Constructing Moral Concepts of God in a Global Age

215 Pages·2022·3.818 MB·English

by  Myriam Renaud

CONSTRUCTING MORAL
CONCEPTS OF GOD IN
A GLOBAL AGE
Myriam Renaud
Constructing Moral Concepts of God in
a Global Age
Constructing Moral Concepts of God in a Global Age focuses on what people
say and think about God, rather than on arguments about God’s existence.
It advances a theological method, or step-by-step approach to explore and
reframe personal convictions about God and the worldviews shaped by
those convictions. Since a moral God is more likely to foster a moral life,
this method integrates an ethical check to ensure that understandings of
God and their associated worldviews are validly moral.
The proposed method builds on the work of twentieth-century theologian
Gordon Kaufman during the Kantian phase of his work. It anticipates a
person-like God who hears prayers, loves without end, and comforts in times
of hardship. To accommodate today’s pluralistic and globalized world, the
ethical check integrated in the method is a widely collaborative and vetted
global ethic, the Parliament of the World’s Religions “Declaration Towards
a Global Ethic.”
This volume of constructive philosophical theology is written for seminary
students, educators, clergy, study groups, and anyone interested in delving
more deeply and systematically into understandings of God, whether their
own or those of others.
Myriam Renaud (PhD) is co-editor and contributor to two collections
of academic essays and several journal articles on God, the moral life,
constructive theology, and global ethics. Subsequent to her research for this
volume, she was recruited by the Parliament of the World’s Religions to
serve as Director of the Global Ethic Project. She also teaches at DePaul
University.

Constructing Moral Concepts
of God in a Global Age
Myriam Renaud
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Myriam Renaud
The right of Myriam Renaud to be identifed as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-032-24754-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-24756-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-27996-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003279969
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations for Gordon Kaufman’s Monographs ix
1 God in a Time of Violence, Globalization, and Uncertainty 1
2 Kaufman’s Theology and Theological Method 8
3 Person-Like Concepts of God 34
4 Kaufman’s Relativizing and Humanizing God 58
5 The Global Ethic: An Ethos for a Globalizing World 79
6 The Global Ethic’s Strengths and Weaknesses 107
7 What Kind of Ethic Is the Global Ethic? 126
8 A Theological Method for a Global Age 153
Appendix: Towards a Global Ethic
(An Initial Declaration) 177
Select Bibliography 192
Index 200
Illustrations
Figures
2.1 Moments of Kaufman’s Personalist Phase Theological Method 21
2.2 S hifts in Kaufman’s Theological Phases 31
8.1 T he Two Moments of the Theological Method for a Global Age 156
8.2 E xample of Recursion 157
Chart
2.1 Kaufman’s Monographs Arranged by Theological Phase 10
Tables
2.1 D esignations for Phases of Kaufman’s Theology 9
7.1 T he Global Ethic’s Implicit Indicators of the Human
Good Based on Renaud’s Analysis 145
7.2 R enaud’s Global Ethic “Human Good” Indicators vs
Commers’ “Human Development” Signifers 147
Acknowledgments
No monograph is ever the product of a single individual. It is an honor and
a pleasure to glance back over the past several years of research and writ-
ing to thank the many family members, friends, mentors, colleagues, and
organizations whose support made this project possible.
Several people were key.
Kathryn Tanner was enthusiastic about my topic and the breadth of
her academic knowledge was a constant source of inspiration. Although—
based on her own projects—she likely disagreed with my central theological
convictions, she often understood the fruitful directions in which my work
might lead better than I did, and, with great care, suggested resources to
advance my research.
William Schweiker took an interest not only in my work but also in me
as a human being. Perhaps most important were his consistent faith that I
could complete this book; his willingness to read, re-read, and comment on
chapters as many times as I requested; his uncanny ability to understand
my arguments before they were clear even to me; and his brilliance at
summarizing my own theses in clear and elegant terms.
Paul Mendes-Flohr pointed me in all the right directions and opened
key doors. An intellectual mentor, he also became a friend. Our frequent
chats about our families reminded me that scholarship, though a passion, is
most enjoyable when grounded in love of family and friends. A world-class
scholar, he models a rare humaneness.
The countless hours spent discussing, researching, writing, and revising
that went into this project were partly made possible by fnancial support
from several sources. From 2006–2011, a University of Chicago Divinity
School Fellowship helped me make ends meet. I had the privilege of being
the frst recipient of the Langdon Gilkey Scholarship in 2006, and of being
awarded this scholarship again in 2009. I benefted from a 2012–2013 Junior
Dissertation Fellowship from the Martin Marty Center for the Advanced
Study of Religion and a 2015–2016 Dissertation Completion Fellowship
awarded by the Unitarian Universalist Association.
I extend my thanks also to Rebecca Clintworth, Publisher for Routledge
Religion, who, after reading my proposal and sample chapters took an
viii Acknowledgments
early interest in adding the book to the Studies in Religion series. I thank
Routledge’s two reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments. And I
am grateful to Routledge’s Religion and Anthropology Editorial Assistant
Emma Yuan for her editorial support as well as for the copyediting efforts
of Jayanthi Chander and her team at Deanta Global.
My father, Leonard Levenson, died in 1998 but remained an unseen
force throughout this project. He was the frst in the American side of my
family to earn a doctorate (in physics) and I follow his lead by becoming the
frst of my French family to do so. My mother, Maryse Duprat Levenson
(née Renaud), ever my advocate, is my model of courage and true grit in the
face of challenge.
I have reserved my fnal acknowledgments for my greatest loves. My
life partner and husband Paul Eberly who never stopped believing in the
importance of my project and reminded me as much whenever I faltered,
and daughter Sidney, who, after a childhood watching me work at my desk,
has picked up the writerly baton and grown up to become a philosopher in
her own right and an accomplished poet. This book is the cherry on top all
the joy they bring me.
Abbreviations for Gordon Kaufman’s
Monographs
CD The Context of Decision: A Theological Analysis (New York:
Abingdon Press, 1961)
ETM An Essay on Theological Method (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1975,
3rd ed, 1995)
GMD God—Mystery—Diversity: Christian Theology in a Pluralistic
World (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996)
GP God the Problem (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1972)
IBC In the beginning...Creativity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004)
IFM In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1993)
JC Jesus and Creativity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004)
RKF Relativism, Knowledge, and Faith (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1960)
ST Systematic Theology: A Historicist Perspective (New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1968)
TI Theological Imagination: Constructing the Concept of God
(Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1981)
TNA Theology for a Nuclear Age (Manchester: Manchester University
Press; Philadelphia, Westminster, 1985)