Durham E-Theses A Christian theology of place. Inge, John How to cite: Inge, John (2001) A Christian theology of place., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1235/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk A Christian Theology of Place John Inge The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any form, including Electronic and the Internet, without the author's prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. University of Durham Department of Theology Ph. D. Thesis 2001 1( 22 MAR2002 A Christian Theology of Place Abstract The contention of this thesis is that place is much more important in human experienceand in the Christian schemeof things than is generally recognised. I first survey the manner in which place has been progressively downgraded in Western thought and practice in favour of a concentration upon space and time. I note that during the latter part of the twentieth century scholars in a variety of disciplines have suggested that place is much more important than this prevailing discourse would suggest.Few theologians, however, recognise the importance of place. I suggestthat, in this respect, theologians owe more to the mores of modernity than to a thorough engagementwith the Christian scripturesand tradition. Second, I embark upon such an engagementwith the scriptures. My findings suggestthat their witness confirms that, from a Christian perspective,place is vital. With this in mind, my third step is to propose that the best way of understanding the role of place in a manner consonantwith the Biblical narrative is sacramentally. Fourth, I test this hypothesis by examining the Christian tradition's approach to pilgrimage and investigate how it might be applied to holy places and churches in general. Finally, I conclude that a renewed appreciation of place by theologians and churchpeople, which their scriptures and tradition invite, would enable them to offer much to a society still trapped in the paradigm of modernity which underestimatesplace, with dehumanisingeffect. Declaration All of the material contained in this thesis is the work of the author. No part of it has previously been submitted for a degreein this or any other university. Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. INTRODUCTION 4 1. PLACE IN WESTERN THOUGHT AND PRACTICE 9 1.1 The Demise of Place 9 1.1.1 Place and Space 9 1.1.2 The Greek Inheritance 11 1.1.3 The Eclipse of Place 16 1.2 Protests at this Prevailing Discourse 30 1.2.1 A PhenomenologicalApproach to Place in Philosophy, Geography and Psychology 30 1.2.2 Place in Political and Social Theory 43 1.2.3 The Position of ContemporaryTheology on Place 56 1.2.4 Conclusion 62 2. PLACE AND THE SCRIPTURES 63 2.1 The Old Testament 63 2.1.1 Place as a Primary Category of Biblical Faith 63 2.1.2 Genesisand Wilderness 69 2.1.3 The Promised Land: Arrival, Exile and Restoration 74 2.1.4 A Relational View of Place 85 2.2 The New Testament 87 2.2.1 Place in the Narrative 87 2.2.2 The Incarnation 93 2.2.3 Spiritualisation and the Place of Jerusalem:Eschatology 98 i 2.2.4 Conclusion 104 3. PLACE AND THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION (1) A SACRAMENTAL APPROACH 105 3.1 The Sacramental Worldview 105 3.1.1 The Concept of Sacrament 105 3.1.2 SacramentalEvents 118 3.1.3 A Surprisingly Common Phenomenon 123 3.2 A Relational View of the Sacrament of Place 134 3.2.1 Holiness Determined by Event. A Relational View of Place 134 3.2.2 Holiness acrossTime 142 3.2.3 From Event to Perception 148 3.2.4 Conclusion 152 4. PLACE AND THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION (2) PILGRIMAGE AND HOLY PLACES 154 4.1 Pilgrimages 154 4.1.1 Pilgrimage and Place 154 4.1.2 The History of Pilgrimage: Jerusalem 157 4.1.3 A SacredGeography Emerges 164 4.1.4 An Authentic Christian Phenomenon? 167 4.2 Shrines 175 4.2.1 The Past: The Shrine as Memorial 176 4.2.2 The Present:The Shrine as Prophetic Presence 179 4.2.3 The Future: The Shrine as Eschatological Sign 191 4.2.4 Churchesas Shrines 193 2 4.2.5 Conclusion 206 5. A RENEWED APPRECIATION OF PLACE: AN OFFERING TO THE WORLD 207 5.1 Place and Humanity 207 5.1.1 Theology And Other Disciplines 207 5.1.2 Place and Community 210 5.1.3 Practical Proposals 217 5.1.4 The Distinctive Role of Christians 228 5.2 Ultimate Hope for an Ultimate Place 233 5.3 Conclusion 240 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 289 3 Introduction This thesis is an investigation into the material, physical places which we inhabit, in which we are `placed' as human beings. Our very existence as embodied beings meansthat at any given moment we will be in one particular place. We must have a place in which to stand- place is as necessaryas food and air to us. The events that shapeour lives happenin particular places,nothing we do or are, nothing that happens to us is unplaced.The question I want to ask is, what is the importance of such places to our humanity viewed from the perspective of the Christian faith? What is the significance of place in human experience?What does it mean to talk of `holy places' and how doesplace fit into the Christian schemeof things?' Chapter one looks first at the way in which Western thought has viewed place from the earliest times. I trace the way in which the importance of place in Greek thought was gradually eclipsed by a discourse which concentrated firstly, upon space and secondly, upon time. I argue that during the period of modernity this dominant discourse virtually eliminated place from academic discussion and that this had serious repercussionsupon the manner in which Western society developed. I then look at a growing number of protests in the latter part of the twentieth century by scholars in a variety of academic disciplines against this prevailing discourse.These protests point out the way in which this downgrading of place has worked out in practice with dehumanising effect and suggest that place has much more effect on humanity than has generally been recognised. I note that contemporary theology has remained, in the main, wedded to the norms of modernity as far as attitudes to place 4 are concerned,as is evidencedby the fact that very few theologians have paid much attention to place. This latter is an approachwhich I argue is consonantneither with Christian scripture nor tradition. In order to substantiate the above claim and demonstrate that Christian theology should take place seriously, I turn in chapter two to a detailed examination of the attitude of the scriptures to place. My study confirms that place is a very important category in the Old Testamentand that the narrative supportsa three-way relationship between God, people and place in which all three are essential. Turning to the New TestamentI suggestthat, although there is no longer a concentration upon the Holy Land and Jerusalem, the incarnation affirms the importance of the particular and therefore of place in God's dealings with humanity. Seen in an incarnational perspective,places are the seat of relations or the place of meeting and activity in the interaction between God and the world. In the light of this, chapterthree proposesthat the most constructive manner in which to view place from a Christian perspectiveis sacramentally.I examine the concept of sacramentand trace its extension from the church's sacramentsto a wider application in the material world. Agreeing with those who emphasise that the notion of sacramentmust be grounded in event, I point to the importance of place in human encounterwith the Divine, beginning with Jacob's encounterat Bethel and continuing through the scriptures and tradition. I term such encounters `sacramentalevent' and go on to argue that, far from being isolated incidents given only to a few, such `sacramentalencounters' are a very common part of Christian experienceand that the place in which such encounteroccurs is not merely a backdrop to the experiencebut 5 an integral part of it. I propose that the relational view of place, people and God, which emergesin chaptertwo as the biblical paradigm, is retained in such encounters. `Sacramentalencounters' then become built into the story of such places and I enlist the support of scholars of other disciplines to elucidate how this can happen in a manner which allows for the development of holiness across time and the resulting emergenceof `holy places'. Chapter four looks as the way in which holy places so understood have been an integral part of the Christian tradition from the earliest times and how this has been seento be particularly true in the phenomenonof pilgrimage.