Recent relational theological trends tend to identify all too closely divine and human emotions. Be it love or jealousy, the notion is that if we’re this or that way, then God must be. My term for this new direction in theology today is relationalism. There is a deep and somewhat understandable desire to have a God like us, yet this longing may create a god of our own making. It seems to me that we frequently make it up as we go along and in so doing shape God into our own image. The biblical God is the Creator and Redeemer, not fickle, but faithful. God, therefore, is utterly unique and does what God does for the realization of covenant fulfillment. This God is neither weak, nor vulnerable, but an agent of power who through his own commanding passion will bring about love and justice for his people and the whole world.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
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7 comments:
Helpful! Thanks.
-Val
This seems to be on my mind a lot lately, in part due to reading about Bonhoeffer's religionless Christianity and Neiman's Evil in Modern Thought. It seems though that Bonhoeffer's secularism and Barth influence causes him to miss that last piece, focusing precisely too heavily on the God revealed at the cross and not enough on the God revealed in the resurrection. I mean I agree with his critics of mythic resurrection, but his secularism cuts out the agent of power, albeit providing a profound response to evil. Is this completely off? (sorry to hijack your post with something completely tangential).
Joshua,
Thanks. Yes, I think that's right. There should be a focus on the cross, but not at the expense of the resurrection. The "power" of God can be an anathema to some these days, as the tendency is to prefer the vulnerable God. Perhaps, religionless Christianity need not equate secularism?
I'm not sure what you mean. Bonhoeffer seemed to view secularization as good, especially as it fostered the religionless Christianity. Secularization makes beliefs like relationalism irrelevant and untenable. The church especially needs it to grow up.
Joshua,
I guess I was just trying to propose that Christianity needs to change - less religiousity - internal comfort zone - and so forth, but I wonder if a turn to secularization would be the best direction. There could be other alternatives that might be more helpful and yes it is true, maybe more nuanced?
Oh yea, I totally agree. I've just been thinking about a lot of the issues in that post cause of Bonhoeffer. I'm actually pretty critical of his secularization and while I agree with many aspects of his "religionless Christianity", think it goes too far. It's one of the reasons I pay attention to folks like you and Wright, and actually consider Bonhoeffer the alternative.
Joshua,
Good to hear from you again. I wonder if you've looked at the Living Spiritual Rhythms book and if so, what you thought of some of the directions laid out there for a renewed faith.
Visit me over on FB sometime - Living Spirituality page.
You may be interested in my new book Living Reflections: Theology, Philosophy, and Hermeneutics.
If you have or do interact with any of the books, I'd be very interested in your feedback. Thanks.
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