Suffering Divine Things : Theology As Church

How do Christian beliefs and practices interrelate? What is the nature and task of theology? These questions have reemerged in the contemporary discussion with new vigor. Here Reinhard Hutter explores the link between Christian theory and action, rigorously arguing for a renewed understanding of theology as a distinct church practice.

Using "pathos", -- "suffering" God's saving activity -- as a powerful theological motif, Hutter offers fresh insight into the relationships between the Holy Spirit and the church, doctrine and theology, and beliefs and practices. He also shows how reclaiming "pathos" as a central motif for theology challenges modern and postmodern views focused on human identity, agency, and creativity as definitive of theology's nature and task. This groundbreaking work promises to reclaim theology's crucial role in the life of the church.

Reinhard Hutter is associate professor of Christian theology at Duke Divinity School.

Preface to the American Edition

xiii

Preface

xvii

Introduction: The New State of Theological Discourse: Unintelligible Profusion

1

(4)

PART ONE

The Issue at Stake: Church --- Doctrine --- Theology

5

(34)

The Eclipse of the Church as Public --- Loss of Doctrine --- the Crisis in Theology

5

(17)

The ``Aroma of an Empty Bottle'' --- or the Church as Public: The Harnack-Peterson Correspondence

5

(10)

Theology in the People's Church: From Doctrinal Commitment to Orientational Hermeneutics of Meaningful Living

15

(7)

The Outline of the Argument

22

(7)

The Pathos of Theology: Beginning in and with the Church

22

(2)

Preliminary Overview

24

(5)

Considerations of Heuristics: Pathos and Poiesis, Praxis and Practice

29

(10)

Pathos

29

(3)

Poiesis

32

(2)

Praxis and Practice

34

(5)

PART TWO

The Pathos of Theology and the Implied Question of Church and Church Doctrine

39

(56)

The Praxis of Faith as the Pathos of Theology

40

(29)

George Lindbeck

Ecumenical Dialogue as Background and Cognitive Guide for the Cultural-Linguistic Proposal

41

(1)

The Two Traditional Ways of Viewing Religion

42

(1)

The Cognitive-Propositional Model: Fides Quae Creditur without Fides Qua Creditur

42

(1)

The Experiential-Expressive Model: Fides Qua Creditur without Fides Quae Creditur

43

(1)

The Cultural-Linguistic Model --- Religion as Verbum Externum: Joining Fides Quae Creditur and Fides Qua Creditur

44

(1)

Poietic Pathos within the Cultural-Linguistic Life Praxis

45

(2)

Experience

47

(1)

The Poietic Pathos of Learning Faith: The Perfection of the Saints

48

(2)

Learning Faith: Catechetical and Intratextual Theology

50

(1)

Excursus: Christus Est Dominus: Performative-Propositional and Intrasystematic Truth

51

(5)

Church Doctrine and Academic Theology: Second-Order Discourse/the Grammar of Faith

56

(3)

Intratextual Theology: Ethnology or Dogmatics?

59

(3)

The Soteriological Center --- beyond Formalized Pathos

62

(3)

Implied Ecclesiology: The Church as a Specific Context of Praxis

65

(3)

Conclusions

68

(1)

The Gospel as the Pathos of Theology: Oswald Bayer

69

(26)

The Fourfold Object of Theology

71

(1)

Theological Existence within the Pathos of Faith

72

(1)

Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio

72

(5)

Catechetical Systematics: Toward the Practice of Catechetical Meditation

77

(1)

The Pathos of the Promissio

77

(1)

Theology's Constitutive Object: The Promissio

77

(2)

The Worship Locus of the Promissiones: Proclamation of the Gospel, Baptism, Lord's Supper

79

(1)

Formal Theology as Doctrine of Language and Form

80

(2)

Bayer, Austin, and Luther

82

(5)

Theologia Militans as Communicative Judgment

87

(2)

Theology as the Church's Discursive Practice of the Vita Passiva?

89

(1)

Implied Ecclesiology

89

(1)

Toward an Understanding of Theology as a Discursive Practice of the Church

90

(1)

The Ambivalent Place of Church Doctrine

91

(1)

Conclusion: Sic et Non

92

(2)

Summary and Transition

94

(1)

PART THREE

The Church's Rooting in the Spirit: The Core Practices and the Doctrina Evangelii

95

(52)

Church Doctrine as the Pathos of Theology: The Peterson-Barth Controversy

95

(20)

Erik Peterson's Query, ``What Is Theology?'': Theology in the Pathos of Dogma

96

(7)

Karl Barth's Response, ``Church and Theology'': The Pneumatological Grounding of Church Doctrine and Theology

103

(12)

The Pathos of Faith: Holy Spirit --- Church --- Theology

115

(32)

The Pneumatological Dimension of the Church in the Communio-Ecclesiology

116

(1)

The Trinitarian God and the Pathos of Personal Being in Communion

116

(2)

The Two Pneumatological Aspects of the Church

118

(3)

Excursus: The Problem of Anticipation

121

(3)

Conclusions

124

(1)

The ``Mission'' of the Church in the Trinitarian Economy: The Public of the Holy Spirit

125

(1)

The Holy Spirit and the Church

126

(2)

The Core Practices of the Church: Poiesis of the Holy Spirit

128

(1)

Luther's Treatise ``On the Councils and the Church''

128

(3)

The Marks of the Church as Core Church Practices

131

(1)

The Core Practices of the Church: ``Enhypostatic'' in the Spirit

132

(1)

Summary

133

(1)

Church Doctrine and the Core Church Practices --- Together in the Spirit

134

(1)

Doctrina in Luther

134

(2)

Doctrina and Core Practices: The Holy Spirit's Modes of Actualization

136

(1)

The Pneumatological ``Enhypostasis'' of Doctrina and the Core Practices

137

(1)

The Interrelation of Doctrina and the Core Practices

137

(1)

Doctrina and Canon

138

(1)

Doctrina and Church Doctrine

139

(1)

Church Doctrine, Theological Doctrine, and Theology as Practice: Anticipatory Considerations

140

(4)

Conclusions

144

(3)

PART FOUR

Theology as Church Practice

147

(48)

The Pathos of Theology as Church Practice: Participation in God's Freedom and Truth

147

(11)

The ``Royal Freedom'' of Christians: Participation in God's Liberum Arbitrium in the Holy Spirit

148

(2)

Assertiones --- the Freedom of the Holy Spirit

150

(2)

The Freedom of Theology as a Church Practice

152

(1)

Freedom and Truth in Theology as a Church Practice

153

(5)

The Church as Public, and Theology as the Practice Inherent to Its Telos

158

(13)

A Structural Concept of Public

160

(3)

Difference from the Polis: Church as ``Polis'' and ``Oikos''

163

(1)

The Church as the Public of the Holy Spirit

164

(1)

The Church as Public and Its Genuine Discursive Practice

165

(1)

Theology as Discursive Church Practice --- at the University?

166

(2)

Excursus: The Church and Public --- or the Church as Public?

168

(3)

The Actualization of the Pathos of Theology as Church Practice

171

(24)

The Discursive Aspect: Fides Quaerens Doctrinam as ``Accounting for the Ground of Hope'' (1 Pet. 3:15)

176

(4)

Theological Discurrere: Unfolding God's Economy of Salvation Argumentatively

180

(4)

Theological Discurrere: Finite, Provisional, Definite

184

(2)

Conclusions

186

(1)

The Aspects of Theological Perception and Theological Judgment: The Dokimazein (Rom. 12:2)

187

(2)

The Presentative-Communicative Aspect: Catechesis as Ad Hoc Apologetics

189

(6)

Notes

195

(88)

Bibliography

283

(27)

Index

310

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Suffering Divine Things : Theology As Church Practice

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

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