HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Thinking Through 20th Century Theology
(Grenz and Olson)

Transcendence and Immanence and Modern Theological History

The Enlightenment--Shattering the Classical Balance
Exaltation of reason and of mankind, "I believe in order to understand" becomes "I believe what I can understand."

Reconstruction of Transcendence: Immanence in 19th c. Theology

Kant: The immanence of God in moral experience
Hegel: The immanence of God in speculative reason
Schleiermacher: The immanence of God in religious feeling
Ritschl and classical liberal theology: The immanence of God in ethical culture

Revolt against immanence: Transcendence in Neo-Orthodoxy

Barth: Transcendence as God's freedom
Brunner: Transcendence in divine-human encounter
Bultmann: Transcendence of the Kerygma
Neibuhr: Transcendence through Revealed Myth

Deepening of Immanence: Reformulations of the Liberal Tradition

Tillich: The Immanence of the "God Above God"
Process Theology: Immanence within the Process

Immanence with the Secular: The Radical Movement

Bonhoeffer: Transcendence in the Midst of Life
Secular Theology: The Submergence of God within the Modern World

Transcendence of the Future: Theology of Hope

Moltmann: The transcendence and immanence of the future
Pannenberg: Transcendence in reason and hope

Renewal of Immanence in Experience of Oppression

Black Liberation
Latin American Liberation
Feminist

Transcendence of Human Spirit: New Catholic Theology

Rahner: The transcendence of human subjectivity
Kung: Striking a balance between transcendence and immanence

Transcendence within Story: Narrative Theology

Reaffirming the Balance: Evangelical Theology Coming of Age

Carl F. H. Henry
Bernard Ramm

BEGINNINGS AND DEVELOPMENT OF OT THEOLOGY

A. From Reformation to Enlightenment
B. Age of Enlightenment
C. Enlightenment to Dialectical
D. Revival

THEOLOGIES
Theology; two large categories: naturalistic vs. religious

• natural--looks to experience to prove existence of God, order requires orderer, cause/effect, infinity is where have uncaused cause, God, Aristotle, must be unmoved mover
• apologetic--establish distinctiveness of Xn relig, relig among all other relig, show continuous history, essence of Xnity not endangered by developmt/change
• polemical--w/ apologetic directed outward to world, polemics = inward. Directed to Xnity itself to ID disease or cond w/i Xnity, may appear when = recession of vitality or other factors enter from w/o.
• Applied/practical--Practical theol has three basic patterns: trad, prevailing, developing
  • Traditional: divide into disciplines, ch govt, ch serv, etc.
  • Prevailing: rel betw ch and issues outside, analyzes some rad sit of ethnic/relig import, class elite, sex, anti-Semitism, econ exploit, racism, analyze in prophet way. Soc/scient method sees distortions in culture, use bibl message to speak against abuses in world, not just focused on ch's inner life. Subverts discipline of theol ethics. Theology of culture (Gilkey, Tillich). Liberation, fem, polit (Moltmann, J. B. Metz), public theol (Tracy, Stachow), social theology (Rauschenbush).
  • Developing: Xnity and culture, pract theology, culture can become preeminent, pragmatic theolog, even emphasis on spirituality may be result of dev theol.
• biblical theology (inductive, exegesis). Indiv. OT/NT books--diversity, (applied practical theology), traditional, developing, OT core or NT core--unity. Is bibl theol the theol contained in Bible or theol that accords with Bible, i.e. based on Bible/script? Schleiermacher called biblical theol exegetical theol.
• historical theology--method is historical/descriptive, contemporary religious thought, esp. re: Enlightenment, historical analysis of development of presuppositions and methods in theology, sees theol of Xn relig as subfield of church history, also subset of Xn theol. Schleiermacher reverses--sees ch hist as subdiv of hist theol (because he is a theologian?), Question: was Bible written by church (Israel) or was church created by Bible? Tillich sees hist theol as 1st phase of bibl theol, history of Xn thot--Seeberg, Loofs, Werner
• systematic--descriptive of significant theological emphases; Comparative, systematic, analytical
• dogmatic--(Teaching), exegesis, theological, didactic
• philosophical--tradit consists of approach to relig or ultimate reality, on basis of human reason alone, basis distinct from approach on basis of revelation, based on reason not bible, w/o recourse to Bible and events in revel, looks rather toe vents in world/exper, a la Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm, Kant, Hartshorn, Alfred North Whitehead
• process--H&W, process theology, philosoph is version of process theol = empirical
• canonical--asks re: unity between two testaments, can be asked in various relig contexts, i.e. Baptist, Presbyt. Blends to confessional approach

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Two items interrelate and introduce theological permutations into theol spectrum:

1. Diff created by answers given to rel betw 2 testaments
2. Diff created by methods used in treating 2 testaments

MODELS OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TESTAMENTS

• Discontinuity--Bultmann
• OT Superiority
• NT Superiority--Marcionism--low estimate of OT, Harnack; Delitzsch--OT is unXn book
• Continuity
  through salvation history
  promise/fulfillment--Westermann, Zimmerli, von Rad
  central concepts--election (Wildberger), covenant (Eichrodt & Fennscham), reprobation, rule of God, life/new life, community, will of god, people of God, salv of god, law/promise, help of god, presence of God, char & nature of God, holiness of god (Sellin), God as Lord (Kohler)
• typological unity--Eichrodt, von Rad
• Continuum of tradition
• World order model
• Hasel's multiplex approach--pp. 191-93.

METHODOLOGIES
Is the task descriptive or normative?

• descriptive--limited to past, what text meant, Gabler, G. E. Wright, Jacob, Christer Stendahl = meant vs. means
• cross section--Eichrodt, uses systematic categories, guide OT theology with principles of selection and congeniality, see unifying core (biblical)--kingdom of God, covenant concept = selection principle
• confessional--descriptive method = cold, descriptive too much history of religions, Vriezen, Knight, de Vaux
• diachronic--von Rad, historical, but not cross section. OT theol found in confessional sttmts of OT, activity of God in history, retelling is most legit form of OT theol discourse, thus theol of Deut, Ps, DEPJ. No need to make it fit together, just understand the process
• new biblical--OT & NT are descriptive theol, bibl theol is part of Xn theol because uses both test, canonical criticism, wants to use whole canon, common threads, links, state with OT quotes found in NT, Xn theol as syst enterprise must look at bibl theol approaches.
• correlative--Tillich

Hasel's list of methodologies

• dogmatic/didactic--Geo L Bauer, typical categories, systematic, also Dyrness, deductive, outside interests dominate, no precise || in OT Israel
• genetic/progressive--unfolding of God's revelation, historic progression, centers in covenants,
• cross section--Eichrodt, centers in covenant, firmly historical and descriptive, Vriezen combines with confessional interest. Kaiser centers in blessing/promise, Goldingay--not treat descrip/norm as either/or,
• topical--refuses to let outside categories be superimposed, topical for Hasel means single or dual center in OT or w/o explicit thematic center, McKenzie-experience, Fohrer- rule/community, Blenkinsopp-prophecy, Zimmerli-continuity of history about God,
• diachronic--von Rad, retelling of kerygma or confession, diachronic traditio-historical method, pioneers "actualization" as hermeneutical method, also adopted/adapted by Westermann, Porteus, Anderson, Brueggemann, and Sanders. Also applies to formation of tradition approach.
• Formation of tradition--Continuation of diachronic, Stuhlmacher, Gese, "historical process of development."
• thematic/dialectic--Terrien, Westermann, Hanson
• recent "critical" methods
  Barr--synthetic modern biblical theology (96-97)
  new biblical--tying OT and NT, Vriezen, Helmen, Terrien, Westermann, Gese. Childs has developed this most fully
  multiplex (Hasel's synthesis)

Basic Proposals for doing OT Theology

1. Biblical theology must be understood as historical-theological discipline.
2. Method must be historical and theological from starting point.
3. Subject is OT theology.
4. Theologies from OT books will be independent.
5. OT theology will present major themes of the OT.
6. OT theology addresses individual books and longitudinal themes.
7. Theology of OT cannot be done in total isolation from consideration of end result--NT.