Burrus, summarizing the argument of Maurice Wiles, notes: “For Wiles, the viability of Arianism, whether in fourth-century Egypt or eighteenth-century England, was partly dependent on the existence of a worldview that could accommodate ‘spirits’ mediating between divine . . . . Continue Reading »
In his lucid, concise Medieval Trinitarian Thought from Aquinas to Ockham , Russell Friedman contrasts two different medieval accounts of personal distinction within the Trinity, one rooted in personal relations of opposition and the other rooted in relations of origin or “emanation.” . . . . Continue Reading »
In his commentary on the Song of Songs, Jenson raises the question of God’s impassibility (how could he not!?). Israel’s God is not impassible if that connotes, as it usually did for extra-biblical thought, timelessness. Yet, Israel’s God is also not passible in a . . . . Continue Reading »
It was inevitable, I suppose, that someone would work to rehabilitate the reputation of Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, perhaps the most prominent neo-Thomist assaulted by the nouvelle theologie . Aidan Nichols does a fine job of it in his lucid Reason with Piety, Garrigou-Lagrange in the . . . . Continue Reading »
At the heart of Milbank’s response to Zizek is the insistence that Christianity is fundamentally paradoxical, but not fundamentally dialectical. For Milbank, the latter partakes of the ontology of violence that he sniffs out beneath classical, modern, and postmodern systems. In . . . . Continue Reading »
In his dialog with Slavoj Zizek (published as The Monstrosity of Christ: Paradox or Dialectic? (Short Circuits) ), Milbank cites Meister Eckhart’s suggestion that there is an analogy between the Father/Son relation and the relation of justice to a just man: “if the Father and the Son, . . . . Continue Reading »
God is identified “by” and “with” temporal events, Jenson argues. What can we make of that? Perhaps this: Yahweh is compassionate, slow to anger, in the Hebrew idiom “long of nose.” He is kind to the weak, generous to the needy. These are all . . . . Continue Reading »
Bonaventure works up to a description of the Trinity by contemplating what it means for God to be good. Good is self-diffiusive, and the highest good must be supremely so. Supreme self-diffusion must involve the complete gift of one’s entire being to another, which is what the . . . . Continue Reading »
In his book on Bonaventure (Great Medieval Thinkers) , Christopher Cullen argues that Bonaventure does not separate the treatise de deo uno from one de deo trino . Cullen’s explanation would not, I suspect, satisfy Rahner, since he distinguishes two approaches, one which “fixes . . . . Continue Reading »
Song of Songs 2:16a: “My beloved is mine, and I am his”; 6:3a: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”; 7:10: “I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me.” Let us pray Almighty God, our Father: You dwell in an eternal fellowship of love with your Son and . . . . Continue Reading »
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