
The Indescribable God
Divine Otherness in Christian Theology
Barry D. Smith(Author)
Wipf & Stock Publishers
Published on 5. October 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
188 pages
978-1-62032-104-1 (ISBN)
Description
The God of classical Christian faith is radically transcendent--utterly beyond understanding and words. So if God is to be known it must be in the luminous darkness of unknowing.
Drawing on a wide range of primary sources--biblical, patristic, and medieval--Barry D. Smith identifies and explores seven ways of expressing the otherness of God in classical Christian thinking. By allowing historical theologians to speak for themselves, he shows how an aversion to ontotheology long precedes postmodernism.
The book first lays out the Old Testament and New Testament foundations for subsequent Christian reflections on divine transcendence. These were the teachings that the early church assumed and, with the assistance of Greek philosophy, further refined with their own set of apophatic conceptual tools. The main focus of the book is a sevenfold exposition of that theological refinement. Smith concludes by looking towards possible future theological developments within this apophatic tradition. Drawing on the theological methodology of historic Christianity, he indicates how a synthesis of the biblical teaching on the otherness of God with philosophical traditions other than those inherited from Greek philosophy is also possible.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Eugene
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
black & white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
282 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-62032-104-1 (9781620321041)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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E-Book
10/2012
Wipf and Stock Publishers
€22.49
Available for download
Person
Barry D. Smith is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Crandall University in New Brunswick, Canada. He is the author of Jesus' Twofold Teaching about the Kingdom of God (2009) and What Must We Do to Be Saved? Paul Parts Company with His Jewish Heritage (2007).