human creatures in the temporal/historical missions of the Son and the Spirit. Considered absolutely, this divine, saving presence is the immediate self-presentation of God in his turn to creatures, communicated to creatures by a work of divine grace. It cannot therefore be equated with Holy Scripture. Scripture is, then, the divinely appointed, human-but-holy, ultimate, and instrumental witness to revelation, by means of which “accommodated” instrument God executes his rule over the church (proximately) and the world (ultimately). Webster’s doctrine of Scripture therefore does not stand or fall in isolation: it may only be truly understood, appreciated, and evaluated, as part of a greater whole. The central critical question arising from Webster’s bibliology is: What is the relationship between the divine Word and the human words of Scripture? In the last two chapters, a further, more critical, thesis will be articulated in respect of this question, namely that Webster’s doctrine of Scripture suffers from the lack of a truly Trinitarian, organic, and analogical understanding of the relationship between divine and human “speech,” and a viable concept of general revelation. Acknowledging the validity of some recent criticisms of Webster’s work, a range of sources from the Reformed tradition will be brought to bear, in an attempt to reframe these aspects of his doctrine and overcome more successfully the dualisms that Webster himself opposed. Lay Summary British Anglican theologian John Webster (1955-2016) made one of the most significant recent contributions to the doctrine of Scripture. In some of his later essays he cited St Augustine: God speaks from his human temple (which citation suggests the Latin title of the present work). This thesis engages some of the important theological issues arising from Webster’s bibliology, not least the question of the relationship between the eloquent God and the human words of Holy Scripture. Behind this question lie some fundamental theological problems, such as the nature of the relationship between God and creation, and the question of how human beings can know, and speak about, God. John Webster’s doctrine of Scripture is therefore presented in its various contexts, to explain it, defend it against some of its critics, and subject it to some constructively-framed criticisms. The central thesis argued is that, for Webster, God’s revelation is immediate, because of its relationship to the divine essence. But, equally, given its creaturely term, revelation is mediated. Holy Scripture is therefore the creaturely, accommodated form of that revelation, which is never to be simply identified with the divine presence or the divine Word. There are great theological gains from such a construal, as divine act and being are brought to bear upon an account of Scripture. Yet it is suggested that Webster’s understanding of language – and in particular what it might mean for God to “speak” – means he cannot overcome a residual dualism between the divine and human aspects of his account of Scripture. In conversation with a range of interlocutors, mostly from Webster’s own Reformed tradition, it is argued that his understanding of God and God’s self- communication might be nuanced by employing some different categories, such as general revelation, an internal/external distinction in ectypal theology, and an organic view of the relationship between God, God’s Word/words, and God’s world. Acknowledgments A Ph.D. thesis such as this one might formally be the work of only one person: in reality it could never have been finished without the help of many others. Most important of these “helpers” are my wife Yuko, and our children Kaz and Isla. Thanks to you three! Returning to live in “Auld Reekie” for the first time in twenty years has been an unexpected joy. It has been good to live nearer to my parents than we have for some time, and friends at Chalmers Church here in Edinburgh have blessed us in many ways, practically and spiritually. This thesis was undertaken primarily in order that, after graduation, I might serve the churches of Japan through theological education. It is submitted in the hope that it might be useful to that end, as well as for what I trust is its own worth as a piece of original research. My course fees were paid by St Ebbe’s Church, Oxford, our “home” church, and the most encouraging and supportive of church families, as part of which we were privileged to serve, learn, and grow for five years. I am grateful also for the financial support of many other friends and partners in Oxford and around the world who have given generously to enable this thesis to be written. My particular thanks to those who have advised and encouraged me in different ways during the course of this project, especially my academic supervisor Dr James Eglinton and secondary supervisor Professor David Fergusson (at New College in the University of Edinburgh), and Mr Selvan Anketell (Director of Mission at Japan Christian Link). I never met the late John Webster in person, but I am deeply grateful for all that I have learned from him about the joyful task of dogmatics, and about the God of whom we, falteringly but faithfully, are enabled to speak. Six months before he died, Webster kindly agreed to read two of my Th.M. essays, at a stage when I barely recognised how distinguished he was in the world of systematic theology. Later, Webster wrote to me that he had read my work “with profit and admiration.” I have opened and re-opened that email many times over the last few years, often when struggling to understand or express some knotty aspect of my research, usually just for a bit of encouragement. What humility and kindness, from a theological luminary directed to a mere amateur! In truth, all the profit and admiration throughout our association with one another’s writing has been on my side. Lastly, and most importantly, I thank the Triune God for revealing himself to me in nature and in grace: for life, and breath, and everything else, above all for the gifts of his Son and his Spirit. List of Abbreviations BDAG Danker, Frederick W., Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. CD Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. Volumes of collected essays by John Webster are frequently cited by abbreviated titles in this thesis: these abbreviations are given in the footnotes referencing the first citation of each work, but are also listed here for readers’ convenience.