Here's another review of a book we read for Contemporary Neo-Liberal Theologians class: Kathryn Tanner's Jesus, Humanity, and the Trinity: A Brief Systematic Theology. It comes very highly recommended by me for the ethical implications it draws from the incarnation and the shape of Christian life that form when we serve the risen Lord.
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Tanner’s subtitle says it all: “A Brief Systematic Theology” describes exactly what this theologically rich work is- an outworking and rearticulation of Christian orthodoxy in terms of contemporary context. It is indeed brief, but it is also equally systematic in that it maintains an internal cohesion as it seeks to develop credible contemporary doctrines from traditional Christian dogmas. In short, this is a thoroughly theological attempt to figure out “what Christianity is all about” (xiii).
In the first chapter, Tanner lays out a Christology that is deeply consonant with the Chalcedonian formulations by tracing the implications of two basic principles, each of which has profound impact on the way the incarnation is understood: (1.) a noncompetitive relation between creatures and God, and (2.) a deep emphasis on the transcendence of God as stressing the difference between God and creation (that is to say, that which is not God). Along the way, she brings to light the radical repercussions of what I would call a soteriological chiastic structure: God became human so that humans might become divine; the infinite took on the finite so that the finite could taste the infinite, etc.
Over the next two chapters, Tanner develops an account of human existence that is based on the incarnation and on the unmerited charismata given to us by God. Our lives as Christians are to imitate God’s triune life in that just as God gives freely and fully to all, expecting that (but not on the condition that) the gifts will be “regifted,” so to speak to others, our lives are to be characterized by unlimited and impartial charity. Further, according to Tanner, when Jesus Christ assumed fully human nature and lived an entire human life in light of the grace of God, he perfected human nature, making possible the perfection of our own mortal selves through the power of God.
Throughout her work, Tanner is conversant with partners both ancient and modern, drawing upon the best of the Christian theological tradition in formulating her own account. The words of Karl Barth are cited frequently (though not uncritically), as are the Reformers (particularly Calvin), and great patristic writers (Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem. Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa, etc.). The great value in being conversant with all eras of the tradition, as Tanner notes in the Introduction, is the ability to see contemporary debates and issues from a farsighted perspective, less confined to (though by no means free from) the assumptions and attitudes of the present day, an advantage this work employs to great profit.
It would be hard for me to exaggerate how much I enjoyed this brief, but deep account of Christian faith and life. The Christology is among the richest I’ve ever read, particularly in terms of the moral and ethical implications Tanner draws from her explication of God becoming human for the sake of his human creation. Though I still have some misgivings (or quite possibly just misunderstandings) of her explication of human resurrection and still hold out hope in the promised consummation of all things that is as temporal and historical as was the incarnation of Jesus, I did appreciate her stress on the experience of eternal life in the here and now. It seems to be thoroughly in keeping with the “already/not yet” nature of so many other critical facets of orthodox Christian faith.
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