Some Upcoming Books (I'm Excited About)
I'm never that guy that knows about all the "cutting edge" research, nevertheless there are a few books being released in the upcoming months I'm looking forward to (and a few already released that I'm excited to read):
1.) David Bentley Hart, The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss (376pp.) Anticipated Release: Sept. 24th
Whatever David Hart writes these days comes pre-loaded with a certain expectation that his intellect, rhetoric flourish, mind-numbingly long sentences, and above all, fairly devastating academic wit, will be marshaled for whatever endeavor he sets his mind upon. The expectations are no different for this book, and grow ever higher when Rowan Williams has already called the book a "masterpiece," and Francesca Aran Murphy says that "it is Hart's best book." In it, from what I can tell, Hart aims to set the Christian concepts of God in conversation with other faiths in order to come to a working idea on how the concept of "God" functions in theistic discourse, by isolating three "moments" of human experience--Being, Consciousness, and Bliss. While the Barthians in the audience may cringe at the claim (and given Hart's past work I doubt this will endear him any further to them) this will nonetheless be a work worth reading, even for one who will only disagree with the claims.
2.) Sarah Coakley, God, Sexuality, and the Self: An Essay on the Trinity (288pp.) Anticipated Release: Sept. 30th.
In my opinion Sarah Coakley is one of the most well-read theologians writing today; she is truly an astounding instance of interdisciplinary wisdom. Anecdotally, I cannot recall how many times I have picked up an edited collection of essays on a variety of theological topics ranging from Postmodern studies, science, Trinity, gender theory, Analytic philosophy, Patristics, Kenosis, Incarnation, etc... only to find Coakley having either contributed a field-spanning essay, or herself being the lead editor. Obviously keeping in mind the different goals and conclusions of their respective projects, her wide-reading reminds me of Wolfhart Pannenberg and indeed if I had to name a contemporary successor to the learnedness of Pannenberg, Coakley would be near, if not at, the top of my list.
This book constitutes an attempt to reenvision Systematic theology by tackling issues of gender, Patristics, and Trinity. Along with Hart's book above, Christmas is coming in September as far as I'm concerned.
3.) Bruce McCormack, Thomas Joseph White O.P. eds., Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth: An Unofficial Catholic-Protestant Dialogue (312pp.) Anticipated Release: Already Out (July)
With contributors by leading Barth and Aquinas scholars, including the aforementioned McCormack and White, others include Robert Jenson and Keith L. Johnson (the Barth scholar, not to be confused with Keith E. Johnson who recently released Rethinking the Trinity and Religious Pluralism). Its sure to be a fascinating read and has been praised by both Barth and Thomas scholars as bringing to the for real agreements, while also identifying real--as opposed to the so often caricatured--areas of disagreement, metaphysical and otherwise, between the two.
4.) Oliver O'Donovan, Self, World, and Time: Ethics as Theology
(153pp) Anticipated Release: Already Out (June)
O'Donovan is one of the more celebrated and powerful thinkers of our time, and it is amazing to me that the lifetime of generous learning he has, has somehow been distilled into a very readable--slim even--153 page first volume. This is refreshing when compared to some of the behemoths coming out these days (N.T. Wright's new book on Paul, you may notice, did not make this list. While I am excited for it to finally come out, at two volumes and 1700 pages I think it would be a lie for me to say I'm excited to read it). I also find it refreshing that, much like James McClendon did with the first volume of his Systematic Theology, here O'Donovan has shirked some of the norms and started with Ethics as Theology. Luckily, given that it is already out and much shorter than some others yet to be released, one might be able to give some serious time to this slender volume without much trouble.
5.) Erich Przywara Analogia Entis: Metaphysics, Original Structure, and Universal Rhythym (512pp) Anticipated Release: Sept. 30th.
In order to truly appreciate Barth's stance on natural theology and the analogy of being, one cannot stop simply with the Nein! said in the interchange between he and Brunner, but must at least take another step back to appreciate Barth's relationship to the theology of Erich Przywara. This relationship has been recently and masterfully expounded by the aforementioned Keith L. Johnson (a contributor to the Barth and Aquinas volume above) in his Karl Barth and the Analogia Entis. But for those (like myself) who enjoy going back to the primary sources, this is a treat (albeit one that is quite a lengthy beast). David Bentley Hart and John Betz have given us a newly minted translation for those of us who are polyglot impaired (French and German are still on my "to do" list), one that will surely not only give we Barth laymen new context to chew on, but will be a rewarding look into one of the more brilliant minds of (more or less recent) Catholicism.
6.) Russell L. Friedman, Medieval Trinitarian Thought from Aquinas to Ockham (208pp) Anticipated Release: Aug. 22nd.
This is another work that is technically already out. Yet the hardback, at a hefty $80-90, is hardly accessible to those not close to a theologically deep library. Thus the much more sensibly priced (though still admittedly expensive) $30 paperback is a relief for those like me who enjoy all things historical, especially when it comes to topics like Trinitarian theology. This one is especially important given the weight often placed on medieval trinitarianism as a key locus for "everything going wrong." Whether it be Aquinas' separation of treatises "on the One God" and "on the Triune God" or Scotus and Ockham's univocity of being, a careful study dedicated to some of the actual, as opposed to caricatured, theological moves made is more than welcome. Given that this is a fairly slender and readable volume, we are all the more lucky.
What books are you anticipating, whether they are coming out soon, already out, or even classics that you are getting around to reading? I always love to hear what others are reading, as it helps my reading lists to look a little less mundane!
In order to truly appreciate Barth's stance on natural theology and the analogy of being, one cannot stop simply with the Nein! said in the interchange between he and Brunner, but must at least take another step back to appreciate Barth's relationship to the theology of Erich Przywara. This relationship has been recently and masterfully expounded by the aforementioned Keith L. Johnson (a contributor to the Barth and Aquinas volume above) in his Karl Barth and the Analogia Entis. But for those (like myself) who enjoy going back to the primary sources, this is a treat (albeit one that is quite a lengthy beast). David Bentley Hart and John Betz have given us a newly minted translation for those of us who are polyglot impaired (French and German are still on my "to do" list), one that will surely not only give we Barth laymen new context to chew on, but will be a rewarding look into one of the more brilliant minds of (more or less recent) Catholicism.
This is another work that is technically already out. Yet the hardback, at a hefty $80-90, is hardly accessible to those not close to a theologically deep library. Thus the much more sensibly priced (though still admittedly expensive) $30 paperback is a relief for those like me who enjoy all things historical, especially when it comes to topics like Trinitarian theology. This one is especially important given the weight often placed on medieval trinitarianism as a key locus for "everything going wrong." Whether it be Aquinas' separation of treatises "on the One God" and "on the Triune God" or Scotus and Ockham's univocity of being, a careful study dedicated to some of the actual, as opposed to caricatured, theological moves made is more than welcome. Given that this is a fairly slender and readable volume, we are all the more lucky.
What books are you anticipating, whether they are coming out soon, already out, or even classics that you are getting around to reading? I always love to hear what others are reading, as it helps my reading lists to look a little less mundane!
Comments
My thesis is that an abstract version of the Trinity could be Christianity’s answer to the world need for a framework of pluralistic theology.
In a constructive worldview: east, west, and far-east religions present a threefold understanding of One God manifest primarily in Muslim and Hebrew intuition of the Deity Absolute, Christian and Krishnan Hindu conception of the Universal Absolute Supreme Being; and Shaivite Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist apprehension of the Destroyer (meaning also Consummator), Unconditioned Absolute, or Spirit of All That Is and is not. Together with their variations and combinations in other major religions, these religious ideas reflect and express our collective understanding of God, in an expanded concept of the Holy Trinity.
The Trinity Absolute is portrayed in the logic of world religions, as follows:
1. Muslims and Jews may be said to worship only the first person of the Trinity, i.e. the existential Deity Absolute Creator, known as Allah or Yhwh, Abba or Father (as Jesus called him), Brahma, and other names; represented by Gabriel (Executive Archangel), Muhammad and Moses (mighty messenger prophets), and others.
2. Christians and Krishnan Hindus may be said to worship the first person through a second person, i.e. the experiential Universe or "Universal” Absolute Supreme Being (Allsoul or Supersoul), called Son/Christ or Vishnu/Krishna; represented by Michael (Supreme Archangel), Jesus (teacher and savior of souls), and others. The Allsoul is that gestalt of personal human consciousness, which we expect will be the "body of Christ" (Mahdi, Messiah, Kalki or Maitreya) in the second coming – personified in history by Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha (9th incarnation of Vishnu), and others.
3. Shaivite Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucian-Taoists seem to venerate the synthesis of the first and second persons in a third person or appearance, ie. the Destiny Consummator of ultimate reality – unqualified Nirvana consciousness – associative Tao of All That Is – the absonite* Unconditioned Absolute Spirit “Synthesis of Source and Synthesis,”** who/which is logically expected to be Allah/Abba/Brahma glorified in and by union with the Supreme Being – represented in religions by Gabriel, Michael, and other Archangels, Mahadevas, Spiritpersons, etc., who may be included within the mysterious Holy Ghost.
Other strains of religion seem to be psychological variations on the third person, or possibly combinations and permutations of the members of the Trinity – all just different personality perspectives on the Same God. Taken together, the world’s major religions give us at least two insights into the first person of this thrice-personal One God, two perceptions of the second person, and at least three glimpses of the third.
* The ever-mysterious Holy Ghost or Unconditioned Spirit is neither absolutely infinite, nor absolutely finite, but absonite; meaning neither existential nor experiential, but their ultimate consummation; neither fully ideal nor totally real, but a middle path and grand synthesis of the superconscious and the conscious, in consciousness of the unconscious.
** This conception is so strong because somewhat as the Absonite Spirit is a synthesis of the spirit of the Absolute and the spirit of the Supreme, so it would seem that the evolving Supreme Being may himself also be a synthesis or “gestalt” of humanity with itself, in an Almighty Universe Allperson or Supersoul. Thus ultimately, the Absonite is their Unconditioned Absolute Coordinate Identity – the Spirit Synthesis of Source and Synthesis – the metaphysical Destiny Consummator of All That Is.
For more details, please see: www.religiouspluralism.ca
Samuel Stuart Maynes