Academic literature on the topic 'Inheritance (Christian theology)'

Abstract The use of ethnography for theological inquiry is no longer novel. Yet, as the introduction to this special issue indicates, the ethnographic turn in Christian theology is animated by distinct postliberal and liberationist trajectories, each with their own theological presumptions and methodological aims. Should the future development of this turn favour one trajectory over another? This paper explores this question in conversation with Todd Whitmore’s Imitating Christ in Magwi: An Anthropological Theology. Through a sustained engagement with Imitating Christ in Magwi, I unearth both postliberal and liberationist inheritances to show that Whitmore’s text exceeds a postliberal-liberationist binary. I then ask what the dual inheritance of his work signifies for the future of the ethnographic turn. Drawing from cultural anthropology’s mode of ‘studying up,’ I suggest that the turn should orient itself more broadly to the care of our common life by expanding attention to subjects with power.

Abstract Two incompatible trends have characterized contemporary systematic theological work. On the one hand, consistency with the broad Christian tradition has grown as a methodological desideratum, especially through the work of theological retrieval. On the other hand, theologians who turn their attention to gender maintain that it cannot look to Christian history for salutary resources. Can a theologian interested in giving an account of gender utilize the recognizable virtues of systematic theology? This article argues that it is possible. By retrieving doctrines that implicate gender, a theologian can be both catholic and sensitive to the right inheritance of the Christian tradition.

AbstractAdopting 'Négritude', the Negro cultural and spiritual values of Aimé Césaire, the recent emergence of 'Créolité' (French for Creolity or Creoleness), the Creole movement led by brilliant French West Indies intellectuals, can no longer be ignored by a Creole Christianity that is much too far removed from its own culture. Créolité and theology must, however, come to terms with a difficult inheritance — that of the past colonial slavery to which the church was an accessory. The Créolité movement, by intercepting and reinterpreting the whole of the Christian theological vocabulary and its Bible-based concepts, has overcome this obstacle in a truly remarkable way. Theological thought must now, however, take note of this and seek a dialogue. Given that their aims are ultimately identical this could only be fruitful and would enable a genuine Creole theology to become a reality.

In this article I explain the meaning and the importance of a vision, as well as how mission and values help to achieve a vision. Knowing the vision, mission, and values for our lives helps us understand what we must achieve in life. I therefore propose that discovering and strengthening the purpose of our Christian life should include an understanding that working with others involves a dimensional mission theology of reciprocal collaboration. If we want to leave a spiritual inheritance, we need to inspire others. Sharing with clarity one’s vision, mission, and values is significant within God’s kingdom mission.

Grundtvig's Relations with Luther and the Lutheran TraditionBy Leif GraneGrundtvig’s relations with Luther and the Lutheran tradition are essential in nearly the whole of Grundtvig’s lifetime. The key position that he attributed to Luther in connection with his religious crisis 1810-11, remained with the Reformer until the very last, though there were changes on the way in his evaluation of the Reformation.The source material is overwhelming. It comprises all Grundtvig’s historical and church historical works, but also a large number of his theological writings, besides a number of his poems and hymns. Prior to Grundtvig’s lifelong occupation with Luther there had been a rejection of tradition as he had met with it in the Conservative supranaturalism. After the Romantic awakening at Egeløkke and the subsequent »Asarus« (the- ecstatic immersion in Nordic mythology), over the religious crisis 1810-1811, when Grundtvig thought he was »returning« to Luther, it was a different Luther from the one he had left a few years before. Though Grundtvig emphasizes the infallibility of the Bible, it is wrong to describe him as »Lutheran-Orthodox« in the traditional sense. In Grundtvig’s interpretation, Luther is above all the guarantee of the view of history he had acquired in his Romantic period, but given his own personal stamp, as it appeared in slightly different ways in the World Chronicles of 1812 and 1817. There already he turns against the theologization of the message of the Reformation that set in with the confessional writings. Ever since he maintained the view of the Reformation that he expounds in the two World Chronicles, though the evaluation of it changed somewhat, especially after 1825.The church view that Grundtvig presented for the first time in »Kirkens Gienmæle« (The Rejoinder of the Church), and which he explained in detail in »Om den sande Christendom« (About True Christianity) and »Om Christendommens Sandhed« (About the Truth of Christianity), was bound to lead to a conflict (as it did) with the Protestant »Scripturalism«, and thus to clarity about the disagreement with Luther. This conflict attained a greater degree of precision with the distinctions between church and state, and church and school, as they were presented in »Skal den lutherske Reformation virkelig fortsættes?« (Should the Lutheran Reformation Really Be Continued? 1830), but it was not really until the publication of the third part of »Haandbog I Verdens-Historien« (Handbook in World History) that the view of church history and of Luther’s place in it, inspired by the congregational letters in the Apocalypse, was presented, in order to be more closely developed, partly in poetical form in »Christenhedens Syvstjeme« (The Seven Star of Christendom), partly in lectures in »Kirke-Spejl« (Church Mirror).Grundtvig had to reject orthodoxy since the genuineness of Baptism and Eucharist depended on their originating from Christ Himself. Nothing of universal validity could therefore have come into existence in the 16th century.Thus the evaluation of Luther and Lutheranism must depend on how far Lutheranism corresponded to what all Christians have in common. Luther is praised for the discovery that only the Word and the Spirit must reign in the church. It is understandable therefore that Luther had to break down the false idea of the church that had prevailed since Cyprian, and Grundtvig remained unswervingly loyal to him. But he cannot avoid the question why Luther’s work crumbled after his death. The answer is that it crumbled because of »Scripturalism« which Grundtvig considers a spurious inheritance from Alexandrian theology. We must maintain Luther’s faith which centres on all that is fundamentally Christian, but not his theological method.Grundtvig believes that with his criticism of Luther he is really closer to him than those who are cringing admirers of him. Grundtvig confesses himself to having committed the mistake of confusing the Bible with Christianity, and he cannot exempt Luther from a great responsibility for this aberration. All the same, in Luther’s case the wrong Yet Luther was induced to want to make his own experiences universally valid since he did not understand that his own use of the Scriptures could not possibly be right for every man. Here Grundtvig is on the track of the individualism which to him is an inevitable consequence of Scripturalism: everybody reads as he knows best. It was not in school, but in church that he saw Luther’s great and imperishable achievement.So while Grundtvig cannot exempt Luther from some responsibility for an unfortunate development in the relation between church and school, he is very anxious to exempt him from any responsibility for the assumption of power in the church by the princes, which is due, in his opinion, to a conspiracy between the princes and the theologians with a view to tying the peoples to the symbolical books.In the development of Grundtvig’s view of church history it turns out that the interest in the national, cultural and civic significance of the Reformation has not decreased after he has given up fighting for a Christian culture. The Reformation must, as must church history on the whole, be seen in the context of the histories of the peoples. Therefore, if it is not to be pure witchcraft, it must have its foundation deep in the Middle Ages.Grundtvig points to what he calls »the new Christendom«: from the English and the Germans to the North. Viewed in that light, the Reformation is a struggle for a Christian life, a folkelig life of the people, and enlightenment.Though the 17th century wrenched all life out of what was bom in the 16th, and the 18th century abandoned both Christianity and folkelig life altogether, it was of great significance for culture and enlightenment that the people was made familiar with Luther’s catechism, Bible and hymn book. What was fundamentally Christian survived, while folkelig life lay dormant.The Reformation was unfinished, and its completion must wait until the end of time. But compulsion is approaching the end, and the force of the Reformation in relation to mother tongue and folkelig life manifests itself more strongly than ever before, Gmndtvig believes. What is fundamentally Christian in Luther must be maintained and carried onwards, while the Christian enlightenment, i.e. theology, depends on the time in question.Life is the same, but the light is historically determined. With this concept of freedom, which distinguishes between the faith in Christ as permanent and the freedom of the Holy Ghost that liberates us from being tied to the theology of the old, Gmndtvig may convincingly claim that it is he who – with his criticism - is loyal to Luther, i.e. to »the most excellent Father in Christ since the days of the Apostles«.

The article is devoted to study of the modes of inheritance of cultural symbols. In particular, it is a research of perception in Christianity of preceding cultures’ archetypes. The study provides the analysis of semantic links between the symbols of the World Tree, the Vivifying Cross and the meaning of the Blessed Virgin image. The article shows how the pre-Christian symbols of the World Tree and the cross itself were merged and transformed in Christian theology, liturgy and iconography in the image of Golgotha Cross. The cross acquires the features of a Cosmic Tree, which combines the lower and the upper worlds – the heaven and the earth, life and death. The symbol of the tree is often substituted by the image of a woman appearing in this case as a symbol of life and fertility and evokes the associations with the genealogical tree. Therefore, the connection between the World Tree and the Blessed Virgin is proved to be natural. On the basis of the historical sources the author analyzes the legends and evidences of the revelations and discoveries of the Blessed Mary’s icons on the trees of a certain kinds. The study explicates the symbolic meaning of those trees spread in a global world, in Slavic and Ukrainian cultural traditions. In particular, the research encloses the semantics of the following kinds of trees: fir tree, linden, pear tree, oak, willow, blackthorn. Every kind of those trees has a special symbolic meaning. The novelty of the research is that it for the first time proves the semantic connection of sacred meaning of miracle icons and of the certain kinds of trees. The study defines the limited range of those trees and, on the other hand, the kinds of other trees believed to be vile and thus never appeared in the legends about the discoveries of miracle icons. As a conclusion, the research proves the existence of the autochtonal tradition of correlation of the semantics of miracle icons of Our Lady with the certain kinds of trees in the result of synthesis of the ancient symbolism and Christianity. In every case, the symbolic meanings of trees had archaic origin and connection with the ancient cosmogonical concepts. Depending on the particular semantic nuance emphasized in the World Tree, the priority of a certain kind of tree determined. On the whole, the study demonstrates the importance of the symbols in forming of cultural identity and for understanding of interrelations of cultures at the deep semantic level.

ORIGINAL SIN AND THE FALL: Five Views by J. B. Stump and Chad Meister, eds. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020. 200 pages. Paperback; $24.00. ISBN: 9780830852871. *The doctrine of original sin has been controversial since its earliest articulation by Augustine of Hippo in the fourth century, and it remains a provocative source of debate for Christian theologians in our time. Controversy surrounding the doctrine has only intensified as a scientific and evolutionary framework has come to characterize modern thinking. Original Sin and the Fall: Five Views provides a forum in which representatives from different Christian traditions are able not only to articulate their own perspectives on original sin and the Fall, but also to respond to the views presented by others in the volume. *Hans Madueme articulates one approach to the doctrine of original sin and the Fall from within the Reformed tradition, an "Augustinian-Reformed" perspective. While he states in the beginning of the essay that he developed his approach "with an eye to recent scientific challenges," he does not engage in a sustained way with information from scientific discourses (p. 12). Instead, he points out some of the shortcomings he perceives in theological accounts of original sin that attempt a synthesis with evolutionary accounts of the world, and he argues that theology should not be too quick to conform to deliverances from the sciences since "scientific consensus is a moving target" (p. 33). Madueme asserts the priority of biblical exegesis and theological evidence, which he views as affirming a historical, cosmic Fall, imputing moral corruption and guilt. Madueme is compelling in this essay in his identification of the many potential pitfalls inherent to the task of reconciling a theological approach to original sin with the current scientific consensus. However, the essay leaves one desiring more work from Madueme to reconcile his rejection of contemporary science with his belief in the unity of scientific and theological truths, since, as he affirms, all truth comes from God. *Continuing in the Reformed vein, Oliver Crisp presents a "moderate" approach to original sin and the Fall that he describes in terms of "dogmatic minimalism" (p. 37). This means that Crisp affirms "as 'thin' an account [of original sin] as is doctrinally possible" (p. 37) while still being consonant with his broader theological commitments. For Crisp, being afflicted by original sin means that every human (except for Christ) has a "morally vitiated condition," and yet does not bear the burden of inherited guilt. Crisp argues that the notion of inherited guilt is "monumentally unjust," and that humans should be held culpable only for actions that "they themselves perform or to which they are party" (p. 47). Crisp argues that one benefit of his approach is that one can hold it in tandem with a variety of different beliefs about human origins and the historicity of the Genesis account. The rejection of inherited guilt is perhaps the least persuasive aspect of Crisp's essay. Though he affirms that all of humanity is metaphysically united, he rejects the notion that this requires a belief in shared guilt. To defend this point, he uses the example of a child born into a family of slaves and argues that the child born into this plight "is not responsible for being born a slave" (p. 41). However, it is odd that Crisp used this example instead of the example of the child born into a family of enslavers. Does not the child born into an enslaving family, who benefits from the system of slavery, bear some culpability for it, even if only passively? *Joel Green's contribution draws from his expertise in biblical studies and is written from a Wesleyan perspective. He argues that Wesley viewed the doctrine of original sin as "essential to the theological grammar of Scripture and life" (p. 56). While Wesley emphasized the impairment of human nature, he did not embrace the notion of total depravity, arguing instead that God's work of healing has begun within the human race. Green shifts next to reflect on the significance of Adam and Eve's sin from the perspective of Second Temple Jewish texts. He argues that evidence of belief in original sin cannot be found in these texts, and suggests that this is significant in terms of understanding the mindset of New Testament writers who may have been influenced by them. Green then turns to the New Testament. He argues that in Romans 5, Paul is not interested in developing a doctrine of original sin. Instead, Paul seeks to establish the equal status of Jews and Gentiles before God (p. 70). Finally, Green assesses Genesis 1-3, arguing that these chapters also do not provide a foundation for the doctrine of original sin, although they do reveal a belief in the pervasiveness and heritability of sin, "not in the sense of passing sin down biologically but in the sense of pattern and influence" (p. 73). In his conclusion, Green argues that Wesley refused to choose between Scripture and the "book of nature," that is, the natural sciences. He uses this as inspiration to briefly suggest a way of maintaining belief in the Fall while also acknowledging the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens. Green's essay is helpful in that its reflection on original sin is explicitly in dialogue with insights from evolutionary biology, making this a needed contribution, given the popular perception that evolution has disproven the doctrine. *Andrew Louth provides a nuanced account of an Eastern Orthodox approach to thinking about inherited sin. He first clarifies that part of the dissonance between Western and Eastern thinking about inherited sin can be explained in terms of problems of translation. He notes, "The term original sin (peccatum originale) belongs to a particular Western context; nor is it easy to translate into Greek" (p. 79). A central insight of Louth's essay is his thesis that Western theology begins from the point of view of the Fall and becomes narrowly focused on the notion of redemption. In contrast, he argues, Eastern theology begins from creation and culminates in deification. Eastern Christians view sin through a cosmic lens, and fallen humanity not in terms of inherited guilt but in terms of suffering the effects of the inheritance of death. To illustrate his arguments about the differences between Western and Eastern approaches to sin, Louth juxtaposes the writings of Athanasius and Anselm. He then examines the works of Sergii Bulgakov and Dumitru Stăniloae and argues that they continue the trend of viewing sin in the context of creation and deification. The final section of Louth's essay addresses the sinlessness of Mary via Bulgakov's approach to the issue. This aspect of his essay is particularly welcome since only one other essay (Oliver Crisp's) in the volume mentions Mary in relation to the doctrine of original sin. While Louth's argument that the West focuses narrowly on the Fall-redemption arc could perhaps be challenged, his essay nevertheless illuminates important differences in emphasis between Eastern and Western Christian thinking about sin and makes a crucial contribution to the conversation. *Tatha Wiley, in the so-called reconceived view, draws from the theology of Bernard Lonergan, S.J., to develop an exorcising approach to the doctrine of original sin. Wiley takes seriously the ways in which the traditional articulation of the doctrine has lost credibility in the contemporary age. She suggests that this is a result of its dissonance with modern biblical scholarship and evolutionary biology, and its history of being used to deny the goodness of humanity and sexuality. Wiley emphasizes the time-bound nature of all human understanding, and the fact that theological doctrines will inevitably reflect the historical frameworks in which they are articulated. In the current age, Wiley argues, this requires us to take seriously the scientific context in which we live, as well as our "authentic values" (p. 106). In her recasting of the doctrine, Wiley suggests via Lonergan that the "root sin" of humanity is "sustained unauthenticity" (p. 124). Wiley's contribution is compelling in its boldness. Rather than suggesting a few minor tweaks to the doctrine, she presents a rigorous rethinking of it. Wiley's essay is also valuable in that it addresses the gendered effects of the doctrine's history, and is the only essay in the volume to do so. *Original Sin and the Fall: Five Views is a thought-provoking treatment of one of the most debated aspects of Christian theology. On the whole, the book will likely be useful for professional theologians, students of theology at the graduate and undergraduate levels, pastoral ministers, and interested lay people. The "Responses" portion of the book was especially engaging, as the authors were quite candid in terms of assessing the lines of divergence in the group. The book provides thoughtful approaches to a difficult theological puzzle in which clear positions are established, not only from diverse points of view without apology, but also with genuine efforts to understand and accurately represent the positions of the others. Given the brevity of the volume, there were inevitably many unanswered questions evoked. Those familiar with theological discussions surrounding original sin will likely wish for more-thorough engagement with the challenges raised by evolutionary biology, as well as more reflection on recent shifts in thinking about evolution expressed in the extended evolutionary synthesis. These developments are friendlier to theological intuitions about inherited sin. *Reviewed by Megan Loumagne Ulishney, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Theology and Religious Studies, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK NG7 2RD.

This piece on Igwebuike theology of Ikwa Ogwe has attempted at building a bridge between two conflicting inheritances or worldviews of the African Christian: the western heritage and the heritage of his or her ancestors. The researcher attempted doing this with maturity and creativity, and without destabilizing the wholeness of the African Christian. It defined Igwebuike theology contextually, and the Igwebuike concept of culture as a preparation for the gospel, basing this on Clement of Alexandria’s Stromata. This created a basis for an Igwebuike theology of Ikwa Ogwe. It argued that until this bridge is built, the Word of God cannot be effectively communicated- in such a way that the people hearing the Word understand who they are and who others are. It observed that communicating the Gospel without building a bridge would rather take people away from themselves, thus, creating a problem of identity. It discovered that the major task of the gospel message, which is the transformation of worldviews and conceptual systems would not be adequately achieved without Ikwa Ogwe. Igwebuike theology of Ikwa Ogwe, therefore, emphasizes identifying with the people and communicating the message through their categories. The purpose of this study is to make a contribution to the ongoing efforts at resolving the cross-cultural conflicts of the missionary era. The theoretical framework employed is the Igwebuike holistic and complementary understanding of evangelization and culture, which focuses on the bigger picture of reality and believes that all parts of reality are interconnected. Keywords: Igwebuike, Theology, Ikwa Ogwe, Missionary Enterprise, Culture, Conflicts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on an action research programme in the UK to address this through the notion of religious literacy. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on original research and analysis in UK higher education settings, the article will argue that health and social care educators, policy makers and practitioners need to develop their religious literacy in order to engage fully and competently with the religion and belief identities of their service users in a religiously diverse and complex world. Findings The relationship between religion and belief on the one hand and health and social care practice has been scarcely addressed, despite the important work of Furness and Gilligan in the UK and Canada in the USA. Their work appears as exceptional within a wider context of professions which have been forged in a predominantly secular milieu, despite having their roots in Christian social services in the USA, Canada and the UK. New research in the sociology of religion shows that religion and belief themselves vary in form, number and mix around the world, and that the religious landscape itself has changed enormously in the period during which secular social work has been changing significantly in recent years. It has been observed that in the UK secular assumptions reached a peak of confidence in the 1960s, when social work was most rapidly consolidating as a public profession (Dinham 2015). The inheritance has been generations of health and social care practitioners and educators who are ill-equipped to address the religion and belief identities which they encounter. In recent years this has become a pressing issue as societies across the West come to terms with the persistent – and in some ways growing – presence of religion or belief, against the expectations of secularism. In total, 84 per cent of the global population declares a religious affiliation (Pew, 2012); globalisation and migration put us all in to daily encounter with religious plurality as citizens, neighbours, service users and professionals; and internationally, mixed economies of welfare increasingly involve faith groups in service provision, including in social work and welfare settings across Europe and North America. Yet the twentieth century – the secular century – leaves behind a lamentable quality of conversation about religion and belief. Public professionals find themselves precarious on the subject, and largely unable to engage systematically and informedly with religion and belief as they encounter them. Originality/value Religion and belief have been bracketed off in education in departments of Theology and Religious Studies. Social work education has largely neglected them, and professional standards, benchmarks, values and toolkits, have tended to use proxies for religion and belief, such as “spirituality”, which are often ill-defined and vague. In a context of the reemergence of public faith, and a widespread acknowledgement that religion and belief did not go away after all, health and social care face the pressing challenge of engaging skilfully. This article draws on an action research programme in the UK to address this through the notion of religious literacy. Reflecting on original research and analysis in UK higher education settings, the article will argue that health and social care educators, policy makers and practitioners need to develop their religious literacy in order to engage fully and competently with the religion and belief identities of their service users in a religiously diverse and complex world.

Jean Vanier's life and teaching bore good fruit, but what is good was wrapped up from the very beginning with manipulative and abusive behaviors justified in theological language. For those of us who do not have access to the voices of the victims themselves, it is important to at least analyze the long-public writings of Fr. Thomas Philippe and Jean Vanier. Until now these were all that was available to those interested in the theology of L’Arche, and in them their erotico-mystical theology was hidden in plain sight. A close reading of these texts points to a deformed eschatology as the fatal theological doctrine Vanier inherited from Philippe. More precisely, eschatological concepts were deployed in order to declare traditionally prohibited sexual activities as licit, in being concieved as taking place beyond the mundane domain of everyday morality. A nuptial union taking place outside the ethics of normal Christian life brought affectionate union with God down into the contingency of everyday ethics in a manner that circumvented well-known church teachings about sexual ethics.

Chapter 1 introduces the need for an updated study on the inheritance in the Pauline epistles, examines the history of research on this topic, and states the thesis of this dissertation. Then it explains the method that will be employed to examine the relevant inheritance texts and provides an overview of the dissertation. Chapter 2 argues that typology and intertextuality are significant for interpreting the inheritance in Paul. Thus it explains these hermeneutical concepts before moving on to an analysis of the pertinent texts. Chapter 3 contends that in Genesis to Chronicles the central understanding of the inheritance is the land of Canaan promised to Abraham and his descendants (e.g.Gen 15:3-5, 17:8; 21:10), the territory to which Israel sojourned and established a kingdom. Subsequently, chapter 4 displays that the Psalms and Prophets expand the inheritance to include the eschatological world (e.g., Ps 2; Isa 54, 65-66). When God's people enter their inheritance, David's royal descendent will reign over them forever (Ezek 36-37; cf. Dan 7). Chapter 5 demonstrates that the Second Temple literature, in line with the Psalms and Prophets, expands the inheritance to include the whole world (e.g., Sir 44:21; Jub. 22:14, 32:19). This is the place to which God's people will be resurrected to dwell (e.g., 4 Ezra 7) and over which Messiah will reign (e.g., 1 En. 51:1-5; 1QHª 14:29-31). Chapter 6 argues that Paul's interpretation of the inheritance in Galatians follows that of the Old Testament and Second Temple literature, for he views this theme to be the renewed world (3:15-29; 4:21-31) where God will establish his lasting monarchy (4:1-7). Paul also suggests that the Spirit will see to it that believers receive their future inheritance (4:1-7). Chapter 7 then examines the pertinent passages in Romans and other Pauline texts, confirming the observations about the inheritance in Galatians. Chapter 8 summarizes the findings of each chapter and affirms the thesis of this dissertation.

Christian theology has from its inception posited a powerful vision of humanity’s ultimate and eternal fulfilment through the person and work of Jesus Christ. That said, how precisely to understand and approach the human perfection to which the Christian is summoned is a question that has vexed the minds of many and diverse theologians. Orthodox Christian theology is notable for its consistent interest in this question, and over the last century has offered to the West a wealth of theological insight on the matter, drawn from both the resources of its Byzantine theological heritage as well as its living interaction with Western theological and philosophical currents. In this regard, the important themes of personhood, deification, epektasis, apophaticism, and divine energies have been elaborated with much success by Orthodox theologians; but not without controversy. This work addresses the question of human perfection in Orthodox theology via a retrieval of the sources, examining in turn the thought of leading representatives of the Byzantine theological tradition: St Maximus the Confessor, St Theodore the Studite, St Symeon the New Theologian, and St Gregory Palamas. The overarching argument of this study is that in order to present an Orthodox Christian understanding of human perfection which remains true to its Byzantine inheritance, supreme emphasis must be placed on the doctrine of Christ, especially on the significance and import of Christ’s humanity. The intention of this work is thus to keep the creative approach to human destiny in Orthodox theology firmly moored to its theological past.

Abstract Feminist theologians have received the patriarchal inheritance that constitutes the field of Christian theology largely through modes of critique and avoidance, two modes of engagement that have established the field of feminist theology by exposing texts’ and artifacts’ strategies of domination and amplifying more generative voices. This chapter notes the merits of these modes while also describing their limitations in transforming theological discourse. It introduces attunement as an alternative, additional mode of interpretation, illustrating the different possibilities the mode opens and affords by performing feminist readings of Augustine’s Confessions, first in the mode of critique and then in the mode of attunement.

Chapter 4 discusses the Incarnation in ʿAbdīshōʿs works. Central to his defence of this doctrine is the argument that Christ possessed a divine and a human nature, each united in a single person. For Muslim polemicists such a notion was further proof of Christianity’s denial of God’s oneness, leading ʿAbdīshōʿ to make a case for the Incarnation’s rootedness in reason and revelation. As in his Trinitarian doctrine, our author appeals to a theological and literary vocabulary shared in by Christians and Muslims. Nevertheless, he explicitly cites Christian authorities, suggesting that it is to the language of Islamic theology rather than its substance that he wishes to appeal. With that said, ʿAbdīshōʿ does not merely instrumentalize this language for the sake of apologetics. By employing poetic and narrative techniques shared between Christian and Muslim literatures, our author supplies renewed meaning and relevance to the mystery of the Incarnation and the biblical story of Christ’s mission. In contrast to his Trinitarian dogma, which appears uniformly directed against external criticisms, aspects of ʿAbdīshōʿ’s Christology are grounded in intra-Christian polemics, since various Christian confessions under Islamic rule were for centuries divided over the issue of Christ’s natures. Later in life, however, ʿAbdīshōʿ skilfully negotiated this vexed theological inheritance to formulate a Christology that was no longer hostile to other Christians.