T&T Clark Handbook of Colin Gunton (T&T Clark Handbooks)

It is a great pleasure to write the foreword to this handbook to Professor Colin Gunton's work. When he died so unexpectedly in May 2003 at the age of 62, he left behind him a legacy of theological significance that people are still discovering. This legacy is to be found not only in his publications but also in the teaching and writings of many of his colleagues and students. Colin Gunton was totally lacking in pomposity and self-regard. He was happy to be a conduit of the Christian tradition aware that he was standing, as he often put it, on the shoulders of theological giants. It is helpful to remember that Colin Gunton may have formally been a systematic theologian, but he was also an ordained member of the United Reformed Church. Writing in the book The One, the Three and the Many: God, Creation and the Culture of Modernity -which was based on the Bampton lectures at Oxford in 1992 -he states, 'theology is a practical not a merely theoretical discipline'. 1 I think we are unlikely to go astray in our understanding of Colin if we regard him as an ecclesial theologian. He care more for the gospel and its faithful transmission through the ages than for the study of theology per se. It was inconceivable to Colin Gunton that you could teach theology as if it was disconnected from the church. Colin Gunton was passionate about the gospel and the Apostolic Faith of the New Testament, but he also had very strong dislikes. He thought Augustine of Hippo was the source of most of the ills of the Western Christian tradition and he favoured the Cappadocian theologians 2 of the fourth century over their Western counterparts. 3 Colin Gunton was also opposed to the introduction of the filioque clause into the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (Ad 381) and he preferred the Eastern approach to the Holy Trinity which focused on the three persons or hypostases -Father, Son and Holy Spiritrather than the oneness of God's being (homoousion). It was not the case, however, that Colin Gunton went over wholesale to Eastern Orthodoxy; he had little interest in the liturgical practices of the Eastern half of Christendom and remained indifferent to Orthodox iconography. Colin Gunton not only became a mentor to many of his students, he was himself indebted to mentors from both past theologians and living contemporaries. He was a follower of Karl Barth (1886Barth ( -1968)), but like T. F. Torrance (1913Torrance ( -2007) ) he was not an uncritical student. He also had deep regard for the Puritan John Owen (1616-1683) and the Romantic sage Samuel Coleridge (1772-1834), as well as a delight -bordering on an obsession -with Caledonian theologian Edward Irving (1792-1834). Theological contemporaries who have personally influenced his views include Robert Jensen, John Zizioulas and Christoph Schwöbel. Schwöbel, probably the greatest influence on Colin 1 Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Contributors 8 Foreword 10 Acknowledgements 13 Introduction 14 Part One Theological themes 20 Chapter One Gunton on revelation (PAUL LOUIS METZGER) 22 Chapter Two Gunton on theological language (SUE PATTERSON) 38 Chapter Three Gunton on the Trinity (PAUL D. MOLNAR) 54 Chapter Four Gunton on creation (CHRISTOPH SCHWÖBEL) 72 Chapter Five Gunton on Christology (OLIVER CRISP) 90 Chapter Six Gunton on atonement (MURRAY RAE) 104 Chapter Seven Gunton on theological anthropology (MARC CORTEZ) 118 Chapter Eight Gunton on pneumatology (MYK HABETS) 134 Chapter Nine Gunton on eschatology (TERRY J. WRIGHT) 150 Chapter Ten Gunton on ecclesiology (UCHE ANIZOR) 164 Chapter Eleven Gunton on modernity (JOHN C. MCDOWELL) 182 Chapter Twelve Gunton on culture (ANDREW PICARD) 200 Chapter Thirteen Gunton on community (LUCY PEPPIATT) 218 Chapter Fourteen Gunton on theology, ministry and the Christian life (ANDY GOODLIFF AND PAUL GOODLIFF) 234 Part Two Theological figures 250 Chapter Fifteen Gunton and Irenaeus (DOUGLAS FARROW) 252 Chapter Sixteen Gunton and the Cappadocians (DEMETRIOS BATHRELLOS) 266 Chapter Seventeen SEVENTEEN Gunton and Augustine (JOSHUA M. MCNALL) 282 Chapter Eighteen EIGHTEEN Gunton and Western philosophy (RANDAL RAUSER) 298 Chapter Nineteen NINETEEN Gunton and Calvin (MARK D. THOMPSON) 314 Chapter Twenty Gunton and Coleridge (STEPHEN R. HOLMES) 328 Chapter Twenty-One Gunton and Irving (GRAHAM W. P. MCFARLANE) 340 Chapter Twenty-Two Gunton and Owen (KELLY M. KAPIC) 352 Chapter Twenty-Three Gunton and Barth (PETER S. OH) 372 Chapter Twenty-Four Gunton and Jenson (JEREMY IVE) 386 Chapter Twenty-Five Gunton and Zizioulas (PARASKEVÈ (EVE) TIBBS) 400 Chapter Twenty-Six Gunton and Jüngel (IVOR J. DAVIDSON) 416 Bibliography of Gunton’s.Works 432 Index 440 "The T & T Clark Handbook to Colin Gunton is a theological companion to the study of Gunton's theology, and a resource for thinking about Gunton's importance in modern theology. Each of the essays brings Gunton's depth to a broad range of contemporary theological concerns. The volume unveils cutting-edge Gunton scholarship for a new generation and at the same time enables readers to see the timely significance of Gunton for today. Each of the essays not only introduces readers to key themes in the Gunton corpus but also provides readers with fresh interpretations that are fully conversant with the theological problems facing the church in our world today. Designed as both a guide for students and a reference point for scholars, the companion seeks both to outline the frameworks of key Gunton debates while at all times pushing forward fresh interpretative strategies concerning his thought"-- Provided by publisher : The T&T Clark Handbook to Colin Gunton is a theological companion to the study of Gunton’s theology, and a resource for thinking about Gunton’s importance in modern theology. Each of the essays brings Gunton’s depth to a broad range of contemporary theological concerns. The volume unveils cutting-edge Gunton scholarship for a new generation and at the same time enables readers to see the timely significance of Gunton for today. Each of the essays not only introduces readers to key themes in the Gunton corpus but also provides readers with fresh interpretations that are fully conversant with the theological problems facing the church in our world today. Designed as both a guide for students and a reference point for scholars, the companion seeks both to outline the frameworks of key Gunton debates while at all times pushing forward fresh interpretative strategies concerning his thought. The T&T Clark Handbook of Colin Gunton is a theological companion to the study of Gunton's theology, and a resource for thinking about Gunton's importance in modern theology. Each of the essays brings Gunton's depth to a broad range of contemporary theological concerns. The volume unveils cutting-edge Gunton scholarship for a new generation and at the same time enables readers to see the timely significance of Gunton today. Each of the essays not only introduces readers to key themes in the Gunton corpus, but also provides readers with fresh interpretations that are fully conversant with the contemporary theological problems facing the church. Designed as both a guide for students and a reference point for scholars, the companion seeks both to outline the frameworks of key Gunton debates while at all times pushing forward fresh interpretative strategies concerning his thought.