The Great Open Dance as PDF (2024)

The article looks at the divine drama from a new angle, shedding light on the third person of the Godhead.Keywords: Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, Satan, the devil, Job, Adam, Horus, divine twins, Trinity, trinitarianism, analogy, Thomas Aquinas.

Priscilla Papers, 2022

Author: Kimberly DicksonPublisher: CBE InternationalSince the publication of Johnson’s book, her thoughts have shaped and guided the conversation on God-talk. This article will critique her position on each of the three divine persons. Following her order, it will first consider the avoidance of Pentecostalism in Johnson’s writing, and how its inclusion in her understanding of the Spirit-Sophia can greatly empower those for whom Sophia is preferentially interested, poor and marginalized women. Second, it will consider Jesus-Sophia and the evangelical critique, specifically from Kathryn Greene-McCreight, that Johnson lost sight of the biblical narrative, which itself has the power to overturn the oppressive pattern in favor of freedom and equality. Third, it will consider Johnson’s use of Mother-Sophia which not only essentialized gender, but by rejecting Jürgen Moltmann’s suffering father who determined his Son’s sacrifice, also undermined traditional atonement theology.

The Stone Campbell Movement has historically been ambivalent about the Trinity. In this essay I am attempting to explore that ambivalence and gently encourage conversation among Disciples about the Trinity and the place of this doctrine or symbol in our faith context.

Claritas Journal of Dialogue and Culture, 2014

Theological Studies, 2020

Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology of Jesus's "archetypal faith" situates the question of his consciousness in our contemporary context of the life of faith. His position is validated by current biblical scholarship and relies heavily on Karl Rahner's consciousness-Christology, thus providing an often overlooked an example of fundamental agreement between two authors commonly seen as rivals. The article argues that Jesus's experience of mystery, far from being obviated by his beatific knowledge, is essential to the Christian experience of faith.

Presented on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 during the 70th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Denver, CO.Over the last forty years, the Trinity has become a central topic of debate among evangelical theologians in all disciplines due to the popularization of a newer conception of intra-Trinitarian relations—referred to by many as eternal, functional subordination (EFS) or alternatively as eternal relations of authority and submission (ERAS). Current supporters of EFS/ERAS, such as Wayne A. Grudem and Bruce A. Ware, affirm that the three persons of the Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—are fully equal ontologically, but deny equality in terms of roles, functions, and authority. Those who maintain this view assert that there is a unilateral-hierarchical ordering pattern that is essential to the triune God in which the Son is exclusively subordinated in function and authority to the Father, and the Spirit is exclusively subordinated in function and authority to the Father and the Son (for those who accept the filioque clause) in eternity. Although EFS/ERAS continues to grow in popularity in some circles, there are other evangelical theologians, such as Kevin N. Giles and Millard J. Erickson, who have heavily criticized this conception of the Trinity, declaring it to be a significant departure from Scripture and traditional Christian orthodoxy. While these scholars join EFS/ERAS proponents in upholding the full ontological equality of the Trinitarian persons, they adamantly disagree with an eternal, unilateral hierarchy in the Trinity. They alternatively assert what can be called temporary, functional subordination (TFS), meaning that the Son and the Spirit were subordinate in function to the Father only during the times in which they accomplished their respective missions in the plan of redemption.This paper seeks to test the two theses of EFS/ERAS and TFS regarding intra-Trinitarian relationships by way of a case study on the relationship between the Son and the Spirit in the New Testament (NT) in order to answer the following research question: does the NT portray the relationship between the Son and the Spirit as a unilateral-hierarchical relationship in which the Spirit is eternally subordinated in role, function, and authority to the Son or as a mutual-reciprocal relationship in which they equally share authority and have overlapping roles and functions? This case study is not intended to definitively settle the debate between EFS/ERAS and TFS—though its aim is to be a small step toward the resolution of this theological conflict—but it is intended (at the least) to advance the dialogue taking place among evangelicals regarding intra-Trinitarian relations.Specifically, the paper (1) explores whether there is a consistent, unilateral-hierarchical ordering pattern of the Son and the Spirit or a variety of ordering patterns in the NT by building on Roderick K. Durst’s research in Reordering the Trinity: Six Movements of God in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2015); (2) ascertains whether the economic actions of the Son and the Spirit in the plan of redemption are distinct, shared, or both; and (3) examines the major historical, christological movements of the Trinity in the NT to determine if there is a unilateral-hierarchical or mutual-reciprocal relationship between the Son and the Spirit. Conducting this case study leads the paper to conclude preliminarily that the NT textual evidence on these three points suggests that (1) various ordering patterns of the Son and the Spirit are used in the NT, (2) the Son and the Spirit share in (at least) many of the same economic roles and functions, and (3) the Son and the Spirit submit to one another at various historical moments in the plan of redemption. Thus, the Son and the Spirit do not relate to one another in a unilateral-hierarchical order, but in a mutual-reciprocal relationship of complete equality.

Anglican Theological Review, 1989

Within the mainline churches, a powerful and growing movement is demanding radical revision of the Church's liturgy. Our worship must be made "inclusive." Inclusivity now means far more than the question of the generic status of mankind, man, and masculine pronouns, that is to say, the language we use to speak about ourselves. Rather, we are told that the Church's language for God must also be drastically revised.

If you are a non-creedal Christian, how do you faithfully confess faith in God? If you seek to be biblical in your theology, what do you do with the doctrine of the Trinity? The Stone Campbell Movement is non-creedal, and has been ambivalent about the Trinity. Alexander Campbell was trinitarian in his theology, but eschewed the language of Trinity. Barton Stone wouldn't accept the designation of Unitarian, but he also rejected the Trinity. That ambivalence has stayed with the movement, but is there need for deep conversation about the Trinity? This is my belief, as developed in what I expect will be a small book/booklet.

While Matteo Ricci inaugurated a fruitful dialogue between Christianity and Confucianism, today this dialogue must account for all of Chinese culture, including Daoism. Church Fathers, such as St. Augustine of Hippo, made great contributions to theology out of their profound experience of God and the encounter between Christianity and Latin culture that has its roots in Greek philosophy. In this article, the author attempts to read the mystery of the Trinity using categories of Chinese thought. He finds helpful for understanding the Trinitarian

Doctoral Dissertation, 2018

This thesis loactes a Christian rationale for human well-being in relation to the doctrine of the triune God. Specifically, this theological inquiry examines the triune God’s work in, and for, creation with a view to identifying the characteristics and dynamics of divine well-being through the intra-trinitarian movement of gift and receipt. This gifting and receiving within the Godhead is identified as ‘Divine self-enrichment’ — defined as God enriching God in the perfection and fullness of God. The mode through which Divine self-enrichment occurs is essentially kenotic. The thesis provides an extended inquiry into the theological logic of kenotic-enrichment, and its implications for human well-being. In particular, the thesis argues that the pattern of kenotic-enrichment is to be discerned in the dynamic economy of God in creation and human life. When humanity exhibits characteristics of kenotic-enrichment identified in the economic Trinity, there we see intimations of the work of God. In this sense, the archetype of divine enrichment is antecedently operative in the creation; where kenotic-enrichment conditions created well-being. The thesis, therefore, argues that a theology of triune self-enrichment provides an alternate, and complementary, theological paradigm for Christian rationale and praxis of international development and humanitarian aid.

ProQuest, 2021

This project investigates challenges to the New Testament’s presentation of the Incarnation of the Son of God which derive from the theological and philosophical worldviews of Orthodox Judaism, namely those promoted by Maimonides and Kabbalah. Maimonides’s worldview entailed that the interaction of the God of Israel with his creation in any concrete form is impossible, thereby negating any possibility for Jesus to be divine. Kabbalah teaches that the entire cosmos is an emanation of God that is ontologically a part of God, which entails that everything is divine. This worldview makes the Incarnation redundant. After surveying these worldviews, this project provides cosmological, revelatory, theological, rational, and hermeneutical foundations for why the Incarnation ought to be believed over the previously mentioned options. A seminar was devised to determine how familiar the Messianic movement is with the concepts involved, and to see how much progress in comprehension could be made. Analysis of the seminar data shows that the Messianic movement may benefit from increased interaction with Jewish theological and philosophical discourse.

Themelios, 2014

Themelios 41.3, 2016

Gregory E. Lamb Book Review (Themelios 41.3): Brendan Byrne. The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke’s Gospel. Rev. ed. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2015. viii + 232 pp. £19.04/$24.95.

Claritas Journal of Dialogue and Culture, 2015