Trinity and History: The God-World Relation in the Theology of Dorner, Barth, Pannenberg, and Jenson

by Scott P. Rice

Publisher:

Pickwick Publications

, 2022

Overview

How does God relate to the world? What difference does our understanding of God make for conceiving of God’s relation to us? Christian theology has seen a flourishing of activity in response to these questions under a common doctrinal theme: Trinity. That said, proposals for understanding how God relates to the world through the Trinity of God’s being--otherwise known as the relationship between the immanent and the economic Trinity--vary significantly. This book, reflecting on the work of four modern theologians--Dorner, Barth, Pannenberg, and Jenson--offers a set of constructive proposals on key issues relating to the God-world relation, including a way to understand divine immutability without denying God’s living history with others and a trinitarian notion of divine sovereignty that demonstrates how God transcends history from within the structures of time. At each step along the way the author conveys how Trinity opens up a richer, more expansive conception of God’s relation to us. This book shows how Trinity serves the practical work of theology as faith seeking understanding.

Praise for Trinity and History

“Scott Rice’s Trinity and History provides an excellent introduction not only to current issues of theology about the Trinity but also the interpretation of key theologians of the twentieth century. It advances the interpretation of the Trinity in accessible language. I recommend it strongly for anyone interested in Trinitarian theology and recent North American theology with its German roots.”

—Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, Harvard Divinity School



“Trinity and History is an excellent contribution to scholarship. Rice offers incisive analyses of works by Dorner, Barth, Pannenberg, and Jenson, and demonstrates the merits and shortcomings of their accounts of God’s ‘living relation’ to history—a living relation wherein the abundance of God’s triune life shapes and determines the world in the past, present, and future. This is an important work, rich in interpretative insight and constructive promise, that will repay readers’ close attention.”

—Paul Dafydd Jones, University of Virginia



“Scott Rice offers a most intriguing study on the relation between God’s transcendence and eternity and his relationship to the world. Through his incisive analysis of the argumentative progress made in the approaches of Dorner, Barth, Pannenberg, and Jenson, it becomes clear that the doctrine of the Trinity is not only indispensable, but that the historicity of revelation has its root in the immanent relations in God.”

—Friederike Nüssel, Ecumenical Institute, Heidelberg University

Product Details

• Title: Trinity and History: The God-World Relation in the Theology of Dorner, Barth, Pannenberg, and Jenson
• Author: Scott P. Rice
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781532668142, 9781532668128, 1532668120, 9781532668135, 1532668139, 1532668147
• Resource ID: LLS:9781532668142
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-10-23T08:35:04Z

About the Author

Scott P. Rice serves as Resident Theologian at Highrock Covenant Church in Boston, Massachusetts. He has published articles in Pro Ecclesia, The Heythrop Journal, and Canadian American Theological Review.