Theology

In an epigraph to Roger's Version, John Updike quotes Soren Kierkegaard: "O infinite majesty, even if you were not love, even if you were cold in your infinite majesty I could not cease to love you, I need something majestic to love." Not unlike Paul Tillich and other ...

John Milbank has been developing a trinitarian theology of grace using the language of “gift” and “gift-giving”. In the first part of this essay, I examine a series of his early articles which articulate his gift theology, as well as his account of opposing viewpoints. In these early works, the Reformed tradition as such is never referred to, but Reformation thinking in general is an invisible opponent which exemplifies a “donative” or “unilateral” view of grace. Milbank criticizes doctrines in which grace is “passively” received, along with its corollary in Anders Nygren’s “unilateral” portrait of agape. After presenting Milbank’s early gift theology, I give a possible response in terms of Calvin’s theology of grace.

This article explores John Calvin’s soteriology through examining his multivalent and yet succinct ‘sum’ of the gospel: the double grace of justification and sanctification received in union with Christ. The essay begins with a description of the scope and range of this teaching in Calvin, its biblical, patristic and Reformational sources, and its application to a wide range of doctrinal loci. After this, particular features of Calvin’s account are highlighted as promising for contemporary retrieval. The essay concludes with historiographic reflections that intersect with ongoing disputes in interpreting Calvin’s teaching on union with Christ and the double grace.

In this article, I explore the implications of recent historiography on how to relate Calvin to the broader catholic tradition. I argue that, although anti-Roman Catholic in many ways, there are important ways in which Calvin maintained broad continuity with the broader catholic tradition. While many modern Reformed theologians seek to use Calvin in their own efforts to marginalize the exegesis and theology of pre-modern catholic theology, these efforts rely upon a decontextualized account of Calvin's theological writings.

“The Catholic Calvin,” Pro Ecclesia 20:2 (Spring 2011): 120-134.

Drawing upon the theology of Karl Barth and a Chalcedonian christology, this article argues that certain aspects of the "incarnational ministry" discussion and practice must be altered. The hymn to Christ in Philippians and the many scriptural calls  for love and self-giving in light of the cross must continue to provide fuel for missiological reflection.
God's choice to take on the humble, loving, humanity of Christ means that all who are "in
Christ" come to participate in his full humanity, which showed an astonishing amount of freedom. Christ was free of the domination of self-interest, which has comfort and the avoidance of suffering as a supreme goal. He was also free of a mentality associated with the missionary compound, which can thrive on distance from those in need, with a condescending attitude toward outsider