title:
An exploration of Augustine’s exegesis of Scripture as a foundation for Rahner’s Trinitarian Project and Rule
creator:
Robinson, Martin E.
subject:
Augustine, of Hippo, Saint (354-430)
subject:
Rahner, Karl (1904-1984)
description:
Abstract reads :“In his 1967 essay Der Dreifaltige Gott, Karl Rahner lamented the isolation of the doctrine of the Trinity from the economy of salvation and the greater body of religious thought in Western Christianity. According to Rahner, this isolation ultimately found its genesis in the theology of St Augustine. To overcome the alleged shortcomings of the tradition, Rahner proposed his Rule or Grundaxiom, that “the economic Trinity is the immanent Trinity and vice versa”. In recent decades many have questioned the explanatory power of the Rule, noting various incongruities between the economic Trinitarian relations and Rahner’s Latin conception of the Trinitarian relations. Through close and sustained analysis of Augustine’s exegesis of Scripture, this dissertation argues that Augustine’s Trinitarian exegesis offers significant—though not inexhaustible—support for Rahner’s Trinitarian project and, particularly, his Grundaxiom. Firstly, it will be argued that Augustine provides weighty, biblically rich, support for Rahner’s Trinitarian agenda at exactly those points where Rahner is explicitly critical of Augustine and the “Augustinian-Western tradition”, overcoming various weaknesses detected in the later tradition, and pre-empting many of Rahner’s later solutions. Secondly and consequently, it will be argued that Augustine offers a scriptural reading strategy that addresses the major exegetical difficulties perceived to emerge from Rahner’s Rule. Thus, in Augustine’s exegesis of Scripture, the Augustinian-Western tradition has always had the resources at its disposal to avoid or address several of the most poignant criticisms levelled both by and at Rahner.”Chapter 1. IntroductionChapter 2. Augustine and the economy: scripture, de deo uno and trino, christology, creation, and pietyChapter 3. Augustine and the economy: the Old Testament, soteriology, and the missions and processionsChapter 4. The Father–Son relationship: Rahner’s rule, contemporary objections, and Augustine’s exegesisChapter 5. The Son–Spirit relationship: Rahner’s rule, contemporary objections, and Augustine’s exegesisChapter 6. ConclusionSubmitted in Fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Moore Theological College.
publisher:
Moore Theological College
date:
2022-09-01
type:
Text
language:
English
rights:
In copyright - educational use only.
rights:
This item may be used for the purposes of research and study. Please acknowledge that it is held by Moore Theological College.
rights:
This digital item is accessible online to all.
