Toward a theology of eros : transfiguring passion at the limits of discipline

491 Pages·2006·2.142 MB·English

by  Keller, Catherine, Burrus, Virginia

TOWARD A THEOLOGY OF EROS
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TRANSDISCIPLINARY THEOLOGICAL COLLOQUIA
Theologyhashoveredfortwomillenniabetweenscripturalmetaphorand
philosophicalthinking;ittakesfleshinitssymbolic,communal,andethi-
calpractices.Withthegiftofthishistoryandinthespiritofitsunrealized
potential,theTransdisciplinaryTheologicalColloquiaintensifymovement
betweenandbeyondthefieldsofreligion.Amultivocaldiscourseoftheol-
ogytakesplaceintheinterstices,atonceself-deconstructiveinitspluralism
andconstructiveinitsaffirmations.
HostedannuallybyDrewUniversity’sTheologicalSchool,thecolloquia
provideamatrixforsuchconversations,whileFordhamUniversityPress
servesasthemidwifefortheirpublication.Committedtotheslowtrans-
formation of religio-cultural symbolism, the colloquia continue Drew’s
long history of engaging historical, biblical, and philosphical hermeneu-
tics,practicesofsocialjustice,andexperimentsintheopoetics.
STEERING COMMITTEE:
CatherineKeller,Director
VirginiaBurrus
StephenMoore
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TOWA R D A TH E O LO G Y
E RO S
O F
Transfiguring Passion at
the Limits of Discipline
E D I T E D B Y V I R G I N I A B U R R U S A N D
C AT H E R I N E K E L L E R
(cid:59)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:57)(cid:61)(cid:54)(cid:66)(cid:0)(cid:74)(cid:67)(cid:62)(cid:75)(cid:58)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:62)(cid:73)(cid:78)(cid:0)(cid:69)(cid:71)(cid:58)(cid:72)(cid:72)(cid:0)(cid:8)(cid:0)(cid:67)(cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:0)(cid:78)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:64) (cid:8) (cid:17)(cid:15)(cid:15)(cid:21)
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Copyright(cid:2)2006FordhamUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublication
maybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,
ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans—
electronic,mechanical,photocopy,recording,
oranyother—exceptforbriefquotationsin
printedreviews,withoutthepriorpermission
ofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
TowardatheologyofEros:transfiguring
passionatthelimitsofdiscipline/editedby
VirginiaBurrusandCatherineKeller.
p.cm.—(Transdisciplinarytheological
colloquia)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-8232-2635-1(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8232-2635-2(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN-13:978-0-8232-2636-8(pbk.:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8232-2636-0(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Sex—Religiousaspects—Christianity.
2.Love—Religiousaspects—Christianity.
3.Sex. 4.Love. I.Burrus,Virginia.
II.Keller,Catherine,1953–
BT708.T69 2006
128(cid:2).46—dc22 2006028869
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction:TheologyandErosafterNygren
VirginiaBurrus xiii
PART I. RESTAGING THE SYMPOSIUM ON LOVE
WhatDoWeTalkAboutWhenWeTalkAbout
PlatonicLove?(cid:3)DanielBoyarin 3
FleshinConfession:AlcibiadesBeside
Augustine(cid:3)MarkD.Jordan 23
FortheLoveofGod:TheDeathofDesireand
theGiftofLife(cid:3)MarioCosta 38
PART II. QUEER DESIRES
SexingthePaulineBodyofChrist:Scriptural
SexintheContextoftheAmericanChristian
CultureWar(cid:3)DianaM.Swancutt 65
HomoeroticSpectacleandtheMonasticBody
inSymeontheNewTheologian(cid:3)DerekKrueger 99
SexualDesire,DivineDesire;Or,Queering
theBeguines(cid:3)AmyHollywood 119
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viii (cid:3) contents
Feetishism:TheScentofaLatinAmerican
BodyTheology(cid:3)MarcellaMar´ıaAlthaus-Reid 134
DigitalBodiesandtheTransformationof
theFlesh(cid:3)SheilaBriggs 153
PART III. SACRED SUFFERING, SUBLIME SEDUCTION
Passion—Binding—Passion(cid:3)YvonneSherwood 169
PrayingIsJoying:MusingsonLoveinEvagrius
Ponticus(cid:3)VirginiaBurrus 194
CarthageDidn’tBurnHotEnough:SaintAugustine’s
DivineSeduction(cid:3)KarmenMacKendrick 205
PART IV. COSMOS, EROS, CREATIVITY
AmericanTranscendentalism’sEroticAquatecture
RobertS.Corrington 221
‘‘SheTalksTooMuch’’:MagdaleneMeditations
CatherineKeller 234
EthicalDesires:TowardaTheologyofRelational
Transcendence(cid:3)MayraRivera 255
NewCreations:Eros,Beauty,andthePassionfor
Transformation(cid:3)GraceJantzen 271
PART V. REREADING THE SONG OF SONGS
LyricalTheology:TheSongofSongsandthe
AdvantageofPoetry(cid:3)TodLinafelt 291
TheShulammite’sSong:DivineEros,Ascending
andDescending(cid:3)RichardKearney 306
SufferingErosandTextualIncarnation:
AKristevanReadingofKabbalisticPoetics
ElliotR.Wolfson 341
Afterword:ATheologyofEros,After
TransfiguringPassion(cid:3)CatherineKeller 366
Notes 375
Contributors 465
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It goes without saying that a volume of this sort is the result of the
collaborativeeffortsofamultitude.Wearefirstandforemostgratefulto
the sixteen other authors who contributed to the text, responding pa-
tiently, warmly, and often quite amusingly to our repeated editorial re-
quests. Most of them participated in the 2004 Transdisciplinary
Theological Colloquium hosted by Drew University’s Theological
School, which bore the title ‘‘Transfiguring Passions: Theologies and
Theories of Eros.’’ Others not among our authors also took part in that
memorably rich and lively conversation, and many of their words and
thoughts have left traces on the pages of this book—Cheryl Anderson,
ChrisBoesel,Danna NolanFewell,JohnHoffmeyer,OttoMaduro,Dale
Martin, Anna Mercedes, Stephen Moore, Peter Savastano, Terry Todd,
andRichardWhaite.ChrisBoeselandTerryToddwerealsomembersof
theplanningcommitteewhileMayraRiveranotonlyparticipatedinthe
colloquiumbutalsoservedasitsformidablycompetentcoordinator.She
wassupportedbyanablestaffofDrewdoctoralstudents,includingespe-
cially Mario Costa and Luke Higgins. Master of Divinity student Erika
Murphy both assisted with the colloquium and helped with the format-
ting and editing of the manuscript; beyond that, her gentle wit kept the
editors sane. Maxine Beach, Dean of Drew’s Theological School—well,
what can we say? She not only trusted our slightly unorthodox passions
butfundedthem,yetagain.Wearesoverygrateful.
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x (cid:3) acknowledgments
Lastbutnotleast,weofferthankstoFordhamUniversityPressandits
gracious staff, to John Hoffmeyer and one other (anonymous) reader
who offered extremely helpful comments on the manuscript, and espe-
cially to our editor Helen Tartar, whose intellectual and aesthetic judg-
mentisimpeccableandwhoseenthusiasmforthiscollaborationhasbeen
unflagging.
Sadly,oneofthecontributingauthorsdidnotlivetoseethisvolume’s
publication. We mourn the passing and honor the enormous scholarly
achievementsofGraceJantzen.
V.B.andC.K.
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