God As the Mystery of the World : On the Foundation of the Theology of the Crucified One in the Dispute Between Theism and Atheism

Jüngel sets out to establish a basis for a theology of God the crucified while avoiding the shoals of theism and atheism. He warns of the danger, rooted in the fact that modernity no longer dares to think God, of talking God to death, of silencing God with too much God-talk. Jüngel analyzes what our possibilities are of thinking and speaking God and concludes that theology has to become the narrative of God's humanity. This second book in the series helps the reader to gain a more explicit awareness of the contemporary issues Jüngel's theology grapples with. Cover 1 Contents 6 Foreword to the First and Second Editions 8 Foreword to the Third Edition 14 Foreword to the English Text 16 Translator's Preface 26 Abbreviations 27 I. Introduction 30 1. The Definition of the Problem 30 2. Is God Necessary? 41 3. The Basic Theological Uncertainty (Aporia) of Christian Talk about God 62 II. Talk about the Death of God as an Expression of the Uncertainty of Modern Thinking about God 70 4. The Significance and the Absurdity of Talk about the Death of God 70 5. The Twofold Source of Talk about the Death of God 72 6. Where Is God? 76 a. The Biblical Question 77 b. The Modern Question 78 7. Talk about the Death of God as the Theological Answer to the Question: Where Is God? 82 a. Bonhoeffer's Contribution to the Return of "Death of God" Talk to Theology 84 b. Hegel's Mediation between the Atheistic Modern Feeling and the Christian Truth of the Death of God 90 c. The Significance of Talk about the Death of God: The Problem of the Essence of God 127 III. On the Possibility of Thinking God 132 8. The Position of Thought between God and God: On the Problematic of the Modern Concept of God 132 9. The Self-Establishment of Modern Thought in the Cartesian "I Think" as the Premise for the Destruction of the Metaphysically Established Certainty of God 138 a. The Power of Doubt: Methodological Doubt as the Premise for the Establishment of the Necessity of God 139 b. The Securing of God as the Disintegration of the Certainty of God 149 10. The Metaphysical Concept of God in the Modern Disputation of the Possibility of Thinking God 153 a. Fichte's Demand: God "should...not be thought at all" 155 b. Feuerbach's Assertion: "Only when thy thought is God dost thou truly think, rigorously speaking" 168 c. Nietzsche's Question: "Could you conceive a God?" 173 d. The Actual Inconceivability of the Metaphysical Concept of God for Thought Which Establishes Itself on "I Think" 177 11. The Word as the Place of the Conceivability of God 179 12. The Certainty of Faith as the Deprivation of Security 196 13. God's Unity with Perishability as the Basis for Thinking God 211 a. The Double Necessity of Thinking God's Unity with Perishability 212 b. The Double Possibility of Thinking God's Unity with Perishability: The Ontological Significance of Christological Talk about the Death of God 226 IV. On the Speakability of God 253 14. The Statement of the Problem 253 15. The Classic Thesis: "The Deity, therefore, is ineffable and incomprehensible" 259 16. The Disputed Mystery 273 a. The Question about God 273 b. God as Mystery 277 c. Silencing God through the Exaggeration of Language 282 17. The Problem of Analogous Talk about God 288 18. The Gospel as Analogous Talk about God 308 V. On the Humanity of God 326 19. The Humanity of God as a Story to be Told; Hermeneutical Preface 326 20. The God Who Is Love; On the Identity of God and Love 341 21. Faith in the Humanity of God; On the Distinction between Faith and Love 358 22. The Crucified Jesus Christ as * Vestige of the Trinity' 370 23. God's Being in the Differentiation between Father and Son 395 24. God as Event of the Spirit 401 25. The Triune God as the Mystery of the World 403 Index of Names 424 A 424 B 424 C 424 D 424 E 424 F 424 G 425 H 425 I 425 J 425 K 425 L 425 M 426 N 426 O 426 P 426 Q 426 R 426 S 426 T 427 V 427 W 427 X 427 Z 427 Index of Subjects 428 A 428 B 429 C 429 D 430 E 430 F 431 G 432 H 433 I 433 J 434 K 434 L 434 M 435 N 436 O 437 P 437 Q 438 R 438 S 438 T 439 U 441 V 441 W 441 Y 441 Jüngel sets out to establish a basis for a theology of God the crucified while avoiding the shoals of theism and atheism. He warns of the danger, rooted in the fact that modernity no longer dares to think God, of talking God to death, of silencing God with too much God-talk. Jüngel analyzes what our possibilities are of thinking and speaking God and concludes that theology has to become the narrative of God's humanity. This second book in the series helps the reader to gain a more explicit awareness of the contemporary issues Jüngel's theology grapples with -- Provided by the publisher Jun̈gel sets out to establish a basis for a theology of God the crucified while avoiding the shoals of theism and atheism. He warns of the danger, rooted in the fact that modernity no longer dares to think God, of talking God to death, of silencing God with too much God-talk. Jun̈gel analyzes what our possibilities are of thinking and speaking God and concludes that theology has to become the narrative of God's humanity. This second book in the series helps the reader to gain a more explicit awareness of the contemporary issues Jun̈gel's theology grapples with Starting with an analysis of the close relation of Trinity and revelation in Barth, Jüngel goes on to look at Barth's action of divine objectivity in relation to human subjectivity. He closes with a discussion of the ontological implications of God's self-manifestation at the Cross. This translation of Jüngel's Gottes Sein ist in Werden also incorporates material from the 1975 German edition, together with a substantial new introduction by Professor John Webster