Eberhard Juengel:
"The truly human person is the person who is definitively recognized by God, and in that way one who cannot be discredited by anything or anyone, not even by him- or herself; a person who is, however, liberated by just this irrevocable recognition for ever more human activity...The most human kind of conduct is probably still that which is truly natural or self-evident, or which at least ought to be self-evident, however inconspicuous it may be."
He is inspired in this by Martin Luther, who saw the truly human person as the righteous person - in our case therefore the justified person.
Thoughts anyone?
15 comments:
I don't think this is true at all, on the reverse side of this, he is saying that those not recognised by God, or those not saved are sub human.
I don't think the Bible supports the notion of their being levels of humanity.
God recognized the plight of humanity and sent his son to save us while we were dead in our sins.
Perhaps he means that those who are saved are more alive and have eternal life then those who are not, bringing us back in line with Adam who would have had eternal life before he sinned and God cut short his days??? I think I am right in this.
craig
I find myself in agreement with the sentiment of this - especially "and in that way one who cannot be discredited by anything or anyone".
This is the basis of healthy self-esteem in an individual. Unfortunately self-esteem has had a very bad rap amongst evangelicals. Quite unjustly.
Christians, as much as anyone else, fall into the "approval trap", where we look to the acceptance and approval of others for a sense of worth.
We must understand our worth comes from creation and redemption - from our relationship with God, from our recognition by God, from our righteousness from God.
That will free us from the approval trap.
I was hoping you would bring Jüngel into the discussion. His work on theological anthropology is marvellous.
Ben, can you say any more about Juengel on theological anthropology? (And can you tell me where to find the umlaut on the keyboard?)
Ian: love that stuff you're saying. I think it is important to say "recognised by God" in order to preserve the absoluteness of grace.
I'd love to hear some Orthodox musings about divinisation/ participation in the divine nature on this...
Hi Michael. There are a lot of things I like about Jüngel's theological anthropology. Jüngel follows Barth in grounding anthropology in christology. Barth has been routinely criticised for this christological grounding (ominously labelled "christomonism" by some critics), and a significant part of Jüngel's achievement is to provide a compelling vindication of Barth's approach.
For Jüngel, the theme of all theology is the distinction between God and humanity. In other words, his whole theology aims to let God really be God and to let humanity really be human. But Jüngel claims that it is God himself who makes the distinction between God and humanity. God's identification with the dead Jesus is God's humanity -- and it is precisely this event of the humanity of God which distinguishes God from humanity. Or to put it another way: our true humanity is established outside ourselves in the event of Jesus, which is itself the event of the justification of the godless.
Anyway, these are some of Jüngel's main anthropological concerns. It's really splendid stuff, and I think Jüngel has demonstrated that the grounding of humanity in christology does not undermine genuine humanity (as critics of Barth claim), but it rather establishes the true humanness of humanity.
Sorry for waffling -- I got carried away in my enthusiasm for Jüngel!
Well that's very helpful: it is interesting too how Jüngel harkens back to Luther on this...
Yes, he's deeply influenced by Luther, and particuarly by Gerhard Ebeling's so-called "existentialist interpretation" of Luther.
Could one of you provide the Luther references for me?
Thanks for that Ian - truly fascinating!
What are some of the key scriptural texts regarding deification?
2 Peter 1:4 uses the word "divinisation" or "partakers in the divine nature".
On Luther, see his "disputation concerning man", or "The Freedom of a christian".
Actually, I would urge anyone to read or re-read the latter: I have read it twice in the last two days to my greater edification!
I have to say also, that what I hoped for this blog is happening: that I would learn from the participants. So: thankyou and keep helping me! This is cheap education!
Here is the etext of "Freedom of a Christian" -
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/luther-freedomchristian.html
I'll be reading it over the weekend...
And speaking of Luther's "Freedom of a Christian," Jüngel also has a little book of the same title, which is a very profound theological exposition of Luther's treatise.
Hi Michael. I don't even know who Eberhard Juengel is. Who is he?
Jim says you are interested in political theology. So am I. Can you post about that next?
olympiada: yeah sure, I will have a go at something on politics.
I heard Rowan Williams, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury give a lecture on international relations and I might jot down some stuff about it soon.
Thanks for the prompting!
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