After I wrote my last post, I was reminded of another solution to the problem of making gods in our own image, one put forward by Bruce McCormack, professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton. McCormack focuses on an age old debate over the theology of Karl Barth. Barth wrote, in part, to refute “consciousness” theologians who, according to Barth, had been making god in their own image. In contrast, Barth’s theology sought to assert the transcendence of God. The question many have asked since is: did he succeed? McCormack, in a novel interpretation of Barth, seems to think that Barth has thrown the image making upstairs – instead of man making…
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Tanner’s Atonement
The following is an analysis of feminist theologian, Kathryn Tanner. She is quite difficult to read, but I enjoyed tackling her thought. I am possibly a little harsh sounding in my critique so forgive the polemics. However, her thought is very common in contemporary modern theology and so you might, perhaps, find it interesting. The theological starting point for feminist theology is usually something like: “scripture must be re-interpreted to support the emancipation of women rather than their oppression.”1 The traditional understanding of the atonement, particularly as it had been understood in the male dominated Western church, is, according to feminists, most in need of re-interpretation. Whatever the atonement is, feminists conclude, it…