Createdness and Ethics: The Doctrine of Creation and Theological Ethics in the Theology of Colin E. Gunton and Oswald Bayer

424 Pages·2006·13.485 MB·English

by  Hans Schaeffer

Hans Schaeffer
Createdness and Ethics
Theologische Bibliothek
Töpelmann
Herausgegeben von
W Härle
Band 137
w
DE
G
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Hans Schaeffer
Createdness and Ethics
The Doctrine of Creation and Theological Ethics
in the Theology of Colin E. Gunton and Oswald Bayer
w
DE
G
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
© Gedruckt auf säurefreiem Papier,
das die US-ANSI-Norm über Haltbarkeit erfüllt.
ISBN-13: 978-3-11-019073-1
ISBN-10: 3-11-019073-7
ISSN 0563-4288
Bibliografische Information Der Deutschen Bibliothek
Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie;
detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de abrufbar.
© Copyright 2006 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
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Printed in Germany
ümschlaggestaltung: Christopher Schneider, Berlin
Foreword
This book would not have been written had I not received the support
of many people. First of all, I want to thank my chief supervisor, Drs.
Ad de Bruijne, for the collegiality he showed from the very start of this
project. His friendly conversation and the thorough opinions he
offered, in many areas far beyond that which the subject of my study
demanded, became oft-revisited resources, encouraging and spurring
me on. His predecessor, Prof. Dr. Jochem Douma, evoked my interest
in theological ethics, and helped me to go to Tübingen (Germany). I
want to thank my second supervisor, Prof. Dr. Barend Kamphuis, for
his understanding comments and clarifying evaluations. I thank the
other participants of the research-group of both the Theologische
Universiteit Kampen and the Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn for their
contributions as well: Prof. Dr. Gerard den Hertog, Prof. Dr. Hans
Maris, Drs. Hans Burger and Drs. Dolf te Velde. Here I want to thank
all of the personnel and staff of the University in Kampen and its
library. In their midst I have worked as a PhD-assistant (AIO) for five
years.
The friendships of Koert van Bekkum, as my former study-partner
and colleague; of Tim Vreugdenhil, in his love for German theology;
and of Corne Alderliesten, Marian, Tessa, Niels, and Rens during so
many visits and the sharing of the experiences of being a pastor, have
been of great encouragement.
I owe much to the friendly and stimulating atmosphere of the
Albrecht-Bengel-Haus in Tübingen (Germany). In 1997-1998, I had the
opportunity of studying there and being part of that lively and
intensely Christian community. It was in that year that I met Prof. Dr.
Oswald Bayer. To his warm welcome and encouraging thought I owe
my first intense encounter with the theology of Martin Luther. Our
contact over the years has inspired much of my undertaking in this
project. Thanks to a donation from the Netherlands Organisation for
Scientific Research (NWO), I was able to do research at King's College
(London) for two months in 2001. During that visit, I met Prof. Dr.
Colin Gunton who twice readily gave of his time to meet with me.
These encounters left me with the impression of a very stimulating
VI Foreword
theologian, able to cover great areas of research with vigour and depth.
It was with great sadness that we received the message of his untimely
passing away on May 6, 2003. That time in England - short as it had
had to be - also granted me the friendship of Dr. Brian and Stephanie
Brock, who were so kind as to read the manuscript, not only out of
theological interest, but even with respect to my (mis)use of the English
language. Andy Draycott (Aberdeen) helped me greatly, and very
generously, in improving my style.
The community and council of the Gereformeerde Kerk (vrijgemaakt)
in Wageningen, in whose midst I have worked since 2003, have given
me more room for finishing this project than I dared to ask. Their
interest and encouragement has been a stimulating factor in the last
part of this journey.
My thanks are also due to the promotion-committee, whose
members have read the manuscript and improved it by their
comments: Prof. Dr. Gerard den Hertog (TU Apeldoorn), Prof. Dr.
Barend Kamphuis (TU Kampen), Prof. Dr. Gerrit de Kruijf (RU Leiden),
Prof. Dr. Gert Kwakkel (TU Kampen), Dr. Wolter Rose (TU Kampen),
and Dr. Bernd Wannenwetsch (Harris Manchester College, Oxford).
Prof. Dr. Wilfried Härle (Heidelberg) and Prof. Dr. Oswald Bayer
(Tübingen) I thank for their ready and wholehearted acceptance of this
book in their series Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann. The editor and
staff of Walter de Gruyter (Berlin) I thank for their careful support in
the process of making a book out of digital files.
Rinske, finally I want to thank you. Writing about marriage never
became an enemy to living it: by making possible the latter you
warranted the former.
Soli Deo Gloria
Wageningen, November 2005 Hans Schaeffer
Contents
Foreword V
Contents VII
1 About this Book 1
2 An Introductory Chapter 4
2.1 Introduction 4
2.2 Definition 9
2.3 Purpose 12
2.3.1 The Current State of Theological Ethics 13
2.3.2 Neo-Calvinist Tradition 15
2.3.3 The Apologetic Impact of Christian Convictions 18
2.3.4 Different Confessional Contributions 19
2.4 Outline 26
3 Gunton's Trinitarian Doctrine of Creation 27
3.1 Introduction 27
3.2 The Doctrine of God 28
3.2.1 Doctrine of God and Karl Barth 29
3.2.2 Christology 32
3.2.3 Trinitarian Doctrine of God 36
3.2.4 Pneumatology and the Doctrine of God 43
3.3 The Programme of Enlightenment and its Failures 46
3.3.1 Reason 48
3.3.2 Language and Christian Tradition 52
3.3.3 Concepts of Freedom 58
3.4 Creation and the Doctrine of Creation 62
3.4.1 Creation Out of Nothing 64
3.4.2 Creation and the Beginning of History 66
3.4.3 Creation as Project 68
VIII Contents
3.4.4 Creational Mediation 70
3.4.5 Doctrine of Creation and Ontology 72
3.5 Anthropology, Evil and Sin 75
3.5.1 Evil and the Doctrine of Sin 76
3.5.2 Anthropology as Reflecting the Trinity 81
3.5.3 Image of God 83
3.6 Ethics 84
3.6.1 Ethics and the Doctrine of Creation 84
3.6.2 Ethic of Sacrifice 88
3.6.3 Material Ethical Consequences 91
3.7 Concluding Summary 93
3.8 Evaluation 95
4 Bayer's Doctrine of Creation as God's Promise 101
4.1 Introduction 101
4.2 Promissio as God's Speech-act 102
4.2.1 Promissio as Luther's Reformational Discovery 103
4.2.2 Promissio and the Passivity of Man 107
4.2.3 Promissio and the Concept of Mediation 109
4.2.4 Promissio and Language 113
4.2.5 Promissio in a Soteriological Context 116
4.3 Theology as Conflictual Discipline 118
4.3.1 The Task of Theology 119
4.3.2 Theology and Philosophy 122
4.3.3 The Nature of Doing Theology 127
4.3.4 The Concept of Theology and the Doctrine of Creation.... 130
4.4 The Theological Concept of Critical Mediation 131
4.4.1 Bayer on Kant and Freedom 132
4.4.2 Bayer on Hamann's Metacritique 133
4.4.3 The Object of Systematic-Theology 138
4.5 Creation and the Doctrine of Creation 141
4.5.1 Creation and Salvation 142
4.5.2 Creation as God's Speech-Act 146
4.5.3 Creation as Anticipated Wish 151
4.5.4 Creation, Time, and Eschatology 153
Contents JX
4.5.5 Creation and Anthropology 156
4.5.6 Creation and the Doctrine of Sin 160
4.5.7 Creation and the Doctrine of God 162
4.6 Ethics 166
4.6.1 Ethics and the Doctrine of Creation 167
4.6.2 Ethic of Gift 171
4.6.3 Material Ethical Consequences 174
4.7 Concluding Summary 180
4.8 Evaluation 182
5 The Connection Between a Doctrine of Creation and Theological
Ethics 190
5.1 Introduction 190
5.2 Creation and Epistemology 192
5.2.1 Jesus Christ and the Goodness of Creation 192
5.2.2 Knowledge in Christ 204
5.2.3 Conclusions 212
5.3 Creation and Nature 214
5.3.1 Creation as Interpretation of Nature 214
5.3.2 Creation-orders and Natural Law 219
5.3.3 Creation as Comprehensive Concept 225
5.3.4 Conclusions: Creation as Life-Context 230
5.4 Creation and Providence 233
5.4.1 Hamartiology and Order 233
5.4.2 Creation as a Relational Concept 239
5.4.3 Providence as Part of the Doctrine of Creation 243
5.4.4 Human Agency and Divine Providence - the Problem of the
Institutions 248
5.4.5 Conclusions 258
5.5 Creation and Eschatology 260
5.5.1 Continuity and Discontinuity 261
5.5.2 Eschatological Qualification 267
5.5.3 Eschatological Order? 273
5.6 Evaluation of Bayer and Gunton 275
5.7 Summary 278
X Contents
6 Marriage and the Doctrine of Creation 281
6.1 Introduction 281
6.2 The 'Observance' of Marriage 285
6.3 Marriage and Contractual-Liberalism 290
6.3.1 Marriage as a Contract 290
6.3.2 Critical Appraisal 294
6.3.3 Living Marriage as God's Gift 296
6.3.4 The Gift Contested and Preserved 298
6.3.5 Conclusion - The Reality of a Fallen World 302
6.4 Marriage and Natural Law 303
6.4.1 Natural Law on Marriage 303
6.4.2 Critique of the Natural Law Concept 305
6.4.3 The Naturalness of Natural Law and the Doctrine of
Creation 306
6.4.4 Conclusion 310
6.5 Marriage, Constructivism and Providence 314
6.5.1 The Constructivist Approach 314
6.5.2 Critical Appraisal 317
6.5.3 Marriage as Created by God 320
6.5.4 Conclusion 324
6.6 Marriage, Constructivism and Eschatology 326
6.6.1 Historical Constructivism and Marriage 327
6.6.2 Creation, Eschatology and Marriage 331
6.6.3 Conclusion 341
6.7 Conclusion 342
6.7.1 Summary 342
6.7.2 Evaluation 345
6.8 Evaluation of Bayer and Gunton on Marriage 346
7 Recapitulation 350
7.1 Theological ethics 350
7.2 Neo-Calvinist Tradition 352
7.3 Apologetics 354
7.4 Ecumenical Contribution 355