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The Significance of the Cross for the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Theology of Jürgen Moltmann

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The Significance of the Cross for the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Theology of Jürgen Moltmann The Significance of the Cross for the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Theology of Jürgen Moltmann Cameron Coombe A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a Masters degree University of Otago February 2016 Abstract The distinctive claim Moltmann makes in his second major work, The Crucified God, is that the two characteristic features of Christianity, the cross and the Trinity, are inseparable and thus must always be thought together. It is only in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity that the cross can be properly understood, and only in the context of the cross that the doctrine of the Trinity has any ground. The core of Moltmann’s innovations derive from the latter. That is, for Moltmann the cross is of central significance to the doctrine of the Trinity. This thesis consists of two chapters of exposition followed by three chapters of analysis and discussion, a final comparative chapter, and then a conclusion. The first two chapters trace the development of the significance of the cross for the doctrine of the Trinity through The Crucified God and The Trinity and the Kingdom, respectively. Chapter three begins the discussion by outlining and assessing Moltmann’s methodology. The latter half of the chapter provides a case study of his use of Scripture by looking at the function of Mark 15:34 in his theology. Chapter four discusses Moltmann’s innovations regarding divine passibility. After clarifying the grounds on which he rejects divine impassibility and, for him, the related Chalcedonian distinction between divine and human natures in Christ, it critically assesses his rationale for divine suffering and addresses his claim that there is enmity between Father and Son in the crucifixion. Chapter five discusses Moltmann’s construal of the relationship between immanent and economic Trinity. It begins by addressing the ambiguous relationship between history and eschatology in this area of his theology. Then it provides a critical assessment of Moltmann’s construal of this relationship in light of Karl Barth’s doctrine of the Trinity. Chapter six expounds and discusses a passage from Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theo-Drama which provides a helpful mediating position between Moltmann’s proposals and classical theism. The thesis concludes with a commendation of the value of his theologia crucis for hermeneutics, of his theology of divine passibility for a global, twenty-first century theology, and of his trinitarian panentheism as a potential alternative to classical theism for imagining the God of Jesus Christ. iii Acknowledgements I would first like to acknowledge my heavenly Father who has brought me to know him in Christ through the Spirit. Thank you for being my first teacher and for calling me to study in the exciting field of theology. I would like to thank my supervisor Christopher Holmes for reading over my drafts, providing feedback, and challenging me to consider just what is at stake in following Moltmann’s innovations. Thanks to the Otago University library staff for the many books they sent me over the last year, scanning chapters for me, and ordering requested volumes for the collection. I have also been helped by browsing the shelves at my local, Laidlaw College library in Christchurch, and by the company of staff and students there. Thank you. Thanks are due to the staff at my church, C3 Christchurch, who graciously allowed me some office space for the last two years of study, and the church community who have supported me in my development as a theology student. Finally, I’d like to thank Jonty and Dan for their friendship in offering to read over my drafts. I didn’t even ask them! iv Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Abbreviations of Works Written by Moltmann viii THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CROSS FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY IN THE THEOLOGY OF JÜRGEN MOLTMANN Introduction 2 I. EXPOSITION 1. The Crucified God 7 1.1. The Dialectic of Soteriology and Christology 7 1.2. The Cross as the Ground and Critique of Theology 8 1.3. Christology in Historical and Eschatological Context 9 1.3.1. The Historical Significance of the Crucifixion 11 1.3.2. The Eschatological Significance of the Crucifixion 13 1.4. Theologia Crucis against Theism 15 1.4.1. Theism and Theologia Crucis 15 1.4.2. The Chalcedonian Distinction between Christ’s Divine and Human Natures 18 1.5. The Trinitarian God of the Cross 20 1.5.1. The Identity of the Eschatological God in History 20 1.5.2. In Defence of Divine Mutability and Passibility 22 1.5.3. The Constitution of Father and Son in the Cross 24 1.5.4. The Constitution of the Spirit in the Cross 26 1.5.5. The Soteriological Significance of God’s Constitution in Nothingness 26 1.6. Conclusion 28 2. The Trinity and the Kingdom 30 2.1. Relevant Continuities with and Developments of CG 30 2.2. The Relationship between Immanent and Economic Trinity 33 v 2.2.1 The Trinity and the Act of Creation 34 2.2.2. The Doxological Doctrine of the Immanent Trinity 36 2.3. Conclusion 38 II. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3. Crux Probat Omnia: Moltmann’s Methodology 39 3.1. Methodology in CG 39 3.1.1 Christocentrism and Crucicentrism 39 3.1.2. Too Much Cross? 41 3.2. Methodology in TKG 44 3.2.1. Experience and Dialogue 44 3.2.2. The Non-Systematic Nature of Moltmann’s Methodology 46 3.3. Mark 15:34 and Moltmann’s Use of Scripture 48 3.3.1. Overview 48 3.3.2. The Problem of the Historicity of Jesus’ Divine Abandonment as Attested in Mark 15:34 50 3.3.3. John 16:32 and the Question of Canon 55 3.3.4. Mark’s Citation of Ps 22:1: Atomistic or Contextual? 56 3.3.5. Mark 15:34 in Its Narrative Context 58 3.3.6. Assessment: Moltmann and Mark on Jesus’ Abandonment 63 3.3.7. Canon Revisited: Theologia Crucis 65 3.4. Conclusion 68 4. A Pathetic God? Moltmann and Divine Suffering 69 4.1. Defining Impassibility and Passibility 69 4.2. Is Divine Impassibility a Pagan or a Christian Doctrine? 72 4.2.1. In Defence of the Patristic Adoption of the Doctrine of Divine Impassibility 73 4.2.2. Assessment: Moltmann on the Pagan Origin of Divine Impassibility 75 4.3. Impassibility and Chalcedonian Christology 77 4.3.1. The Role of the Doctrine of Divine Impassibility in the Formation of Chalcedonian Orthodoxy 77 vi 4.3.2. Assessment: The Theological Implications of Moltmann’s Rejection of Chalcedon 81 4.4. Is Passibility a Possibility? A Critical Assessment of Moltmann’s Arguments for Divine Suffering 84 4.4.1. The Centrality of the Cross 84 4.4.2. The Nature of Divine Love 86 4.4.3. Theodicy 87 4.5. Enmity between Father and Son? 92 4.6. Conclusion 93 5. Maze Rahner: Navigating the Labyrinth of Rahner’s Rule in Moltmann’s Doctrine of the Trinity 96 5.1. Moltmann’s Eschatological-Historical Ambiguity 96 5.1.1. The Problem 96 5.1.2. The Immanent-Economic Distinction and the Trinity in Protology, History, and Eschatology 97 5.1.3. Assessment: The Missing Dialectic 102 5.2. Issues in Moltmann’s Adoption of Rahner’s Rule 103 5.2.1. Karl Barth on the Relationship between Immanent and Economic Trinity 103 5.2.2. A Barthian Critique of Moltmann’s Doctrine of the Trinity 105 5.2.3. Assessment: Moltmann on Panentheism and Divine Freedom 109 5.3. Conclusion 114 6. Hans Urs von Balthasar: Having Your Orthodoxy and Eating It Too? 116 6.1. Balthasar on the Intra-Trinitarian Basis for Divine Abandonment 116 6.2. Assessment: The Analogy of Distance 119 6.3. Conclusion 123 Conclusion 124 Works Cited 133 vii Abbreviations of Works Written by Moltmann BP A Broad Place: An Autobiography. Translated by Margaret Kohl. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2009. CG The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology. Translated by R. A. Wilson and John Bowden. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993. CoG The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology. Translated by Margaret Kohl. London: SCM, 1996. CPS The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology. Translated by Margaret Kohl. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993. ExpTh Experiences in Theology: Ways and Forms of Christian Theology. Translated by Margaret Kohl. London: SCM, 2000. FC The Future of Creation: Collected Essays. Translated by Margaret Kohl. London: SCM, 1979. GC God in Creation: A New Theology of Creation and the Spirit of God. Translated by Margaret Kohl. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993. SL The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation. Translated by Margaret Kohl. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1992. TH Theology of Hope: On the Ground and Implications of a Christian Eschatology. Translated by James W. Leith. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993. TKG The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God. Translated by Margaret Kohl. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993. WJC The Way of Jesus Christ: Christology in Messianic Dimensions. Translated by Margaret Kohl. London: SCM, 1990. viii The Christian faith consists above all in the confession of the Holy Trinity, and it glories especially in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. –Thomas Aquinas The scriptural basis for the Christian belief in the triune God is not the scanty trinitarian formulas of the New Testament, but the thoroughgoing, unitary testimony of the cross; and the shortest expression of the Trinity is the divine act of the cross, in which the Father allows the Son to sacrifice himself through the Spirit.
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