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Theological Theology: Essays in Honour of John Webster
The areas of discussion include the nature and method of theology, Scripture and its interpretation, Christology and the doctrine of the Trinity, moral theology, and the reading and use of theological dialogue partners. The essays are written by eminent systematic theologians, theological ethicists, and biblical scholars from a wide range of Christian traditions.
The contributors to this volume appraise, extend and apply different aspects of the conception of "theological theology". That theology should in fact be thoroughly theological means that theological discourse gains little by conforming to the canons of inquiry that govern other disciplines; it should rather focus its attention on its own unique subject, God and all things in relation to God, and should follow procedures that allow it to access and bear witness to these realities.
The contributors to this volume appraise, extend and apply different aspects of the conception of "theological theology". That theology should in fact be thoroughly theological means that theological discourse gains little by conforming to the canons of inquiry that govern other disciplines; it should rather focus its attention on its own unique subject, God and all things in relation to God, and should follow procedures that allow it to access and bear witness to these realities.
- GenresTheology
384 pages, Hardcover
First published July 2, 2015
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May 18, 2020
This essay collection offers readers an overview of Webster’s life and work (the first two chapters), as well as essays from some of the more influential names in theology today.
In a single volume, you’ve got:
Stanley Hauerwas on the Holy Spirit
Robert Jenson offering some ‘riffs” on Aquinas
Matthew Levering’s adapted book chapter on the Gospel (from his book on the doctrine of revelation)
Lewis Ayres’ intriguing thoughts on Catholic biblical interpretation
Bruce McCormack reconsidering Barth’s critique of Schleiermacher
Kevin Vanhoozer on theological interpretation of Scripture
Rowan Williams on theology and the plurality of the gospel witness
Francis Watson questioning the existence of historical criticism
And those are just some highlights. As far as festschriften go, this one is pretty packed. If you’re into modern theology, you’ll love everything about this book.
In a single volume, you’ve got:
Stanley Hauerwas on the Holy Spirit
Robert Jenson offering some ‘riffs” on Aquinas
Matthew Levering’s adapted book chapter on the Gospel (from his book on the doctrine of revelation)
Lewis Ayres’ intriguing thoughts on Catholic biblical interpretation
Bruce McCormack reconsidering Barth’s critique of Schleiermacher
Kevin Vanhoozer on theological interpretation of Scripture
Rowan Williams on theology and the plurality of the gospel witness
Francis Watson questioning the existence of historical criticism
And those are just some highlights. As far as festschriften go, this one is pretty packed. If you’re into modern theology, you’ll love everything about this book.
July 12, 2016
Many of these essays were unremarkable, but a few stand out.
First of all, please check out Ivor Davidson's mini-biography of John Webster; it gives a pretty good sense for what kind of man John was. There's also a comprehensive bibliography of his writings at the back of the book, which I copied for my files.
Ivor Davidson's essay, "Divine Sufficiency: Theology in the Presence of God," was excellent. Rather than "glossing" the outlines of Christian theology through the framework of divine aseity, divine simplicity, or divine perfections, he spends his 15-20 pages describing the sufficiency of God in se and the sufficiency of God pro nobis. "Christian theology is much less taken up with the inadequacies of creatures than it is with the perfection of God. The God who has announced himself to us is all-sufficient in himself; he is all-sufficient to will, effect, and complete his purpose to bless; and he is all-sufficient in turn for all those who he sends--with a due blend of urgency and calmness--to confess it is so" (72). I probably enjoyed the chapter so much because I see pastoral labor as persistent pointing to the all-sufficiency of God in all things.
Tom Greggs's essay, "Proportion and Topography in Ecclesiology," was also quite good. Word on the street is that Greggs is at work on a multi-volume dogmatic ecclesiology, and the essays I've read by him lead me to believe the series will be worth the time and money. What stood out to me was his insistence, offered as a correction of Webster's essays on ecclesiology, that we shouldn't focus disproportionately on God's life in itself and apart from creatures. He restores the emphasis on the Church as a sub-set, so to speak, of our confession of the Holy Spirit.
Kevin Vanhoozer's essay, "Exegesis I know, and Theology I know, but Who are You?," gives a good summary and model of the theological interpretation of Scripture (TIS). TIS is biblical interpretation that is lost in wonder, love, and praise. He further delineates TIS through questions of Scripture's ontology ("other approaches to the text do not focus on divine authorship"), through questions of cosmology ("other ... approaches do not read in canonical and redemptive-historical context"), and through questions of teleology ("other ... approaches do not have as their end participation in the drama of redemption or living to God in communion with others"). So TIS reads the Bible as human speech annexed by God and therefore reads the Bible as Scripture and listens for the voice of God in it. TIS reads Scripture as the true story of all the world, as N.T. Wright said somewhere, and therefore reads all particular texts within their larger canonical and redemptive-historical contexts. Last, TIS reads Scripture in the knowledge that the Spirit of God uses it to incorporate us into Christ and to draw us into the drama of redemption as faithful performers.
A.N. Williams's essay, "The Transcendance of Apophaticism," starts with helpful re-readings of Pseudo-Denys and Juan de la Cruz as surprisingly cataphatic theologians and ends with a beautiful section towards the end in which she suggests that Scripture might helpfully be understood as gift. “The advantage of adding the category ‘gift’ to the more usual conception of it as ‘revelation’ is threefold. First, it stipulates the need for reception: if the reader or hearer chooses not to believe or heed scripture, then it does not succeed in revealing. Scripture is a divine self-offering, not a divine self-imposition. Second, the notion of revelation may all too easily be taken as implying that the divine Persons somehow become transparent to us in virtue of the revelation, an absurdity that must be at least formally addressed with caveats about the extent of the self-disclosure. The language of gift, in contrast, avoids these problems: self-giving does not imply transparency. Third, the language of self-giving implies sanctification, as the language of revelation does not” (333).
Other essays were good (e.g., Ayers on biblical interpretation, Hauerwas on the Holy Spirit, Sonderegger on the sinlessness of Christ, Levering on the gospel (which also can be found in his book Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation)), but the four listed above seemed strongest to me.
If you can get this from your library, I think it's worth the time, but don't fork over the money for the hardcover. Lord willing, a paperback edition will be released next year. My only wish for a new edition would be some effort on the part of the editors to categorize the essays rather than list them alphabetically by author's last name.
First of all, please check out Ivor Davidson's mini-biography of John Webster; it gives a pretty good sense for what kind of man John was. There's also a comprehensive bibliography of his writings at the back of the book, which I copied for my files.
Ivor Davidson's essay, "Divine Sufficiency: Theology in the Presence of God," was excellent. Rather than "glossing" the outlines of Christian theology through the framework of divine aseity, divine simplicity, or divine perfections, he spends his 15-20 pages describing the sufficiency of God in se and the sufficiency of God pro nobis. "Christian theology is much less taken up with the inadequacies of creatures than it is with the perfection of God. The God who has announced himself to us is all-sufficient in himself; he is all-sufficient to will, effect, and complete his purpose to bless; and he is all-sufficient in turn for all those who he sends--with a due blend of urgency and calmness--to confess it is so" (72). I probably enjoyed the chapter so much because I see pastoral labor as persistent pointing to the all-sufficiency of God in all things.
Tom Greggs's essay, "Proportion and Topography in Ecclesiology," was also quite good. Word on the street is that Greggs is at work on a multi-volume dogmatic ecclesiology, and the essays I've read by him lead me to believe the series will be worth the time and money. What stood out to me was his insistence, offered as a correction of Webster's essays on ecclesiology, that we shouldn't focus disproportionately on God's life in itself and apart from creatures. He restores the emphasis on the Church as a sub-set, so to speak, of our confession of the Holy Spirit.
Kevin Vanhoozer's essay, "Exegesis I know, and Theology I know, but Who are You?," gives a good summary and model of the theological interpretation of Scripture (TIS). TIS is biblical interpretation that is lost in wonder, love, and praise. He further delineates TIS through questions of Scripture's ontology ("other approaches to the text do not focus on divine authorship"), through questions of cosmology ("other ... approaches do not read in canonical and redemptive-historical context"), and through questions of teleology ("other ... approaches do not have as their end participation in the drama of redemption or living to God in communion with others"). So TIS reads the Bible as human speech annexed by God and therefore reads the Bible as Scripture and listens for the voice of God in it. TIS reads Scripture as the true story of all the world, as N.T. Wright said somewhere, and therefore reads all particular texts within their larger canonical and redemptive-historical contexts. Last, TIS reads Scripture in the knowledge that the Spirit of God uses it to incorporate us into Christ and to draw us into the drama of redemption as faithful performers.
A.N. Williams's essay, "The Transcendance of Apophaticism," starts with helpful re-readings of Pseudo-Denys and Juan de la Cruz as surprisingly cataphatic theologians and ends with a beautiful section towards the end in which she suggests that Scripture might helpfully be understood as gift. “The advantage of adding the category ‘gift’ to the more usual conception of it as ‘revelation’ is threefold. First, it stipulates the need for reception: if the reader or hearer chooses not to believe or heed scripture, then it does not succeed in revealing. Scripture is a divine self-offering, not a divine self-imposition. Second, the notion of revelation may all too easily be taken as implying that the divine Persons somehow become transparent to us in virtue of the revelation, an absurdity that must be at least formally addressed with caveats about the extent of the self-disclosure. The language of gift, in contrast, avoids these problems: self-giving does not imply transparency. Third, the language of self-giving implies sanctification, as the language of revelation does not” (333).
Other essays were good (e.g., Ayers on biblical interpretation, Hauerwas on the Holy Spirit, Sonderegger on the sinlessness of Christ, Levering on the gospel (which also can be found in his book Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation)), but the four listed above seemed strongest to me.
If you can get this from your library, I think it's worth the time, but don't fork over the money for the hardcover. Lord willing, a paperback edition will be released next year. My only wish for a new edition would be some effort on the part of the editors to categorize the essays rather than list them alphabetically by author's last name.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews