God's Being Towards Fellowship: Schleiermacher, Barth, and the Meaning of ‘God is Love’ (T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology)

"Justin Stratis explores the meaning of the biblical phrase 'God is love' through an examination of two quintessentially modern Protestant theologians: Friedrich Schleiermacher and Karl Barth. This book contains both a detailed engagement with Schleiermacher's untranslated lectures on Dialektik and their relation to his more well-known work, as well as a new assessment of Barth's doctrine of God which both respects his radical innovations and yet places him within the stream of traditional, catholic trinitarianism. After considering the complexities of theological predication, and comparing several classical and contemporary approaches to the implication of 'love', Stratis presents and ultimately commends the distinct approaches of Schleiermacher and Barth for their tendency to treat divine love as a 'conclusion' to the doctrine of God, rather than as a conceptual starting point. In contrast to many contemporary approaches, Stratis concludes with the suggestion that God's love is best conceived as his being toward fellowship, rather than as the eminent instance of loving fellowship understood according to human experiences of love."--Bloomsbury publishing. Cover Half Title Editorial board Title page Copyrights Dedication Contents Abbreviations INTRODUCTION Is divine love unique? Love as a theological model Contemporary assumptions The Western inheritance Augustine Richard of St. Victor Introduction to the study General approach The subjects of our study Plan of study Part I FRIEDRICH SCHLEIERMACHER AND THE ACTIVE GOD OF LOVE Introduction to Part I Chapter 1 GOD AS THE UNIVERSE IN ON RELIGION Religion as the intuition of the universe The universe as ‘God’ Summary Chapter 2 GOD AS THE PRESUPPOSITION OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE DIALEKTIK The purpose of the Dialektik Seeking the transcendental ground of knowing The transcendental ground of the self God and world Summary Chapter 3 GOD AS THE WHENCE OF THE FEELING OF ABSOLUTE DEPENDENCE IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THE GLAUBENSLEHRE The status and function of the ‘borrowed propositions’ (§§ 3–14) The propositions borrowed from ethics and the definition of ‘God’ Summary Chapter 4 SCHLEIERMACHER’S DOCTRINE OF GOD Introduction to the divine attributes The ‘original’ attributes: eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience The ‘derived’ attributes Holiness and justice Love and wisdom Conclusion to Part I Part II KARL BARTH AND THE PERSONAL GOD OF LOVE Introduction to Part II Chapter 5 KNOWING GOD Theological method The Trinity Primary and secondary objectivity Chapter 6 GOD AS THE ONE WHO LOVES IN FREEDOM God’s being in act Love as the seeking and creation of fellowship The dialectic of love and freedom Defining love Divine personhood Divine fellowship Summary Divine freedom Divine personhood as free personhood God’s freedom in transcendence God’s freedom in immanence The principle of divine immanence: Jesus Christ Summary Chapter 7 THE CHRISTOLOGICAL SHAPE OF THE DIVINE IDENTITY Divine election The specification of the dialectic of love and freedom Jesus Christ as the centre-point of the doctrine of God Election and time Election as the overflow of God’s triune love Summary Divine obedience God’s history in the history of Jesus Christ The reality of Jesus Christ’s obedience as God Divine obedience and the Trinity Conclusion to Part II Conclusion: God’s being towards fellowship Comparison A proposal God is love Bibliography Index