The Creative Suffering of God (Clarendon Paperbacks) - Softcover

Fiddes, Paul S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198263473 ISBN 13: 9780198263470

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, 1992

Synopsis

The theme that God suffers with his world has become a familiar one in recent years, overturning centuries of belief in an impassible deity. This book both surveys recent thought about the suffering of God and proposes future directions for this important area of Christian theology. Fiddes discusses four trends of current thought-the "theology of the cross" in modern German theology as represented in the works of Barth, Moltmann, and Jungel; American process theology; "the death of God" theology; and the rejection of the idea of divine passibility by modern followers of classical theism-while reflecting on the main theme of his study. The book affirms that God freely chooses to limit himself, to suffer change, to journey through time, and even to experience death while remaining the living God.

About this title

Review

Creation, fall, incarnation, and atonement are ... interwoven with the theme of suffering in a profoundly original way. (Theological Book Review)

Paul S. Fiddes has now provided the most comprehensive and thorough study of the issues yet to emerge. His treatment of the sources is accurate and probing ... this is a valuable and thought-provoking book. (Daniel W. Hardy, Expository Times)

this important survey illuminatingly explains how human suffering can be understood in the light of God's response to creation (Dan Cohn-Sherbok, University of Kent, Theology)

the lasting impression of the book is of one of the livelier minds of British theology opening up, with courage and rational persuasiveness, one of the critical contemporary theological topics (David F. Ford, Journal of Theological Studies)

Synopsis

The theme that God suffers with his world has become a familiar one in recent years, but a careful examination is needed of what it means to talk about the suffering of God, avoiding the danger of a merely sentimental belief. This book offers a consistent way of thinking about a God who suffers supremely and yet is still the kind of God to whom the Christian tradition has witnessed, and also about a God who suffers universally and yet is still present uniquely in the cross of Christ. It is at once both a survey of recent thought about the suffering of God and a proposal for a way forward in this important area of Christian theology. The author surveys four main trends of recent thought: the 'theology of the cross' in modern German theology (as represented particularly in the work of Karl Barth, Jurgen Moltmann, and Eberhard Jungel); American process theology; 'the death of God' theology; and finally, the rejection of the whole idea of divine passibility by modern followers of classical theism. He draws upon these schools of thought in the course of reflecting upon various aspects of the main theme of the study.

This thematic structure enables an idea of divine suffering to be developed throughout the book, affirming that God freely chooses to limit himself, to suffer change, to journey through time and even to experience death while remaining the living God.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198263473
• ISBN 13: 9780198263470
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296