Archive for the 'Theologians' Category

Bulgakov Blog Conference, Day 4

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DWM
on October 4, 2008
in Balthasar, Bulgakov and Christology
. 2 Comments

Bulgakov and Apollinarius
by Henry Karlson
The Catholic University of America

Back in 1952, Hans Urs von Balthasar had some rather shocking words to say about Christology: “And what a dryness there is in the doctrine about Christ, which likewise has made scarcely any progress since Chalcedon, where an abstract formula has to answer for the central mystery. Once again the formula is excellent, but only if it is a skeletal structure that enables the living flesh of the word of revelation to stand and walk.”1 Not many years before, Sergius Bulgakov made a similar point. While Chalcedon must be recognized as normative, it should not have ended Christological discussion. Its declaration was mostly negative: it stated who and what Christ was not, but left much room as to who and what Christ is.  The expectation was that there would be theological development. To be sure, there were few theological developments at II and III Constantinople, but they were minor, and beyond them, there really has not been any significant development in Christology.2  It was not meant to be this way.

Bulgakov believed that Christian theologians have far too long neglected this dogmatic problem. Christology, as it is today, provides answers which no longer satisfy the questions brought to it by believers and skeptics alike. Continue reading ‘Bulgakov Blog Conference, Day 4′

  1. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Razing the Bastions. Trans. Brian McNeil, C.R.V. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993), 29.↩
  2. Sergius Bulgakov, The Lamb of God. Trans. Boris Jakim (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 2008), 194-6. ↩

Intimacy and History

Published
by
DWM
on July 11, 2008
in Anglicanism, Ethics, Rowan Williams and Theology and other
. 13 Comments

At the end of spring term, I had my students sit for a conversational final, during which I had the appalling realization that the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ made absolutely no difference to them in terms of the way they view humanity or ethics. That is, when asked what difference Jesus makes, they all basically invoked WWJD (who was Jack Daniels?). After tearing out large chunks of hair in front of them because it had taken me until the end of the semester to pick up on this tragedy, I pulled myself together and started asking questions tailored specifically toward trying to understand how they could’ve adopted such a superficial perspective. Continue reading ‘Intimacy and History’

Call for Respondents - The 2008 Sergei Bulgakov Blog Conference

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DWM
on March 23, 2008
in Theologians and Theology and other
. 5 Comments

I’d like to thank everyone who has offered to participate in the 2008 Bulgakov Blog Conference. We’ve had a ton of really positive response in the last week, and AD and I are really exciting about what we think is going to be a brilliant event due to the fantastic essays that we already have slated (see below). However, with so many papers, some dealing with similar topics, we’ve decided to go with a session format to accomodate two papers for each theme. It will probably go something like this: each day, two essays will be presented, followed at the end of the day with a response. This way, I think we will be cover a lot of ground quickly. Of course, we will most likely have some single paper sessions, which will proceed in the usual style.

What we really need now is for folks to sign up as respondents. Again, you’re welcome to shoot me an email, or just respond to this post. Please include your name as you’d like it to appear, the session you’d like to respond to, and whatever university or website you’d like your name linked to… woops, hanging infinitive… to which you’d like your name linked.

Our Current Session Roster

Introduction
Cynthia Nielsen (Per Caritatem) - “An introduction to Bulgakov”

Ecclesiology and Eucharist
Halden Doerge (Inhabitatio Dei) - “Eucharist, Eschatology, and World in the Ecclesiology of Bulgakov”.
Gregory Voiles (Catholic University of America) - “The Divine Humanity of the Church”

Respondent: Joshua Brockway (Catholic University of America)

Apollinaris
Matthew J. Aragon Bruce (Princeton Theological Seminary) - “The Preface on Apollinaris”
Henry Karlson (Vox Nova) - “Bulgakov and Apollinarius”

Sophiology
Aron Dunlap (The Land of Unlikeness) - Sophiology
Maximus Daniel Greeson (Paideia) - “Vladimir Lossky’s Critique of Bulgakov’s Sophiology”
J. David Belcher (La Perruque) - “The ‘Interpenetrability’ of Divine and Creaturely Sophia: Freedom and Synergeia in Bulgakov’s Sophiology”

Mariology
M. Sophia Compton (St. Paul’s School of Theology, Kansas City) - “The Burning Bush and Bulgakov’s Kataphatic Theology”
Scott Sharman (University of Toronto-St. Michael’s College) - “Hypostatic Motherhood and the Mother of God”

Pneumatology
David W. Congdon (The Fire and the Rose) - Pneumatology
Kyle Bennett (Fuller Seminary) - “The Coming of the Comforter: The Holy Spirit’s Role in the Parousia of Christ according to Sergius Bulgakov and Jurgen Moltmann”

Theurgy and Aesthetics
Joshua Delpech-Ramey (The Land of Unlikeness) - “Sophiology and Magic: Renaissance Precursors to Bulgakov”
Dan McClain (The Land of Unlikeness) - “Art & Politics”

Respondent: Janet Leslie Blumberg (Deep Grace of Theory)

Still to be boxed in by a theme.
Ben Boswell (Catholic University of America)
Brendan Sammon (The Well at the World’s End)

von Balthasar blog conference

Published
by
DWM
on March 18, 2008
in Balthasar, Hermeneutics, Scripture and Systematic Theology
. 0 Comments

David began the von Balthasar blog conference last night over at The Fire and the Rose with the following introduction:

In a world where we are bombarded by seemingly endless amounts of information, I trust this conference will offer something distinct and interesting. While blogs have been disparaged (often rightly) by academics, I hope this experiment demonstrates that theo-blogging can be a place for academically rigorous and theologically sophisticated work. More importantly, in a conference examining the interrelation between theology and exegesis, I hope most of all that these essays provoke us to return to the text anew for a fresh hearing of God’s Word. May we gain a greater appreciation for what von Balthasar accomplished, and, following his example, learn to cultivate a faith that always seeks understanding.

My contribution will be posted tomorrow. In the meantime, definitely head on over and read the inaugural posts, here and here. Lois Miles has a great piece on von Balthasar’s reliance upon the contemplative mysticism of Adrienne von Speyr. The essay gives a nice biography of their relationship, including a bit on the creation of von Speyr’s commentaries on Scripture. Cynthia Nielsen, in her usual exemplary style, helps us understand Balthasar’s insight that aesthetics and hermeneutics can not be separated without comprising the wholeness of the Scripture - “a recovery of theologico-aesthetic sensibilities that had been lost with certain modernist interpretive currents.”

By all means, please engage these authors by commenting. I think this format of blog conference is a unique opportunity for scholars around the globe to extend the theological conversations that just aren’t (unfortunately) getting air time in places like AAR and the like. Additionally, the kind of interaction that has already begun exhibits a kind of charity that is as rare in the larger, more established venues. As David mentions, the blog medium hasn’t garnered the best reputation among the academic elite. Hopefully our fellowship will help change that perception.

Call for Papers - Sergii Bulgakov Blog Conference, September 2008 - Updated

Published
by
admin
on March 15, 2008
in Theologians and Theology and other
. 21 Comments

BulgakovIn his aptly titled essay, “On the Holy Grail,” Sergei Bulgakov meditates on the meaning of the verse in John where Christ’s side is pierced with a spear and “blood and water flow out.” Bulgakov’s thesis is straightforward: It is not the legendary grail of Western mythos that is interesting or vital, but rather the fact that when Jesus spills his blood upon the earth, the earth is charged and changed and maintains the seeds of its own transfiguration even when Christ dies, descends, and ascends to heaven. Clearly, the church has always maintained that Christ is present in the Eucharist and in the Spirit which he bequeaths, but Bulgakov thinks that the fact that this presence resides also in the earth itself, which is the holy grail, needs to be thought about much more seriously. He argues that this seed of transfiguration is none other than the Heavenly Sophia getting to work in nature, achieving her destiny in her Creaturely Image. This destiny reaches its origin and goal in the perfect picture of creation which exists with God eternally (and which is the essence of God). In the West it is talked about as the goodness of nature beneath the bentness of man’s will.

Here at the Land of Unlikeness, we could think of no better way to break into Bulgakov’s Sophia thesis than to join forces with the rest of you and throw a Sergei Bulgakov Blog Conference to be held in September later this year. The details are still sketchy, but we already have a few participants and many others are pondering. More participation is welcome, both in the form of a 1500 word contribution or in the form of a response to a post. Please send your contribution ideas to editor at thelandofunlikeness.com, or simply reply to this thread. Stay tuned for more details in the very near future.

The (Tentative and Still Growing) Lineup

Matthew J. Aragon Bruce (Princeton Theological Seminary) - “The Preface on Apollinaris”
Ben Boswell (Catholic University of America)
David W. Congdon (The Fire and the Rose)
Cynthia Nielsen (Per Caritatem) - “An introduction to Bulgakov”
Halden Doerge (Inhabitatio Dei) - “Eucharist, Eschatology, and World in the Ecclesiology of Bulgakov”.
Respondent: Joshua Brockway (Catholic University of America)
Aron Dunlap (The Land of Unlikeness) - Sophiology
Maximus Daniel Greeson (Paideia) - “Vladimir Lossky’s Critique of Bulgakov’s Sophiology”
Dan McClain (The Land of Unlikeness)
Brendan Sammon (The Well at the World’s End)
Scott Sharman (University of Toronto-St. Michael’s College) - “Hypostatic Motherhood and the Mother of God”
Gregory Voiles (Catholic University of America) - “The Divine Humanity of the Church”

Abp. Williams Christmas Day Sermon

Published
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DWM
on December 29, 2007
in Rowan Williams
. 0 Comments

Rowan WilliamsThanks to KP for pointing me toward this. Williams spends time on some of John of the Cross’ Christmas poems. Here’s an excerpt:

The birth of Jesus, in which that power which holds the universe together in coherence takes shape in history as a single human body and soul, is an event of cosmic importance. It announces that creation as a whole has found its purpose and meaning, and that the flowing together of all things for the joyful transfiguration of our humanity is at last made visible on earth.

Light reading

Published
by
DWM
on November 15, 2007
in Theologians
. 0 Comments

Cynthia from Per Caritatem has posted a paper of mine on de Lubac over at her blog. It’s something of a completion of a series I had begun here a few weeks ago. Head over to her blog and read it for me if you get time.

Thanks,

Dan

Archbishop of Canterbury on Christians in the Middle East

Published
by
DWM
on October 10, 2007
in Rowan Williams and Suffering
. 6 Comments

It seems important to me to note that this interview from October 5th has received relatively little notice by either the Anglican Community or the greater Christian community, whereas the fact that he apparently said little, he mostly listened, at the House of Bishops in New Orleans, has been a great source of consternation for many: “why didn’t he chasten the Episcopals?” on one side; “Why didn’t he affirm [you fill in the blanks]?” on the other.

Anyway, with that comment made, here’s portions of a transcript from an Oct. 5th interveiw with Rowan Williams on BBC radio.

Q: Help me understand Archbishop, why these Christians, these exiles from Iraq have been targeted?

A: Since the Iraq war, Christian communities in Iraq which have lived there for literally thousands of years have been seen as, in some sense, agents of the West. People described how the sort of notes that were pushed under their door, the messages and threats they received said ‘you are American agents’ or ‘you are Zionist agents and we’re going to have to get rid of you.’ So there’s a very clear link in people’s minds with the conflict.

…[W]hatever one says now about that, it’s quite clear that our governments have a very heavy responsibility to see what can be done for these people. To secure the status and the welfare of refugees and to work on what seems the almost impossible task of making a society that they can return to in Iraq. And of course when some people talk – as some do - about the possibility of a partition solution in Iraq, very often the Christians are left out of account in this.

I don’t say this out of a kind of Christian chauvinism – wanting to defend my corner, The presence of Christians in communities like Iraq and Syria is actually part of what you might call a pluralist, tolerant, co-existent tradition in Middle-Eastern Arab society which is itself under threat.

So it’s not just about Christians, what’s at stake is much more than just the future of just the Christian community. But everywhere you go in the Middle-East, Christian people will say ‘the main problem we face is the catastrophic drainage of Christians from this region’. So that what were once plural societies not exclusively or narrowly Muslim, are becoming more and more closed.

…

I don’t know what sort of calculations were made. I do think that two things are clear: that the effect on Christian communities in the region was gravely under estimated, and that the scale of the refugee problem was gravely underestimated. Now what we have at the moment is a refugee problem in the Middle East of almost unprecedented scale. We’ve already got the Palestinian refugee problem and I also visited some Palestinian refugees on the outskirts of Beirut; we now have on top of that another million and a half – and growing – number of Iraqi refugees and this is where, when people talk about further destablilising the region, when you read about some American political advisers speaking about action against Syria and Iran, I can only say that I regard that as criminal, ignorant and potentially murderous folly.

…

Q: Do you think there will ever be a time in the future when we look back at the invasion of Iraq and say yes actually that was for the best?

A: No.

 

Is All We Need LOVE? A prolegomena to future discussions on Love and Being.

Published
by
DWM
on October 1, 2007
in Balthasar, Creation and Film
. 4 Comments

Across the UniverseJulie Taymor’s Across the Universe is an explosion of cultural throwbacks and cinematic contortions, not to mention Beatle’s hit after hit, “like endless rain into a paper cup”. But it’s not simply vintage nostalgia. Buried in the plot is a power struggle between two deep human urges that bears theological fruit in its reflection of Love as a pole averring, mediating factor that ultimately funds the best of human efforts.

Early in the film, Taymor appears to squarely pit social and militant activism and artistic creation against each other, and gives the impression that the infamous Love will side with the latter. It’s only an impression, and one that many on both sides mistakenly take to as the final word for better or ill. On one side, there’s the declaration of fealty to an ambiguous and numinous Love, the great fictional panacea. On the other, there’s the concession that Love is indeed ambiguous, impotent to effect change; the there’s an argument for the need for something else, something more jarring, even violent. And thus we have the polarization of the 60s set before us: the peaceful, inward, even insular arts culture on one side (Woodstock par excellance); and the boisterous and often violent activist movement concomitant and strangely akin to the oft harsh and violent government (Kent State/Vietnam). And then, in wake of this “revolution” there’s the late 70s and 80s, perceived by many, and certainly portrayed in the film, as the waning of Love and meaning - “You know, it’s gonna be alright, yeah”. Continue reading ‘Is All We Need LOVE? A prolegomena to future discussions on Love and Being.’

Cosmic Aesthetics: Begbie, von Balthasar, and some musings on modernity’s implications for theological aesthetics

Published
by
DWM
on September 7, 2007
in Art, Balthasar, Creation, Creativity, Music, Nature, Supernatural and Theology and other
. 12 Comments

If the Enlightenment and subsequent periods of modernity have done anything to alter what it means to be human, they have set humanity at a distance from the world, positing a radical degree of separation between the created order and Aristotle’s rational animals. Where God factors into this rift, and how one structures the dialogue between Philosophy and Theology, depends largely on how one schematizes God in relation to Being. It was Hans Urs von Balthasar who adroitly drew out the ramification of the human mind’s prodigality when he said, “[T]he human person himself would stand as the synthetic element, not only between [Church and world/Faith and Reason], but secretly above both.”1

Continue reading ‘Cosmic Aesthetics: Begbie, von Balthasar, and some musings on modernity’s implications for theological aesthetics’

  1. HUVB, “On the Task of Catholic Philosophy in Our Time,” Communio 20 (1993): 148; although von Balthasar was not the first or last to issue this warning.↩