Chapter 4The Modern Period, 1750 to the Present Day

Alister E. McGrathHistorical Theology:

An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought

The Enlightenment critique of Christian theology

Omnicompetence of human reasonThe notion of revelationThe status and interpretation of the BibleThe identity and significance of Jesus ChristThe doctrine of the TrinityThe critique of miraclesThe rejection of original sinThe problem of evilRomanticism and the critique of the Enlightenment◦ Intuition, imagination, feelings◦ Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (1768-1834)

The crisis of faith in Victorian England

A. N. Wilson, God’s Funeral (2000)George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans, 1819-90)◦Moral revolt◦ “religion of human sympathy”

Matthew Arnold (1822-88)◦Dover Beach

The Sea of FaithWas once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shoreLay like the folds of a bright girdle furl’d.But now I only hearIts melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,Retreating, to the breathOf the night-wind, down the vast edges drearAnd naked shingles of the world.

Excerpt from “Dover Beach”

Postmodernism and a new theological agenda

Reason: Critique of universal rationalityTruth: Truth, power, and oppressionHistory: Rejection of universal historySelf: Multiple narratives of identityStructural linguistics◦ Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)

Sign = signifier + signified◦Deconstruction: no fixed meaning

Biblical interpretation: Suspicion toward historical-critical method

Systematic theology: Anti-systematization

Key theologians

F. D. E. Schleiermacher (1768-1834)John Henry Newman (1801-90)Karl Barth (1886-1968)Paul Tillich (1886-1965)Karl Rahner (1904-84)Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-88)Jürgen Moltmann (b.1926)Wolfhart Pannenberg (b.1928)

Some recent Western theological movements and trends

Liberal Protestantism◦Bridging the gap between Christian faith and modern

knowledge◦Christian beliefs in conflict with modern cultural norms:

Abandoned or reinterpreted◦Anchor faith in common human experience◦Optimistic view of human nature◦ Paul Tillich (1886-1965)

Method of correlation◦Criticisms:

Universal human religious experience? Transient cultural developments Abandonment of distinctive Christian doctrines

Modernism◦School of Catholic theologians, end of 19th

century◦Alfred Loisy (1857-1940)◦George Tyrrell (1861-1909)◦Modernism in England◦Modernism in the United States

Neo-orthodoxy◦World War I◦Karl Barth (1886-1968), Church Dogmatics

The self-revelation of God in Christ through Scripture

Dialectical theology Neo-orthodoxy Theology of the Word of God

◦Critiques: Emphasis on transcendence and otherness of God No external reference to verify claims (fideism) No account of other religions

Ressourcement (la nouvelle théologie)◦Catholic theological revival in France◦Return to the sources, traditions, creeds of the

early church◦ Jean Daniélou, “The Present Orientations of

Religious Thought” (1946)◦Theology and spirituality

Feminism◦Conflict with Christianity◦Reappraisal of Christian past: Sarah Coakley

(b.1951)◦The maleness of God

Rosemary Radford Ruether (v.1936) Sallie McFague (b.1933)

◦The nature of sin◦Pastoral theology◦The person of Christ

The problem of the maleness of Christ

Liberation theology◦ Latin America, 1960s and 1970s◦CELAM II: Latin American Catholic bishops in

Medellín, Columbia◦Gustavo Gutiérrez (b.1928), Theology of

Liberation ◦God is on the side of the poor and oppressed◦Critical reflection on practice◦Marxism◦Biblical hermeneutics

Scripture as narrative of liberation◦The nature of salvation

liberation and structural sin

Black theology◦ Joseph Washington, Black Religion (1964)◦Albert Cleage, Black Messiah (1968)◦ “Black Manifesto,” 1969◦ James H. Cone (1938)

Black Theology of Liberation (1970)

Postliberalism◦Yale Divinity School, 1970s-80s◦Alasdair MacIntyre (b.1929)◦Anti-foundational◦Communitarian◦Historicist◦George Lindbeck, Nature of Doctrine (1984)

Cultural-linguistic approach◦Paul Holmer, Grammar of Faith (1978)◦Systematic theology as descriptive discipline◦Christian ethics: Stanley Hauerwas (b.1940)

Radical orthodoxy◦ John Milbank, Theology and Social Theory:

Beyond Secular Reason (1993)◦Radical Orthodoxy: A New Theology (1999),

edited by John Milbank, Catherine Pickstock, and Graham Ward

◦Alternatives to modernism and postmodernism

Case study 4.1 The quests of the historical JesusThe original quest for the historical Jesus◦Gulf between the historical Jesus and the Christ of

faith◦Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694-1768)

“On the Aims of Jesus and His Disciples”The critique of the quest, 1890-1910◦Apocalyptic critique

Johannes Weiss, Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (1892)

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965): thoroughgoing eschatology

The skeptical critique William Wrede (1859-1906) Errors of liberal Protestant Christologies

Inconsistent method Motives of the evangelists Psychological approach

Dogmatic critique Martin Kähler (1835-1912) Christ as “supra-historical” “the real Christ is the preached Christ”

The retreat from history: Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976)◦ “that”◦ Christ encountered in the kerygma

The new quest of the historical Jesus◦ Ernst Käsemann (1906-98)◦ Continuity between the preaching of Jesus (the historical

Jesus) and preaching about Jesus (the Christ of faith)The third quest◦ John Dominic Crossan◦Marcus L. Borg ◦ Burton L. Mack ◦ E. P. Sanders ◦N. T. Wright

Case study 4.2 The basis and nature of salvation

The relation between Christology (the person of Christ) and soteriology (the work of Christ)

Interpretations of the work of Christ1. Sacrifice

a) The “threefold office” (prophet, priest, king)b) Sacrifice as heroic self-givingc) Thomas Chubb (1679-1747)d) Joseph Butler (1692-1752)e) Horace Bushnell, Vicarious Sacrifice (1866)

2. Christus victora) Enlightenment: Rational skepticism of resurrection, existence of

evilb) Gustaf Aulén, Christus Victor (1931)

Reality of evil in the world Alternative to legal and subjective approaches

3. Legal approachesa) Representationb) Participationc) Substitutiond) Enlightenment criticismse) P. T. Forsyth, The Justification of God (1916)f) Karl Barth, “The Judge Judged in Our Place”

4. Exemplarist approachesa) Value of the cross = impact on humanityb) Moral example of Jesus as a human beingc) Cross as demonstration of God’s love

The cross: constitutive or illustrative?◦Constitutive: the cross makes salvation possible◦ Illustrative: the cross illustrates God’s saving will

The nature of salvation◦Deification◦Righteousness before God◦Union with Christ◦Moral perfection◦Consciousness of God◦Genuine humanity◦Political liberation

Case study 4.3 The debate over the resurrection

The Enlightenment: the resurrection as non-event◦ Skepticism toward miracles◦Human autonomy

David Friedrich Strauss: the resurrection as mythRudolf Bultmann: the resurrection as an event in

the experience of the disciples◦ Jesus Christ present in the kerygma

Karl Barth: the resurrection as a historical event beyond critical inquiry

Wolfhart Pannenberg: the resurrection as a historical event open to critical inquiry

Case study 4.4 The Trinity in twentieth-century thought

F. D. E. Schleiermacher◦Doctrine of the Trinity as “coping-stone”

Henry Barclay Swete (1835-1917)Karl Barth◦God’s self-revelation to sinful humanity◦Revealedness

Karl Rahner◦ The economic and immanent Trinity

Robert Jenson◦ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit = God’s proper name

Case study 4.5 Twentieth-century discussions of the doctrine of the church

“Wherever Christ is, there is also the Catholic Church” (Ignatius of Antioch)◦ Christ is present sacramentally

Catholic theologians◦ Christ is present through the Word

Karl Barth◦ Christ is present through the Spirit

Liberation theologian Leonardo Boff Orthodox theologian John Zizioulas

Vatican II on the church◦ The church as communion◦ The church as the people of God◦ The church as a charismatic community

Case study 4.6 Natural theology and the rationality of faith

The “two books of God”: nature and ScriptureWilliam Paley, Natural Theology (1802)◦God as watchmaker ◦Contrivance

John Henry Newman (1801-90)◦ Limitations of natural theology

Emil Brunner v. Karl Barth, 1934

Case study 4.7 The feminist critique of traditional Christian theology

The “maleness” of GodThe doctrine of the Trinity◦Creator, redeemer, sustainer

A male Jesus of NazarethTraditional concepts of sin

Case study 4.8 Christian approaches to other religions

Universal notion of religion?◦Trinitarian approaches to other religions

Raimundo Panikkar (1918-2010)Particularism (exclusivism)Inclusivism◦Fulfillment hypothesis◦Karl Rahner: anonymous Christians◦Parallelism

Pluralism◦ John Hick (1922-2012)