
The Creative Suffering of the Triune God
An Evolutionary Theology
Gloria L. Schaab(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 6. October 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
252 pages
978-0-19-979224-5 (ISBN)
Description
The global reality of suffering and death has always demanded an authentic theological response and impelled debate concerning Gods relationship to suffering, as well as the conceivability of the suffering of God. The scope and impact of this suffering in the last century have driven this debate to an acute pitch, demanding to know how one can speak rightly of God in view of the suffering that is inherent and inflicted in the cosmos. While in former ages, some looked to an omnipotent and impassible deus ex machina in answer to this question, many contemporary theologians have revised their understanding of God in relation to the world.
With these theologians, Gloria Schaab proposes that a viable response to cosmic suffering is the recognition that the triune Christian God participates in the very sufferings of the cosmos itself. She sets her argument within theology and science dialogue and specifically within the work of scientist-theologian Arthur Peacocke. Informed by the understandings of evolutionary science, grounded within a panentheistic paradigm of the God-world relationship, and rooted within the Christian theological tradition, this work contends that the understanding of the Triune God as intimately involved with the suffering of the cosmos is viable and efficacious in view of the suffering of the cosmos and its creatures. It develops a female procreative model of the creative suffering of the Triune God, an ecological ethics based on the midwife model of care, and a pastoral model of threefold differentiation of suffering in God as steps toward Christian praxis in response to the mystery of God within the pain, suffering, and death of cosmic existence and human experience.
With these theologians, Gloria Schaab proposes that a viable response to cosmic suffering is the recognition that the triune Christian God participates in the very sufferings of the cosmos itself. She sets her argument within theology and science dialogue and specifically within the work of scientist-theologian Arthur Peacocke. Informed by the understandings of evolutionary science, grounded within a panentheistic paradigm of the God-world relationship, and rooted within the Christian theological tradition, this work contends that the understanding of the Triune God as intimately involved with the suffering of the cosmos is viable and efficacious in view of the suffering of the cosmos and its creatures. It develops a female procreative model of the creative suffering of the Triune God, an ecological ethics based on the midwife model of care, and a pastoral model of threefold differentiation of suffering in God as steps toward Christian praxis in response to the mystery of God within the pain, suffering, and death of cosmic existence and human experience.
Reviews / Votes
An insightful, comprehensive examination of the Triune God, directly relevant to feminists and other activists who may seek to reconcile our religious resonances with the awareness that we live in a staggeringly unjust world. * The Feminist Review *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
389 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-979224-5 (9780199792245)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2007
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€16.49
Available for download

E-Book
10/2007
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€14.49
Available for download
Person
Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology and Associate Dean for General Education, College of Arts and Sciences, Barry University
Author
Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology and Associate Dean for General Education, College of Arts and SciencesAssistant Professor of Systematic Theology and Associate Dean for General Education, College of Arts and Sciences, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL
Content
Foreword by Arthur R. Peacocke ; Abbreviations ; Introduction ; 1. God in a Suffering Cosmos ; 2. Scientific Foundations of an Evolutionary Theology ; 3. Knowing and Naming in Theology and Science ; 4. Divine Being and Becoming ; 5. Evolution and Divine Suffering ; 6. Feminist, Ecological, and Pastoral Explorations ; Conclusion: Speaking Rightly of God? ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index