The Named God and the Question of Being: A Trinitarian Theo-Ontology

Description

In this, the second volume in Stanley Grenz's Matrix of Christian Theology, the widely regarded theologian examines the long-standing trajectory of thought that has equated the concept of Being with the God of the Bible—and thus claimed that the ontological category of Being is the guiding concept by which God should be understood. Grenz extends the engagement between Christian theology and the Western philosophical tradition and focuses the discussion on the importance of naming, particularly given that the Christian God is both named and triune. In doing so, he organizes the book into three parts, forming an overarching story of the interplay between the named character of God and the question of Being. He begins by analyzing the history of the philosophical concept of Being, then he shifts the focus to an exegesis of the "I AM" texts, and he concludes with a renewed conversation between theology and ontological philosophy by means of the divine name. Contents Introduction: The Saga of a Name / 1 PART ONE THE SAGA OF BEING 1. From To On to the Ipsum Esse: The Christianization of Being / 13 2. From the First Cause to the Infinite: The Secularization of Being / 51 3. From Onto-Theology to Theo-Ontology: The Demise of Being / 90 PART TWO THE SAGA OF THE I AM 4. From Exodus to Exile: The Covenanted I AM / 133 5. From Jacobs Well to Calvary's Cross: The Incarnate I AM / 174 6. From the Future to the Eternal: The Exalted I AM / 207 PART THREE THE SAGA OF THE TRIUNE NAME 7. From the I AM to the Trinity: The Meaning of the Divine Name / 249 8. From the Trinity to Being: The Ontology of the Divine Name / 291 9. From God's Triune Being to Human Being: Our Inclusion into the Divine Name / 342 Index / 374