God, Evil and the Limits of Theology

177 Pages·2020·2.966 MB·English

by  Karen Kilby

GOD, EVIL AND THE LIMITS
OF THEOLOGY
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GOD, EVIL AND THE LIMITS
OF THEOLOGY
Karen Kilby
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T&T CLARK
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter 1
PERICHORESIS AND PROJECTION: PROBLEMS WITH SOCIAL
DOCTRINES OF THE TRINITY 5
Chapter 2
AQUINAS, THE TRINITY AND THE LIMITS OF UNDERSTANDING 17
Chapter 3
IS AN APOPHATIC TRINITARIANISM POSSIBLE? 31
Chapter 4
THE TRINITY AND POLITICS: AN APOPHATIC APPROACH 45
Chapter 5
THE STATUS OF THE CONCEPT: A REFLECTION ON JOHN ZIZIOULAS’
BEING AS COMMUNION 61
Chapter 6
EVIL AND THE LIMITS OF THEOLOGY 67
Chapter 7
SIN, EVIL AND THE PROBLEM OF INTELLIGIBILITY 85
Chapter 8
GRACE AND PARADOX 99
Chapter 9
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, ANTI-LIBERALISM AND MODERN JEWISH
THOUGHT 111
Chapter 10
JULIAN OF NORWICH, HANS URS VON BALTHASAR AND THE STATUS
OF SUFFERING IN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY 121
Chapter 11
BEAUTY AND MYSTERY IN MATHEMATICS AND THEOLOGY 139
Bibliography 155
Index 161
vi
God, Evil and the Limits of Theology Introduction
INTRODUCTION
‘If you understand it, it is not God.’1 Most Christian theologians in one way or
another subscribe to the principle articulated by Augustine of Hippo. It gives
theology, considered as an intellectual discipline, some of its most distinctive and
puzzling qualities. How does one engage in a mode of enquiry – an enquiry which
includes argument, disagreement and debate – if one presumes in advance that the
‘thing’ under discussion is and must remain mysterious, beyond understanding?
This is a question which makes itself felt, it seems to me, across all of theology: it
is not an issue which can simply be delegated to those who examine a specifically
‘apophatic tradition’, to specialists on Denys the Areopagite and Meister Eckhardt
and John of the Cross, nor is it something which can be put out of mind after some
preliminary reflection on analogy, metaphor and the nature of religious language.
I cannot claim that the chapters which follow provide a comprehensive
treatment of this question. However, each chapter does engage with it in some
way, wrestling with one aspect or another of the problem of how to think about
mystery. They can be read as a single whole, a cumulative case for an overall
theological perspective, the elements of which are drawn together in the final
chapter under the – perhaps unlikely – auspices of a reflection on the nature of
pure mathematics. They can also, however, be read individually – each chapter, an
essay in its own right, on the Trinity, sin, suffering, grace and so on, and each at the
same time also an exploration of the place of mystery in theology. It is important
to me that the chapters retain this capacity for independent existence both for
pragmatic reasons – I hope this will allow what is contained in this volume a wider
use – and for reasons of principle. Theology as an intellectual discipline is difficult,
complex and elusive, beyond the capacity of any one of us to come to terms with
fully. There is something about the diffidence of the essay genre which provides a
way of acknowledging the impossibility of the tasks of theology, even if one may
nevertheless wish to make bold claims within an essay.
Each of these chapters had its origins in one or more invited lecture or conference
paper. I was not thinking, as I responded to these invitations, to be producing the
chapters of this book. It was only in retrospect that I realized that whatever I was
asked to speak on, I seemed to return to a common set of concerns. I am very
grateful therefore to all the lecture and conference organizers who, through their
1. Augustine, Sermon 117, Patrologia latina 38, 663: ‘Si enim comprehendis, non est
deus’.
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2 God, Evil and the Limits of Theology
varied invitations, distracted me from what I felt at the time I really ought to be
doing, and gradually dragged this book out of me. The first chapter began in a pair
of lectures I gave to fulfil my duties as a Gifford postdoctoral research fellowship
in St Andrews in 1996, and others had their origins in invitations to speak at the
Catholic Theological Association (2002), ‘The Future of the Past: Conference on
the Nouvelle Theologie’ in Cambridge (2004), the Christian Systematic Theology
and Eastern Orthodox Studies Units of the American Academy of Religion (2005
and 2015), a joint Colloquium of the Philosophy and Theology Departments at
Villanova University (2005), the Society for the Study of Theology (2009), ‘Traces of
Judaism in Contemporary Thought’ conference in Krakow (2010), ‘The Presences
of Christ Colloquium in honour of Nicholas Lash’ in Durham (2011), the Society
for the Study of Christian Ethics (2014), the Los Angeles Theology Conference
(2014) and the Leuven Encounters in Systematic Theology Conference (2017). I
have benefitted greatly from comments and questions from those who attended
these and subsequent papers and lectures.
A number of colleagues have read and advised on portions of this material at
one stage or another. Among them have been Isobel Wollaston, Philip Goodchild,
Henri-Jérôme Gagey, Chris Insole, Simon Oliver, Paul Murray, Susannah Ticciati
and Simeon Zahl. It is no fault of theirs that I have not always been able to absorb
all their advice. I am also grateful to a whole host of friends and colleagues for
the conversations which have over the years formed the backdrop of my thought,
including Gene Rogers, Nick Healy, Anna Williams, Denys Turner, Mary
Cunningham, the late Ed Ball, Agata Bielik-Robson, Anna Rowlands and Linn
Tonstad. Some colleagues have been especially encouraging and helpful in moving
me towards the actual publication of this volume, including Mike Higton and
Lewis Ayres. I have benefitted in a range of ways from the students I have come
into contact with over the years, and I am particularly grateful for the thoughts and
help of Myka Lahaie and Edward Epsen and for the wisdom and calm efficiency
of Joshua Mobley as he helped prepare this volume for publication. On the other
side, I owe a considerable debt to George Lindbeck and Kathryn Tanner – my first
teachers of theology – who shaped my thought and those of my fellow students
without ever seeking to create disciples: the continuing influence of Tanner will
be particularly clear in the chapters of this volume. Finally, Anna Turton’s patience
with and enthusiasm for this project has meant a great deal to me.
Versions of many – though not all – of these essays have appeared previously
in print. Where I have the sense that an essay is already widely read, I have kept
any alteration to a minimum. This is particularly so with Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 6. In
other cases, I have allowed myself more freedom to alter and to expand.
I am grateful for the permissions granted to use a version of or materials from
the following:
‘Perichoresis and Projection: Problems with Social Doctrines of the Trinity’, New
Blackfriars 81 (2000): 432–45. © 2000 Dominican Council. Used by permission
of John Wiley and Sons.
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Introduction 3
‘Aquinas, the Trinity and the Limits of Understanding’, International Journal of
Systematic Theology 7 (2005): 414–27. © 2005 John Wiley and Sons. Used by
permission of John Wiley and Sons.
‘Is an Apophatic Trinitarianism Possible?’, International Journal of Systematic
Theology 12 (2010): 65–77. © 2010 John Wiley and Sons. Used by permission of
John Wiley and Sons.
‘Trinity and Politics: An Apophatic Approach’, taken from Advancing Trinitarian
Theology: Explorations in Constructive Dogmatics, edited by Oliver D. Crisp
and Fred Sanders, 75–93. Copyright © 2014 Oliver D. Crisp, Fred Sanders and
contributors. Used by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com
‘Evil and the limits of theology’, New Blackfriars 84 (2003): 13–29. Dominican
Council. Used by permission of John Wiley and Sons.
‘Julian of Norwich, Hans Urs von Baltthasar, and the Status of Suffering in
Christian Theology’, New Blackfriars 99 (2018): 298–311. © 2018 Provincial
Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers. Used by permission
of John Wiley and Sons.
‘Christian Theology, Anti-Liberalism and Modern Jewish Thought’, in Agata
Bielik-Robson, and Adam Lipszyc (eds), Judaism in Contemporary Thought:
Traces and Influence (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014), 155–64. © 2014 Agata Bielik-
Robson, Adam Lipszyc and contributors. Reproduced by permission of Taylor
& Francis Group.
‘Beauty and Mystery in Mathematics and Theology’, Imaginatio et Ratio 2 (2013):
3–14. Used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers. www.wipfandstock.
com.
A version of Chapter 8, ‘Grace and Paradox’, is forthcoming as ‘Catholicism,
Protestantism and the Theological Location of Paradox: Nature, Grace, Sin’, in
Peter de Mey and Wim Francois (eds), Ecclesia Semper Reformanda: Renewal and
Reform Beyond Polemics (Leuven: Peeters, 2020).
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