Within the Love of God : Essays on the Doctrine of God in Honour of Paul S. Fiddes

The doctrine of God is central to theology for it determines the way in which other regions of Christian doctrine are articulated. However, discussion of this topic in its own right has tended to be occluded by recent attention to divine passibility and to the doctrine of the Trinity. This collection of specially commissioned essays presents major treatments of key themes in the doctrine of God. Within the Love of God includes invigorating discussions of biblical and non-biblical sources for the doctrine of God, and the section on Metaphysics and the Doctrine of God offers rigorous analyses of some of the most important conceptual questions arising in contemporary theological debate about the being and nature of God, and God's relations to the world. The final section of the book on God and Humanity will be highly relevant to scholars working in the fields of Continental philosophy of religion, theological anthropology, moral and political theology, on interfaith relations, on theology and literature, or who are interested in the impact of contemporary science on the doctrine of God. This volume brings together a team of internationally distinguished scholars from a wide range of theological, philosophical, and religious perspectives, and it will stimulate fresh thinking and new debate about this most central of topics in Christian theology. Foreword • Robert Ellis 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 10 List of Illustrations 12 List of Contributors 14 Introduction: Essaying the Doctrine of God • Anthony Clarke and Andrew Moore 17 Part I. Sources of the Doctrine of God 33 1. God, the World, and Wisdom • John Barton 35 2. The ‘Rule of Law of Love’ • HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad 45 3. ‘In the Beginning was the Word . . . ’: On Language and Presence • John E. Colwell 63 4. Experience and the Doctrine of God • Andrew Moore 77 Part II. Metaphysics and the Doctrine of God 93 5. Apathōs Epathen: Patristic Reflection on God, Suffering,and the Cross • Frances Young 95 6. Non ex aequo: God’s Relation to Creatures • John Webster 111 7. The Passibility or Impassibility of God: Answers to J. K. Mozley’s ‘Six Necessary Questions’ • Jürgen Moltmann 124 8. ‘Who Can Count How Many Crosses?’: Paul Fiddes on Salvation • Stephen R. Holmes 136 9. Freedom, Necessity, and Suffering in God • Keith Ward 150 10. Impassionedness and ‘So-called Classical Theism’ • Paul Helm 160 Part III. God and Humanity 171 11. Eschatology and Human Knowledge of God • Judith Wolfe 173 12. Sublimation and Sublime Meaning: Pain and Passion in an Infinite, Intellectual Love of God • Pamela Sue Anderson 186 13. Self, World, and Others: Where is Wisdom to be Found? • Oliver Davies 201 14. Creation and Ethics: On the Legitimacy and Limitation of Appeals to ‘Nature’ in Christian Moral Reasoning • Bernd Wannenwetsch 214 15. ‘There is at Most One God’: Jewish–Christian–Muslim Exchange on the Issue of God • David B. Burrell, C.S.C. 233 16. ‘For thine is the Kingdom & the Power & the Glory & not Caesars or Satans Amen’: William Blake, Politics, and Theology • Christopher Rowland 245 Select Bibliography of Works by Paul S. Fiddes 262 Index of Holy Scripture 271 Index of Names and Subjects 273 "The doctrine of God is central to theology for it determines the way in which other regions of Christian doctrine are articulated, yet work on this topic in its own right has been occluded recently by treatments of the Trinity or divine passibility. This collection of specially commissioned essays presents major treatments of key themes in the doctrine of God, motivated by but not restricted to the work of Professor Paul S. Fiddes to whom it is offered as a Festschrift. It includes invigorating discussions of the biblical and non-biblical sources for the doctrine of God, and the section on 'Metaphysics and the Doctrine of God' examines some of the most important conceptual questions arising in contemporary theological debate about the being and nature of God, and God's relations to the world. The final section of the book on 'God and Humanity' will be highly relevant to scholars working in the fields of theological anthropology, moral and political theology, on inter-faith relations, on theology and literature, or who are interested in the impact of contemporary science on the doctrine of God. The introduction relates the essays in the book to the work of Professor Fiddes and to wider debates in Christian doctrine. This volume brings together a team of internationally distinguished scholars from a wide range of theological, philosophical, and religious perspectives, and it will stimulate fresh thinking and new debate about this most central of topics in Christian theology"--Back cover This book is a Festschrift in Professor Fiddes's honour. The theme of the book is the doctrine of God which, although central to Christian theology, is not often addressed directly in contemporary scholarship. It includes chapters on biblical themes, God's relatedness to the world, and forms of human experience