Calvin, Participation, and the Gift: The Activity of Believers in Union with Christ

ISBN-13: 9780199211876 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 230 str.

J. Todd Billings

Opis

Is the God of Calvin a fountain of blessing, or a forceful tyrant? Is Calvin's view of God coercive, leaving no place for the human qua human in redemption? These are perennial questions about Calvin's theology which have been given new life by Gift theologians such as John Milbank, Graham Ward, and Stephen Webb.
J. Todd Billings addresses these questions by exploring Calvin's theology of "participation in Christ." He argues that Calvin's theology of "participation" gives a positive place to the human, such that grace fulfills rather than destroys nature, affirming a differentiated union of God and humanity in creation and redemption. Calvin's trinitarian theology extends to his view of prayer, sacraments, the law, and the ecclesial and civil orders. In light of Calvin's doctrine of participation, Billings reframes the critiques of Calvin in the Gift discussion and opens up new possibilities for contemporary theology, ecumenical theology, and Calvin scholarship as well.

Recenzje

This lucid and well-written book throws down a significant challenge to those concerned with the project of theology. ... It is not possible in a short review to do justice to the sophistication of Billing's careful reading of Calvin.

O autorze

J. Todd Billings is Assistant Professor of Reformed Theology, Western Theological Seminary.