The Kindness of God: Metaphor, Gender, and Religious Language – By Janet Martin Soskice

This article is a review of the book The Kindness of God: Metaphor, Gender, and Religious Language by Janet Martin Soskice

Thomas and Barth in Convergence on Romans 1

This article summarizes research on the natural knowledge of God and the construal of sacred doctrine in question one of the Summa Theologiae and chapter 1 of Thomas's Romans commentary, with a comparison to Karl Barth. It takes as its challenge and motivation to uncover some of the affinities (indeed, to create a convergence) between Karl Barth and Thomas Aquinas just where both modern Barthians and modern Thomists would have thought convergence least likely: on the natural knowledge of God. It seeks to do so on the basis of their reading of Romans 1:20 in Barth's Shorter Commenta and Thomas's Super epistolam S. Pauli ad Romanos? where each of them ends up saying surprising things about the natural knowledge of God under the pressure of following Paul. Part II of the article simply asserts the reading of Thomas on Romans and takes theologian's licence to do so in theses defended elsewhere. Part III makes the comparison of the two commentaries (Barth's and Thomas's), arguing a convergence, and it too concludes in theses. Some readers may find the procedure circular. If so, I can only hope the circle is attractive enough to make them curious enough to seek more information. Part of what I hope to do is provide a reading of Thomas's theological procedure that resembles in a smaller way Barth's account of Anselm's

Isaac in the Eucharist

The story of Abraham's celebration and risk of Isaac is central to traditional Christian thought and worship, and with it the question of religious violence. Traditional Christian interpreters see the Trinity in a festive meal at which Abraham celebrates the promise with three mysterious visitors. They see Jesus in Isaac. And they enact the entire story when they take communion

Prayer, Christoformity, and the Author: New Sites of Discussion for Theology

You should read this book —and assign at least part of it in class (the most quotable quotes cluster, usefully, in the gorgeous Prelude)—because there is really nothing else like it. It really is an essay “On the Trinity.” And it really does contribute to the sexuality debates without attempting to solve them in their current terms. Meanwhile, the plates alone will justify the price. I find myself reverting to Coakley's view when students ask about the Trinity “why three?”—even when I have set out to say something else. You know how, as a teacher, you watch the students' eyes to see whether they have understood? You hear yourself abandoning the pat answers, the ones you might like for your colleagues to hear, and trying other things, just to get a purchase on that uncomprehending look in students' eyes. The understanding doesn't dawn until you give some version of Coakley's account. And then, whether you like it or not, you have something to defend, modify, or criticize, but in any case, and usually for the first time, you have something from which the students can go on. I say this not from lack of experience, but as someone who has written a whole book on the Holy Spirit

Nature with water and the Spirit: a response to Rowan Williams

For Paul, ‘nature’ works differently for free Jewish men (torah-observers) and others (slaves, Gentiles, women), so that in Paul ‘nature’ is a differentiated rather than universal philosophical concept. Paul so differentiates natures according to theological considerations we might call narrative. Stories about God's relations with Israel set the context in which Paul's use of ‘nature’ makes sense. ‘Nature’ is a character in a story of captivity observed in the light of release (Rom 1:17–18). The eucharist mobilizes the related concept of ‘body’ to enact a parallel story of captivity and release – the binding of Isaac and the crucifixion of Jesus – in which God exposes the worst that human beings can do (child sacrifice, execution of innocents) so that it can be healed. Nature is a character in a story liturgically enacted in baptism, eucharist, marriage. The character's changing circumstances are plotted by the Spirit in traditions Syriac, Latin, Greek, German, and Russian. (Nature is perfected by grace.) No mere scenery, nature is dynamic. A creature of the Spirit, it is to grow. Ontologies of nature depend on the narrative for which they seek conditions. This narrative requires a dynamic and differentiated account so that nature can serve the promise of blessing

Same-Sex Marriage as an Ascetic Practice in the Light of Romans 1 and Ephesians 5

This article presents same-sex marriage as an ascetic practice and answers objections to same-sex marriage from Romans 1 and Ephesians 5