A constructive analysis of the place and role of the doctrine of Jesus' resurrection within the theologies of Rowan Williams and Robert Jenson

• Main Author: Stobart, Andrew J.
• Published: University of Aberdeen 2011
• Subjects: 270.092
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.540447

Rowan Williams and Robert Jenson are two of the most interesting and creative contemporary theologians. This thesis proposes that their theology coheres around their accounts of the resurrection of Jesus, which is thus seen as the central controlling coordinate of their systems of thought. After setting out the characteristic contours of Williams’ work (in chapter 2), a major body of material is devoted to an exposition of the resurrection’s place and role within that thought (chapter 3). The resurrection appears here as an enabling doctrine, posing Jesus Christ as the living agent before whom the human community can live an authentic, transformed life. Two further chapters accomplish similar analytical work for Robert Jenson (chapters 5 and 6). Jenson’s audacious theological innovations – including particularly his notion of the temporal infinity of God and his understanding of the church as the totus Christus – can be traced back to his account of Jesus’ resurrection. Critical comments are offered at the end of both these sections of analysis (in chapters 4 and 7). A recurring worry is that the personal identity and integrity of the risen Jesus has somehow dropped out of view in the work of Williams and Jenson. What the resurrection of Jesus means for God and for us is often more evident in their thought than what it means for Jesus himself. Plotting Jesus’ resurrection within a broader sequential context (e.g. alongside his ascension) is a suggested corrective to this. Finally, a brief constructive chapter (8) gathers together some comments useful to the task of plotting the resurrection of Jesus within systematic theology today. These are arranged around three lines of enquiry, which have been operative throughout the thesis: what does the resurrection of Jesus denote, connote and generate within systematic theology?