Major Review: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century

IF 0.2 4区 哲学 0 RELIGION INTERPRETATION-A JOURNAL OF BIBLE AND THEOLOGY Pub Date : 2022-04-01 DOI:10.1177/00209643221081705
R. Baard
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Abstract

In thIs hefty tome, noted Presbyterian theologian Douglas Ottati offers a theology rooted in Augustinian, Protestant, liberal, and humanist elements, which enables him both to embrace classical theological wisdom and to rethink theological themes in light of “new and pressing realities” (p. xxi). The book consists of three sections structured around seventy propositions. In the first section, on method, he introduces Christian theology as a practical wisdom, i.e., as “a vision of God, the world, and ourselves in the service of a piety, a settled disposition, and a way of living” (p. 25). Then follows a section on creation, which offers fresh perspectives on creation and providence, while emphasizing the unity of God’s creative and redemptive work. Finally, in the section on redemption, Ottati focuses on the themes of Christ, Spirit, sin, regeneration, and world renewal, concluding with three final propositions on God the Redeemer. The overall structure of the theology rests on three central insights gained from Augustine: the goodness of creation, the depth of sin, and the centrality of grace. From these themes, Ottati presents God as Creator, Judge, and Redeemer. This is an experiential and narratival perspective on God rooted in both Protestantism’s call to return to the source of Scripture, and liberalism’s emphasis on experience as a source of knowledge. It is therefore precisely as a liberal theologian who values the experiential that Ottati expresses discomfort with “speculative” elements in theology, noting, for example, that his “metaphysical reticence” leads him to remain “agnostic about ‘internal relations’ among the three persons within God” (p. 741). He focuses on the revelatory experiences captured in Scripture, stating that he intends to “work with current historical and biblical scholarship rather than dismiss it on dogmatic grounds” (p. 364). The fourth element in his theological viewpoint is that of Christian humanism, partially borrowed from Calvin, which offers a way out of the “dislocation” that marks the twenty-first century (p. 16). Christian humanism, he says, is theocentric, and as such dislodges humans from the center of the theological frame by recognizing that in the context of divine governance the world beyond humans has value. It also relocates humans by sensing that within the context of the divine dynamic human beings have worth.
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主要评论:二十一世纪的神学
在这本厚重的大部头中,著名的长老会神学家道格拉斯·奥塔蒂提供了一种根植于奥古斯丁、新教、自由主义和人文主义元素的神学,这使他既能接受古典神学智慧,又能根据“新的紧迫现实”(第21页)重新思考神学主题。这本书由三个部分组成,大约有70个命题。在第一部分,关于方法,他把基督教神学作为一种实践的智慧,也就是说,作为“一种对上帝、世界和我们自己的看法,为一种虔诚、一种稳定的性情和一种生活方式服务”(第25页)。接下来是关于创造的部分,它提供了关于创造和护理的新视角,同时强调了上帝创造和救赎工作的统一性。最后,在救赎部分,奥塔提聚焦于基督、灵、罪、重生和世界更新的主题,最后以三个关于救赎主的命题作结。神学的整体结构建立在奥古斯丁的三个核心见解之上:创造的美好、罪的深度和恩典的中心地位。从这些主题出发,奥塔提将上帝呈现为创造者、审判者和救赎者。这是一种对上帝的经验和叙述的观点,根植于新教呼吁回归圣经的来源,以及自由主义强调经验是知识的来源。因此,正是作为一个重视经验的自由主义神学家,Ottati表达了对神学中“思辨”元素的不适,例如,他指出,他的“形而上学的沉默”导致他仍然“对上帝内部三个位格之间的‘内部关系’持不可知论态度”(第741页)。他把重点放在《圣经》中所捕捉到的启示性经历上,他说他打算“与当前的历史和圣经学术合作,而不是以教条主义的理由来驳斥它”(第364页)。他的神学观点的第四个要素是基督教人文主义,部分借鉴了加尔文,它提供了一条走出标志着21世纪的“错位”的道路(第16页)。他说,基督教人文主义是以神为中心的,因此,通过认识到在神的统治背景下,超越人类的世界是有价值的,从而把人类从神学框架的中心赶了出来。它还通过感知到在神圣动态的背景下人类具有价值来重新定位人类。
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