God Will Be All in All
Description
The early Christians saw in Jesus the focus and fulfillment of the conviction that God is with us. Over time, they learned to speak of that presence in terms of divine incarnation. That one theological affirmation raises questions for practically all other Christian beliefs. If God is incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, how does that change our understanding of God's presence in all things? What does it mean to be human if the life of God has been so intimately joined to human life? How can we say "God is with us" when there is so much suffering and evil in the world? What do we mean by "us"? Just us Christians or all of us? Just human beings or also the whole creation? If we find life in the wider cosmos, is God with them too? Looking through the lens of the incarnation, how wide is the divine embrace?
In this volume, Anna Case-Winters demonstrates that the doctrine of the incarnation of God in Christ is not simply one belief among others; it is the cornerstone on which all other Christian convictions are built. Throughout, she carefully lays out the consequences for Christian belief and Christian life of the ancient confession that in Christ, "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily."
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Anna Case-Winters is Professor of Theology at McCormick Seminary. She has served the wider church in many capacities, particularly in ecumenical relations. As Chair for Christian Unity in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), she exercised leadership in dialogues with Lutheran, Anglican, and Roman Catholic communions. Case-Winters has also served the global church through the work of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) in many capacities through the years and is currently Moderator for Mission and Ecumenism. She is the author of God's Power: Traditional Understandings and Contemporary Challenges, Reconstructing a Christian Theology of Nature: Down to Earth, and A Theological Commentary on Matthew.
Content
- Intro
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. Truly God and Truly Human-Two Natures in One Person: Perplexities and Possibilities
- Perplexities
- Possibilities
- Biblical Explorations: Insights from Four Key Texts
- Theological Understandings: Trinitarian Framing of Incarnation
- Philosophical Insights: Process-Relational Orientation
- Conclusion
- 2. How Does Incarnation Change the Way We Think about God?
- God's Transcendent-Immanence
- God and the World: Mutual Indwelling and Mutual Influence
- Creator-Created-Creativity
- God in All Things and All Things in God
- The Intrinsic Value and Vital Interconnectedness of All Things
- Conclusion
- 3. How Does Incarnation Change the Way We Think about What It Is to Be Human?-Part 1: Who Are We?
- In the Image of God
- At Home in the Cosmos
- Human Beings: Embodied
- Human Beings: Embedded
- Conclusion
- 4. How Does Incarnation Change the Way We Think about What It Is to Be Human?-Part 2: What Are We Called to Do?
- Created to Be Co-Creators
- Created: At Home in the Cosmos
- Co-Creators: In the Image of God
- Incarnational Ethics
- The Human Problematic
- Bodies Matter
- Incarnational Ethics and Disability
- Incarnational Ethics and Racism
- Conclusion
- 5. How Does Incarnation Change the Way We Think about the Christ Event?
- Challenges from Our Context concerning God's Saving Work
- Recentering Jesus' Birth in the Incarnation
- God's Saving Work: The Word Became Flesh
- God's Saving Work: Theosis
- Recentering Jesus' Life and Ministry in the Incarnation
- God's Saving Work: Christ the Example
- God's Saving Work: "The Spirit of the Lord Was upon Him"
- Recentering Jesus' Death in the Incarnation
- God's Saving Work: A Sacrificial Metaphor
- God's Saving Work: A Juridical Metaphor
- Reclaiming the Cross
- Recentering Jesus' Resurrection in the Incarnation
- "Deep Resurrection"
- The Ambiguities around the Resurrection
- The Centrality of the Resurrection
- Resurrection of the Body
- God's Saving Work: Setting Free
- Conclusion
- 6. When We Say "God Is with Us," What Do We Mean by "Us"?
- Only Us Christians?
- Reconsidering Exclusivism from an Incarnational Perspective
- Incarnational Ethics: Practical Implications for Interreligious Relations and Cooperation
- Only Us Humans?
- Reconsidering Anthropocentrism from an Incarnational Perspective
- Corrections from Cosmic Christology
- Contributions from Reformed Theology
- Process-Relational Insights
- Resisting the Objectification of Nature: Seeing the World Whole
- Resisting the Objectification of Nature: Seeing the World as a Community of Subjects
- Imagining an Alternative: God with All of Us, the Convivial Community of Creation
- Only Us Earthlings?
- What If There Are Others out There?
- One Incarnation or Many?
- What Do We Mean by "Incarnation"?
- What Is the Purpose of Incarnation?
- 7. How Can We Say God Is with Us in the Face of So Much Suffering and Evil?
- Questions Arise for Us
- Responding to the Questions
- Limitations of These Responses: Radical Suffering / Innocent Suffering
- Implications of Incarnation
- What Kind of Power Does God Have?
- How Is God Present and Active in World Process?
- Creation, Concursus, and Calling
- Final Thoughts
- Conclusion
- Index of Scripture
- Index of Subjects and Names
- Excerpt from The Word Made Flesh, by Ian A. McFarland
