Person, Grace, and God
Overview
This volume offers a robust theological investigation of the concept of the person. Philip Rolnick calls us to think about personhood not just psychologically—understanding it as a set of traits or behaviors or as a level of social adroitness—but theologically. He believes that person represents our highest understanding of our lives with regard to each other, the world, and God. Some understanding of person underlies virtually every significant Christian doctrine and points to what is most at stake in it.
A philosophically astute, historically informed, scientifically minded theologian, Rolnick here highlights the centrality of person for Christian thought by tracing its development from pre-Christian anticipations through the early church councils to Augustine, Boethius, Richard of St. Victor, and Aquinas. Examining contemporary challenges to the concept of the person from evolutionary biology and postmodern thought, Rolnick demonstrates the impressive accomplishment of neo-Darwinian research and then shows ways to interpret the biological data that are consonant with Jesus' love commands. Rolnick's Person, Grace, and God is a wide-ranging, deeply informed study of a topic of no small importance in a world in which science, postmodern thought, and Christian theology continuously engage each other.
Looking at theology through the lens of a postmodern culture, this volume is an essential and highly significant work. All Scripture passages are linked to your favorite Bible translation in your library. With the advanced search features of Logos Bible Software, you can perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference.
- Etymological and historical development of the concept of the person
- Includes bibliographical references and indexes
Top Highlights
“When Moses reverently asks the name of the Deity who addresses him and assigns him the task of liberating the Hebrews, he is told: ‘I AM WHO I AM’ (Exod. 3:14).Whatever its enigmas, the response is not ‘IT IS’ or ‘IS.’ In the response to Moses, the repeated personal pronoun is decisive. This episode instantiates the personal way in which God is understood over the length of the Hebrew tradition, the tradition into which Jesus is born and from which his first followers arise. The primacy of the personal pervades the Christian tradition, which has answered Jesus’ question, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ with the doctrine of the Word made flesh who dwells among us.” (Page 4)
In Person, Grace, and God Philip Rolnick offers a wide-ranging, compellingly argued, and gracefully written theological account of the person.
—Reinhard Hütter, Duke Divinity School
The straightforward and skillfully presented account of human personhood Rolnick articulates in Person, Grace, and God is highly recommended to all interested in exploiting the resources of theology to overcome the contemporary collapse of metaphysics.
—Expository Times
- Title: Person, Grace, and God
- Author: Philip A. Rolnick
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Publication Date: 2007
- Pages: 280