The triune conversation : trinitarian description and theological ontology in Robert W. Jenson's 'Systematic theology'
Abstract
This thesis proposes that Robert W. Jenson's identification of the triune
God faithfully describes the persons and being of God. To support this I
examine the most basic argument of Jenson's 'Systematic Theology',: that
God is freely but truly identified by and with Jesus Christ. This includes
discussion of Jenson's starting point, his formal description of the three
persons of God, and the theological ontology that this entails. Throughout
I argue that Jenson's trinitarian description and theological ontology is
rightly controlled by an a posteriori logic of response to the triune God's
actual life with and for his people. Central to this is the way that Jenson
creatively and courageously uses Jesus Christ's life and person as the
controlling criterion of all dogmatic statements about God.
Finally, this thesis proposes that Jenson's basic insights are made
more exact when Jesus Christ is recognized in his perfect relation with
the Father and Spirit before, in and after created history. To elucidate
this suggestion the nature of the triune God's election and self-determination
is reconsidered in light of Jenson's critical insight that the
persons are mutually, not identically, perfect in deity. This in turn leads
to a brief description of the eternity and freedom of the triune
conversation that begins and ends with the Word who is Jesus Christ.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
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