Doctoral Colloquium – Thursday, September 5th

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Abstracts

Student Presentations

Abou Dib, F. (ST): Beyond Solovyov: Creative Personhood vs. the Collective in Berdyaev’s Thought

Sophiology is one of the well-known religious currents that characterized the late 19th century and pre-revolutionary Russia, as well as a great dispute among the Russian émigrés in the first half of the 20th century. Although Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) is known to be the founder of this current of religious thinking, it is others who developed this thinking towards a clear and extensive theological exploration. This presentation will discuss briefly how the Russian philosopher Nicolas Berdyaev’s personalism differs from Solovyov’s and develops it towards a more explicit manifestation; namely, on how his understanding of the human personality is different from that of Solovyov. Berdyaev sees in Solovyov an example of what can be called a more humane mysticism, i.e., that of a personalist character that differs from those mysticisms that promote ascetism, detachment and abstract love. He also sees in him a critical figure in the Christian history that endorsed the idea of the inevitability of spiritual and dogmatic development beyond what the historical Church has hitherto ratified. However, Berdyaev goes beyond Solovyov. Of a particular interest for analysis is the dialectic of the individual person vis-à-vis collectivity in both metaphysical and social senses, and the implications of this dialectic for the position of the individual person in the world and the concept of knowledge (of God and of oneself).

Pardon, A.C. (HT): The Danger of World Jewry. Gerhard Kittel and Jewish proselytism: a Critical Discourse Analysis

Gerhard Kittel (1886-1948) was a Lutheran theologian and member of the Nazi Party. As a New Testament and Jewish Studies scholar, one of his main areas of expertise concerned the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Diffusing his thought both through Nazi-channels (e.g. the journal Forschungen zur Judenfrage) and in academic settings (e.g. public lecture at the University of Vienna (1943)), Gerhard Kittel is often denounced as having provided a theological framework for Nazi-ideology.

Throughout his academic career, the scholar recurrently comments on Jewish proselytism. However, it is specifically his work for the aforementioned Nazi-journal that reveals a crystallization of his thought. By means of a critical discourse analysis it will become clear how Kittel seeks to connect the concept of proselytism in Judaism with a notion of power, Jewish unfaithfulness and the myth of world Jewry. In doing so, Kittel not only negatively perceives the motives of (allowing for) conversion but also presents proselytism as a Jewish tool to gain power and dominate over the earth.

J. Glen (ST): The Role of the Transcendent in Nussbaum’s Moral Epistemology

I will give an update on my dissertation research as it pertains to my current focus on the definition and boundaries of the concept of transcendence in Martha Nussbaum’s moral epistemology, which is the primary focus of my second chapter. Nussbaum’s understanding of transcendence and the limited application she allows for it in a moral epistemology suited for human life has significant implications for how she views flourishing human life. I will address her writings on the component of her moral epistemology and how she articulated her position in response to questions and feedback from Christian scholars, including Robert Adams and Charles Taylor, over years of writing on the subjects of morality and eudaimonia. My goal for the presentation will be to help show the salient relevance that Nussbaum’s view of transcendence has in defining to what extent humans should allow relationships with the divine to influence their understanding of emotions and eudaimonia.

B. van den Heuvel (OT): The Puzzle of Berosus Reconstructing the Flood Story in the History of Babylonia from Later Sources

The fourth/third-century BC Babylonian priest Berosus wrote a history of his home country in Greek, which included a retelling of the flood story. This book, including its flood story, can only be partially reconstructed based on second- and third-hand quotations from later sources. In this presentation, I will discuss the main lost and extant sources for this flood story, including their dates, authors, contexts, and languages, in order to come to a provisional synoptic reconstruction.

Faculty presentations

S. Tipton (HT:) Proofing a Principle: Natural Theological Principles in Benedict Pictet’s Doctrine of God

There has been in recent scholarship an ongoing discussion about the impact of philosophical principles upon theological prolegomena – in particular, issues relating to Natural Theology. Such scholarly discussions raise questions that extend far beyond issues related to prolegomena. How, for instance, do theologians’ understanding of natural theology impact their formulations about the Doctrine of God. One such figure – Benedict Pictet (1655-1720) – has received some recent discussion regarding his natural theology, as well as the perception of “rationalizing” influences in his theology. Pictet held the position of Professor of Theology at the University of Geneva between François Turretini (1623-1687) and his son, Jean-Alphonse Turretini (1671-1737). Pictet is often characterized as a transition in more than tenure, but also in the influx of rationalism into Reformed Theology more broadly, and the University of Geneva more specifically. Indeed, Pictet is often represented as more in line with Jean-Alphonse’ rationalism (to which he halfway went) than the orthodoxy of François (from which he halfway came). We will discuss the question of Pictet’s principles of Natural Theology and how they impacted his formulations of the Doctrine of God – with particular discussions of the Divine Attributes and the Trinity. I will seek to show that Pictet’s Doctrine of God serves as proof of his natural theological principles, and that he should not be considered nearly so “rationalistic” as has been previously maintained.

S.C. van den Heuvel (ST): The Climate Crisis and Christian Eschatology: Insights from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Christian eschatology has been identified as problematic in the context of the climate crisis; on one hand, it is accused of creating the preconditions for the modern exploitation of nature, while on the other it is accused of stimulating a quietist withdrawal from environmental action. There are understandings of Christian eschatology that are helpful in addressing the climate crisis, in particular the promising eschatology of the German Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Eschatological thinking develops throughout the three phases of his life, with two main themes emerging, namely 1) his understanding of the world as Christ-reality, and 2) the distinction he makes between the ultimate and the penultimate. Taken together, these concepts can be formative in the construction of the Christian virtue of hope in the context of the climate crisis.