Abstract
This book investigates the philosophical components of Christian creation-faith, considering their character and the connections between them, developing a particular expression of the distinction and relation between creation and its Creator. The writings of Edward Schillebeeckx and David Burrell furnish tools for that development, in two ways: firstly, by supplying a terminology of distinction and relation that shapes the discourse; consequently, by facilitating the study of the interaction between the distinction and the relation of creation, which, in both authors' work, is dialectical in character.
In their accounts of God and the world, each author seems at first to stress one of the concepts at the expense of the other, but they are not simply doing the same thing in different ways. The difference shows itself in the kind of dialectic they use - Burrell's dialectic is described as polar and Schillebeeckx's as relational. The polar nature of Burrell's dialectic generates a tension between the relata, tending to pull them apart. Schillebeeckx's relational dialectic results, rather, in a mutual interaction in which the relata support and enrich one another.
A preference is voiced for Schillebeeckx's relational dialectic, an organizing principle not only of his account of creation, but of his philosophical theology more generally. His method of correlation is examined, concentrating on the way it directs his accounts of praxis and of humanism. Relational dialectic then serves as the basis for the articulation of a Schillebeeckian philosophical theology, following in his footsteps without imitating him exactly. This gives rise retrospectively to a novel reading of Aquinas on analogical language about God. It offers the prospect of a seamless philosophical theology, drawing on the idea of participation to speak of the humanization and divinization of men and women. Relational dialectic also facilitates the expression of a mutual interaction between God's free commitment to creation and humanity's free commitment to a better future for the world.
In their accounts of God and the world, each author seems at first to stress one of the concepts at the expense of the other, but they are not simply doing the same thing in different ways. The difference shows itself in the kind of dialectic they use - Burrell's dialectic is described as polar and Schillebeeckx's as relational. The polar nature of Burrell's dialectic generates a tension between the relata, tending to pull them apart. Schillebeeckx's relational dialectic results, rather, in a mutual interaction in which the relata support and enrich one another.
A preference is voiced for Schillebeeckx's relational dialectic, an organizing principle not only of his account of creation, but of his philosophical theology more generally. His method of correlation is examined, concentrating on the way it directs his accounts of praxis and of humanism. Relational dialectic then serves as the basis for the articulation of a Schillebeeckian philosophical theology, following in his footsteps without imitating him exactly. This gives rise retrospectively to a novel reading of Aquinas on analogical language about God. It offers the prospect of a seamless philosophical theology, drawing on the idea of participation to speak of the humanization and divinization of men and women. Relational dialectic also facilitates the expression of a mutual interaction between God's free commitment to creation and humanity's free commitment to a better future for the world.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | T&T Clark / Bloomsbury |
| Number of pages | 222 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780567018014, 9780567575920 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780567664983, 9780567356529 |
| Publication status | Published - 27 Feb 2014 |
