Saturday
Aug222015
Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental Tapestry
Embryo Parson Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2015 at 05:22PM Just finished this book by Hans Boersma, who holds the J. I. Packer Chair in Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. Highly recommended. The author calls for a return to the "sacramental ontology" of the Platonist-Christian synthesis of the early Church Fathers. The reviews at the Amazon page are definitely worth reading. Bishop Ray Sutton mentioned the significance of this book in his recent talk on real presence at the ICCA, which I also highly recommend.
in Anglican Spiritual Life, Anglo-Catholicism, Caroline Divines, Eastern Orthodoxy, Evangelical and Catholic, Heaven, Historical Theology, Iconography, John Calvin, Justification By Faith, Liturgical Theology, Mysticism, Oxford Movement, Roman Catholicism, The Problem of Anglican Identity, Traditional Anglicanism, Why Anglicanism?
Anglican Spiritual Life, Anglo-Catholicism, Caroline Divines, Eastern Orthodoxy, Evangelical and Catholic, Heaven, Historical Theology, Iconography, John Calvin, Justification By Faith, Liturgical Theology, Mysticism, Oxford Movement, Roman Catholicism, The Problem of Anglican Identity, Traditional Anglicanism, Why Anglicanism?
Reader Comments (6)
Any kind of synthesis with Plato is a disaster IMO. What has Athens to do with Jerusalem that is above? What has heathenism to do with Israel?
Yours is an ancient and venerable view, Roger. But so is Boersma's. I never bought into the various dehellenization projects (liberal Protestant, the neo-Calvinist, Messianic Christian). I would argue that there is evidence even in the OT of syntheses with certain views of the surrounding pagan cultures, albeit never achieved in such as way as to overshadow the revelatory component. Boersma's argument in this book echoes the observation of many patrologists that the early Church Fathers were likewise quite discriminating in their reliance upon Neoplatonist philosophy to articulate Christian philosophy. They kept the wheat and chucked the chaff. That's why these folks argue that it's actually more accurate to speak of the Christianization of Hellenism rather than the Hellenization of Christianity.
I got it in today and am loving it. I am more of a Platonist than most, but Boersma realizes that we must part with Plato on several fronts. I do think he is right on the "purchasing power" of participating in heavenly realities.
The real problem with Plato is that he is ahistorical. The Bible is entirely historical, and teaches the true religion by means of historical covenants and the events of history. Plato hated the flesh because it is allegedly inferior and vile. The Lord Jesus became flesh to redeem those who were subject to death, so the problem is not flesh, but death, which he overcame by the glorious resurrection, to bring salvation to Israel and the blessings of Abraham to the Gentiles.
Salvation is not escaping the body, but redeeming it. Plato and the Lord Jesus have nothing in common.
Duly noted. But the anti-body comments in Plato aren't the only thing in the Platonic corpus, and we already noted that even the most robust Christian Platonists break company with Plato on that point.
Indeed, Boersma is pretty clear where the Church Fathers broke with Neoplatonism.