Earthing The Cosmic Christ of Ephesians: The Universe, Trinity, & Zhiyi's Threefold Truth by John P. Keenan (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Earthing The Cosmic Christ of Ephesians: The Universe, Trinity, & Zhiyi's Threefold Truth by John P. Keenan Kristin Beise Kiblinger EARTHING THE COSMIC CHRIST Of EPHESIANS: THE UNIVERSE, TRINITY, & ZHIYI'S THREEfOLD TRUTH, Vol. 1. By John P. Keenan. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2021. 247 pp. John P. Keenan, an Episcopal priest and professor emeritus of religion at Middlebury College with expertise in Buddhism and a prolific comparative theologian, has expanded his corpus of Mahāyāna readings of New Testament texts with a new commentary on Ephesians. This book is the first of what will be multiple volumes. It introduces Ephesians, the letter's context, the Tiantai Buddhist Zhiyi, and Keenan's own approach before considering Ephesians 1:1–2, the letter's greeting. Keenan concludes this initial volume by looking ahead to the Berakah blessing that follows the greeting and comprises 1:3–14, which will be addressed in volume 2 along with the Hoyadot prayer of 1:15–23. A brief glossary of Buddhist terms and an extensive bibliography are also included, but there is no index. Justifying the focus on Ephesians, Keenan explains that although Ephesians is heavily used in Christian communities liturgically, it puzzles modern readers with its outdated cosmology (i.e., it pictures the earth at the center of the cosmos, Christ above, and demonic powers hovering). Many of the letter's social norms and attitudes (such as slavery, patriarchy, misogyny, views toward Jews and Judaism, and religious sectarianism) also pose a challenge. Keenan asserts that he fills a gap in the scholarship because many studies of Ephesians thus far fail to discuss these issues. Those familiar with Keenan's work will know that he insists on viewing the Christian tradition from the perspective of the "global theological commons," and to do that, he well utilizes his extensive background in Buddhism. In particular, in this book, Keenan draws from the teachings of Chinese master Zhiyi (538–597) [End Page 282] and his "threefold truth" from the Moho zhiguan (Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight), a compendium that ranks and synthesizes Buddhist teachings, giving the Lotus Sutra pride of place. The "threefold truth" will not only "mirror" and "illuminate" the trinitarian thinking of Ephesians, according to Keenan, but in addition, Keenan sees this truth as an "all-encompassing" hermeneutic of emptiness (5). A hermeneutic of emptiness, according to Keenan, relentlessly cautions us against thinking that ultimate truth can be captured through human language and concepts or that God can be fully knowable. It is only after we empty the ontological language that the Christian tradition has used that we can glean wisdom from conventional speech and be open to the benefits of an interfaith perspective. Keenan posits that "the hermeneutic of emptying doctrine … is applicable well beyond its homeland in India and China" and that "our most cherished scriptures and theologies can be explicative of revealed truth and nevertheless unable fully to enunciate the absolute" (106). Keenan's argument impressively draws from studies of Greek thought, scientific work regarding astrophysics, Jewish and Christian scholarship, and Buddhist studies. He shares a lot of information about the culture and setting of first-century Christian communities, especially in chapter 2. Because of the close relationship of Ephesians with the Letter to the Colossians, much information is provided about that text as well in chapter 3. In chapter 4, Keenan goes into depth about how the cosmic Christ seen in Ephesians relates to the archaic cosmology of the time and how this contrasts sharply with our understanding today that our planet is just one of many, that our galaxy is just one among countless others, and that the whole is expanding such that "it no longer makes sense to look for Christ out there at the pinnacle of our cosmos" (10). Rather than trying to Christianize current astrophysics theory, Keenan contends that this changed perspective enables a deeper revolution in our theological approach and challenges our "identity thinking" (14). Buddhism's no-self teaching is clearly influential here. Chapter 5 provides more discussion of Zhiyi and develops the Buddhist hermeneutic for Ephesians, arguing that early Jewish and Christian traditions did not consider epistemology sufficiently when compared to Buddhist philosophy...