Incarnational Realism:: Trinity and the Spirit in Augustine and Barth

286 Pages·2013·2.522 MB·English

by  Travis E. Ables

T&T Clark Studies in

Systematic Theology
Edited by
John Webster
Ian A. McFarland
Ivor Davidson
Volume 21

INCARNATIONAL

REALISM
Trinity and the Spirit in
Augustine and Barth
Travis E. Ables
LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY
Bloomsbury T&T Clark
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square 175 Fifth Avenue
London New York
WC1B 3DP NY 10010
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www.bloomsbury.com
First published 2013
© Travis E. Ables, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publishers.
Travis E. Ables has asserted his right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or
refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication
can be accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this books is available from the British Library.
eISBN: 978-0-567-58226-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ables, Travis E.
Incarnational Realism: Trinity and the Spirit in Augustine and
Barth/Travis E. Ables p.cm
Includes bibliographic references and index.
ISBN 978-0-567-53605-1 (hardcover)
2012045678
Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India
TO HOLLY

contents

Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xii
Introduction 1
The History of a History: The Revival of Trinitarianism 2
The Plan of this Book 10
1. Augustine and the Problem of the Spirit in Contemporary
Trinitarian Theology 17
Patterns of Critique in Contemporary Trinitarianism 19
Historicizing the Rhetoric of the Revival 27
Augustine and Western Forgetfulness of the Spirit 34
2. The Exercise of Faith and the Trinitarian Logic of
Self-Giving in De Trinitate 1–7 37
Training the Reader: The Contemplative Performance
of De Trinitate 41
The Simplicity of Wisdom: Trinitarian Missions and
Processions 44
The Augustinian Apophaticism of Participation in the Son 51
3. Pneumatology and the Psychological Analogy
in De Trinitate 8–15 55
The Ascent Motif and the Unity of De Trinitate 55
Knowledge and Wisdom in the Ascent to the Trinity 60
The Pneumatological Aporia of the Image of God 68
4. The “Whole Christ” and the Pneumatology of Deification
in Augustine 79
The Totus Christus and the Love of God and Neighbor 81
The Holy Spirit as the Bond of Love: A Trinitarianism
without Difference 89
Augustine’s Ethical Apophaticism 101
5. The Development of Barth’s Dialectical Pneumatology of
Participation in the Church Dogmatics 105
The Problem of Human Participation in Reconciliation 107
CD 1 and 2: The Analogy of Faith and Election 112
vii
CONTENTS
CD 3: Barth’s “Brazen Identification” and the
Analogia Relationis 126
6. The Vicissitudes of Barth’s Trinitarianism in CD 4 133
The Ambiguity of Barth’s Christology in CD 4/1 134
Reformed Christology and the Pneumatological
“Transition” in CD 4 139
Incarnational Realism and Barth’s Eschatology of Gratuity 150
7. Self-Consciousness and Spirit: The Trinity after Hegel 155
Trinitarian Personalism and Idealism 156
The Silence of the Abyss: The Hegelian Logic
of Subjectivity 166
8. Incarnational Realism and the Augustinian Logic of the Trinity 175
Augustine and Barth on Pneumatology and
Participation in Christ 176
Incarnational Realism 179
Notes 193
Bibliography 249
Index 263
viii
acknowledgments

This book was begun at Vanderbilt University as a dissertation, and sig-
nificantly revised for publication while I have been at Eden Theological
Seminary. I am deeply aware of my debts to many at both institutions. At
Vanderbilt, Ellen Armour, Doug Meeks, and John Thatamanil were essential
for my intellectual development, and I thank each of them for their tire-
less investment in me. Paul DeHart is a tremendous example as a scholar
and teacher, and always spurs me to greater care and precision as a thinker
and writer. I owe Patout Burns, who first woke me up to the thought of
Augustine, my deep gratitude for his example of exacting care and passion
in historical work, and for his advocacy for this book.
Every scholar should have the opportunity to teach and research in a
collegial setting like Eden. The faculty and staff here have welcomed me
as one of their own from the beginning. I thank David Greenhaw and Deb
Krause for bringing me onto the faculty, for their encouragement and guid-
ance, and their support for this project. Christopher Grundy, Kristen Leslie,
Damayanthi Niles, Mai-Anh Le Tran, and Marilyn Stavenger have been par-
ticularly hospitable as my family and I adjusted to life in St. Louis. Lerone
Martin has shared many companionable hours with me as we figured out
life as junior faculty members and first-time authors (and shared an office
wall). Damayanthi and Lerone have made Eden’s History and Theology
Department a collaborative, invigorating space to teach and work. I must
also name John Bracke, Leah Gunning Francis, Clint McCann, Martha
Robertson, and Carl Schenck as supportive and welcoming members
of Eden’s faculty, all of whom I have been privileged to work alongside.
Michael Boddy has helped me navigate the resources of the library at Eden
and Webster University. I am grateful to Pat Garnett for her administrative
support, tireless good cheer, and endless supply of coffee.
One of the little secrets of graduate theological training is that you don’t
really know what you’re doing, professionally, until you’re in the classroom
figuring out how to teach. Your students make all the difference. I think appre-
ciatively of the students of my course “The Skill and Practice of Theological
Conversation” at VDS for their hard work and enthusiasm about the proc-
ess of theological reflection on history (and thank Jim Hudnut-Beumler for
the opportunity). At Eden, the students of my Church History courses are
a constant inspiration in their tireless devotion to the church, their passion
ix