A critical assessment of John Milbank's Christology
John Milbank is well known for attempting to develop a participatory theology. This article specifically assesses his Christology. The first section provides a synthetic explication of his Christology by focussing on his notions of participation, paradox, poesis, incarnation, the cross, and ecclesi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of the Free State
2012-12-01
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| Series: | Acta Theologica |
| Online Access: | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2468 |
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| author | N. Vorster |
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| author_sort | N. Vorster |
| collection | DOAJ |
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John Milbank is well known for attempting to develop a participatory theology. This article specifically assesses his Christology. The first section provides a synthetic explication of his Christology by focussing on his notions of participation, paradox, poesis, incarnation, the cross, and ecclesiology. The second section provides a critical assessment. The central argument is that Milbank’s Christology is inadequate in a participatory sense, because it lacks particularity and personal relationality. This inadequacy is probably due to the way in which he fuses Neo-Platonism and postmodern lingualism in order to construct his ontology. In order to maintain his non-violent and poetic ontological position, Milbank needs to revert to a general, “high” and impersonal Christology, and disregard “low” Christology. However, if one’s ontological construction leads to a detached Christology, which does not adequately affirm the central notion of one’s theology, serious doubts arise concerning the legitimacy of one’s method.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5631e869b58948f7a4d532f69edcf923 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1015-8758 2309-9089 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2012-12-01 |
| publisher | University of the Free State |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Theologica |
| spelling | doaj-art-5631e869b58948f7a4d532f69edcf9232025-02-11T10:01:38ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892012-12-0132210.38140/at.v32i2.2468A critical assessment of John Milbank's ChristologyN. Vorster0North-West University, South Africa John Milbank is well known for attempting to develop a participatory theology. This article specifically assesses his Christology. The first section provides a synthetic explication of his Christology by focussing on his notions of participation, paradox, poesis, incarnation, the cross, and ecclesiology. The second section provides a critical assessment. The central argument is that Milbank’s Christology is inadequate in a participatory sense, because it lacks particularity and personal relationality. This inadequacy is probably due to the way in which he fuses Neo-Platonism and postmodern lingualism in order to construct his ontology. In order to maintain his non-violent and poetic ontological position, Milbank needs to revert to a general, “high” and impersonal Christology, and disregard “low” Christology. However, if one’s ontological construction leads to a detached Christology, which does not adequately affirm the central notion of one’s theology, serious doubts arise concerning the legitimacy of one’s method. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2468 |
| spellingShingle | N. Vorster A critical assessment of John Milbank's Christology Acta Theologica |
| title | A critical assessment of John Milbank's Christology |
| title_full | A critical assessment of John Milbank's Christology |
| title_fullStr | A critical assessment of John Milbank's Christology |
| title_full_unstemmed | A critical assessment of John Milbank's Christology |
| title_short | A critical assessment of John Milbank's Christology |
| title_sort | critical assessment of john milbank s christology |
| url | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2468 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nvorster acriticalassessmentofjohnmilbankschristology AT nvorster criticalassessmentofjohnmilbankschristology |