Analyzing Theology

If there were a perfect, unending existence awaiting us after death, what would it be like? What would we do there? Would you want to go there at all? Today, philosophers of religion are increasingly interested in questions of this kind. This book uses the approach of analytic philosophy to examine a conception of heaven that is rooted in Christian tradition but rarely considered by modern philosophers and theologians: heaven as atemporal, that is, a state in which no time passes. It argues that such a view is not only coherent but offers answers to some key problems facing the concept of heaven. Along the way, it considers topics such as the nature of time, the possibility of atemporal persons, the relationship between earthly and heavenly selves, the beatific vision and the role of the body, and how the blessed in heaven could be said to be divine.

For two thousand years, the cross of Christ has been the central point of Christian theologies of salvation. However, in recent years, a variety of theologians, such as Rosemary Radford Ruether, Rita Nakashima Brock, J. Denny Weaver, and Rene Girard, united in their disdain for violence, have abandoned any divine sanction or salvific significance for the cross of Christ. Instead, they frame atonement not in terms of Christ's death but his life, formulating atonement theologies that address the need for an ethical concern for the oppressed and powerless 'Other.' This volume is dedicated to offering a fair account of their revisions, identifying the ethical undertones that lead nonviolent theologians and thinkers to reform atonement theology, examining their claims in light of those ethical foundations, and exploring P. T. Forsyth as a viable alternative for contemporary theology.

This volume brings together decades of research in philosophical theology on the concepts of justice, art, and liturgy. One might be inclined to think that reflections on these topics should take place in isolation from one another, but as Wolterstorff masterfully demonstrates, they are indeed united in love. Inherent in each of these topics is a logic that affirms its object. Whether the dignity of the other, the desire for creative and enhancing understanding of the other, or the infinite goodness of the creator, all these things and practices find their completion in a unitive core of love. Which is to say, ultimately, they find their fulfillment in the worship of God and in the affirmation of the image of God in each of us.

In the series of essays collected in this book, Eleonore Stump offers reflections that illustrate the nature and importance of learning from the Christian heritage in its development over the ages of the Christian tradition and its continued development in interaction with contemporary philosophy, theology, and science. The essays show the power of this heritage in philosophical theology and in philosophical biblical exegesis. Central to the concerns they address is the Christian conviction that at the foundation of all reality is a God, who is love in a welcoming personal relationship offered to all human beings. The essays explore the nature of God and some puzzles about God's interactions with human beings; they also examine the nature of human knowledge of God and argue that it can be achieved not only through propositional truths but also through knowledge of persons, and even through apprehension of beauty in nature or the arts. The book closes with an examination of what it is to will in accordance with the will of God for those who long for him.