The indescribable God
Subtitle: divine otherness in Christian theology
By: Barry D. Smith
Publisher: Pickwick Publications
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Eugene, Oregon
Language: eng
Number of pages: 168
ISBN-13: 9781620321041
Copyright date: 2012
Subjects: God (Christianity); History of doctrines; God; Biblical teaching; Negative theology; Christianity
Description: 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. --From publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Biblical data on God's otherness --; title: God's essence or nature as unknowable --; title: God as nameless and not in a genus --; title: God as the one who is --; title: God as the good --; title: God as infinite --; title: God as invisible --; title: Other possibilities of expressing the otherness of God.