In the penultimate episode of our Christian Anti-Judaism series, we turn to discuss Christian theology in the wake of the Holocaust and the Shoah with Rev. Dr. Mark Lindsay, who is Joan F. W. Munro Professor of Historical Theology at Trinity College, Melbourne, and an Anglican Priest in the diocese of Melbourne. In our conversation, Rev. Dr. Lindsay begins with the determination at the Second Vatican Council in 1965 that neither biblical nor post-biblical Jews...
Continuing our conversation on the role of faith in our political discourse and political engagement, in the present episode Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Brandon Hurlbert talk with Michael Spalione about his doctoral research on the topic of war within political theology. Having just recently passed his viva in pursuit of a PhD in political theology from Trinity College, Bristol through the University of Aberdeen, Michael helps us think about the topic of war from...
I started a new job working as a high school humanities teacher for a public charter school the second week of July. As one of many new teachers coming into the charter school network, I have spent the last two weeks sitting through orientation lectures and training seminars. Between sessions on “Student Engagement” and “Discussion for Your Classroom” I’ve had the pleasure of meeting other new teachers. I’ve spent the last ten years of my...
Readings of Paul influenced by the work of Karl Barth – or, at least, supposedly Barthian readings of Paul – have recently been taken up by a number of interpreters. One recurring characteristic of such self-proclaimed Barthian readings is to construe Paul’s gospel as radically, purely, and thoroughgoingly objective: completely undetermined, unaffected, and untouched by human processes or actions. In this interpretation, the objective character of the gospel hangs on the exclusion of subjective realities...
Studying theology and method has never been morally difficult to me, but the person behind the method has haunted me in certain cases. Most recently, I was blindsided by the scandalous affair surrounding Barth’s legacy. This from one of the most Christocentric theologians I had ever read had struck a rather sour chord with me, leaving me to wonder: What makes a theologian’s words worth heeding? Are theology and methods analyzed in a vacuum, or...
Martin Luther was a racist against Jews. Karl Barth had a long-term affair with his writing assistant. A.W. Tozer was emotionally absent from his wife and family. I’ve recently been reading many blog posts about the sins and failures of these theologians, and it saddens me to hear about the reality of their lives, especially since their writings and teachings have been foundational for so many people. It also reminds me that even the greatest theologians...
Switchfoot is one of my favorite bands of all time. Each of their albums is like meeting a new friend – at first, I’m not sure if we’re going to connect like I hoped we would, but over time my appreciation deepens to the point that my life is different because of our friendship. I admit that was a bit cheesy and the analogy isn’t perfect, but I still love their music, for a variety...
Here in Sydney I’m currently co-teaching a seminary class on the doctrine of the Trinity. We’ve spent the first few weeks of the course reading and discussing some sermons by Gregory of Nazianzus. The next section will focus on parts of Augustine’s De Trinitate. In the final third of the semester we’ll work through §59 of Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics–“The Way of the Son of God into the Far Country”. Anyways, one of the things we’ll be...
Introduction In my last post I addressed Karl Barth’s use of the term “Seinsweise” or modes of being. In this post I will look at the other two aspects of Barth’s doctrine of the trinity; his use of logos asarkos to distinguish the second person of the Trinity, and his concept of God being in threefold repetition. Logos Asarkos Now that the problem of Barth’s use of the term modes of being has been addressed...
Introduction After the Enlightenment a major shift happened in western theology. New disciplines like anthropology and psychology were arising that made theologians and philosophers look at the world with a more horizontal than vertical gaze. Attention was moving away from God and moving to the world. As a result the doctrine of the Trinity had lost its once prominent place in theology. “Schleiermacher had famously relegated discussion of the Trinity to the conclusion of The...
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