The Character of God: Recovering the Lost Literary Power of American ProtestantismOxford University Press, 4 de des. 1997 - 288 pàgines Educated people have become bereft of sophisticated ways to develop their religious inclinations. A major reason for this is that theology has become vague and dull. In The Character of God, author Thomas E. Jenkins maintains that Protestant theology became boring by the late nineteenth century because the depictions of God as a character in theology became boring. He shows how in the early nineteenth century, American Protestant theologians downplayed biblical depictions of God's emotional complexity and refashioned his character according to their own notions, stressing emotional singularity. These notions came from many sources, but the major influences were the neoclassical and sentimental literary styles of characterization dominant at the time. The serene benevolence of neoclassicism and the tender sympathy of sentimentalism may have made God appealing in the mid-1800s, but by the end of the century, these styles had lost much of their cultural power and increasingly came to seem flat and vague. Despite this, both liberal and conservative theologians clung to these characterizations of God throughout the twentieth century. Jenkins argues that a way out of this impasse can be found in romanticism, the literary style of characterization that supplanted neoclassicism and sentimentalism and dominated American literary culture throughout the twentieth century. Romanticism emphasized emotional complexity and resonated with biblical depictions of God. A few maverick religious writers-- such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, W. G. T. Shedd, and Horace Bushnell--did devise emotionally complex characterizations of God and in some cases drew directly from romanticism. But their strange and sometimes shocking depictions of God were largely forgotten in the twentieth century. s use "theological" as a pejorative term, implying that an argument is needlessly Jenkins urges a reassessment of their work and a greaterin understanding of the relationship between theology and literature. Recovering the lost literary power of American Protestantism, he claims, will make the character of God more compelling and help modern readers appreciate the peculiar power of the biblical characterization of God. |
Continguts
3 | |
The Neoclassical and Sentimental God of the Nineteenth Century | 17 |
The Romantic God of the Nineteenth Century | 77 |
The Vague God of the Twentieth Century | 135 |
Altres edicions - Mostra-ho tot
The Character of God: Recovering the Lost Literary Power of American ... Thomas E. Jenkins Previsualització limitada - 1997 |
Frases i termes més freqüents
ambivalence American theology ancient Hebrews Andover anthropomorphism Archibald Alexander Hodge ascribed atonement Baird Bible biblical criticism Bushnell's Calvin Cambridge Channing Channing's Charles Hodge Christ Christian Nurture church claimed complex conservative theologians cosmopolitan culture Cox's cross crucifixion death declared depiction divine doctrine dramatic Edwards emotional essay father feelings God's anger God's character God's love governmental theologians Griffin Harriet Beecher Stowe Hodge's Horace Bushnell human humanitarian Ibid incarnationalists interpretation James James Henley Thornwell Jesus juristic theologians juristic tradition liberal theologians literary Machen Mary moral Munger nature neoclassical and sentimental neoclassical theism neoclassicism Niebuhr nineteenth century novel Old Testament Oxford University Press Park Park's philanthropism polemic political Presbyterian problem propagative Protestant Rauschenbusch Religion religious romanticism Satan Secular City sense sentimental incarnationalism serene sinners social gospel Stowe's styles suffering theism theory Thornwell tion Trinity twentieth century Unitarian Vicarious Sacrifice vision W. G. T. Shedd Wilder wrath writing wrote Yale York
Passatges populars
Pàgina 8 - A character, or that which distinguishes one man from all others, cannot be supposed to consist of one particular virtue, or vice, or passion only; but 'tis a composition of qualities which are not contrary to one another in the same person...