Concrete Time and Concrete Eternity

Li Qu

Description

This publication investigates how Karl Barth’s doctrine of time and eternity can contribute to the continued understanding of the relationship of divine eternity to time or temporality. Examining from a theological, philosophical and physical perspective, with deep emphasis on the Trinity, as well as Barth’s Christology and pneumatology, the author helps us to understand his theory on time and eternity. Barth’s contribution to the subject is significant, with his doctrine of time and eternity being relational in ontology, Trinitarian in background and concrete in character.

Informations

• Publié par: Langham Creative Projects
• Date de parution: 14 février 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783689774
• Langue: English

Extrait

In this new book, Li Qu presents a comprehensive and sensitive interpretation of Barth’s understanding on the nature of created time and its relation to divine eternity. As a preparation, Li Qu explores representative theological as well as natural, scientific and philosophical accounts of the nature of time and its relation to divine eternity. In the central thesis he argues cogently that it is only from a specifically Trinitarian perspective that God’s eternity and our time can be joined concretely and actually. The study is well documented with an extensive bibliography. There is no question that his exposition and analysis of Barth’s text are faithful and readable. This is an up-to-date contribution to Barthian scholarship on a very contemporary topic.
Dr Graham McFarlane
Vice Principal Academic
London School of Theology

Concrete Time and Concrete Eternity: Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Time and Eternity and Its Trinitarian Background
Li Qu

© 2014 by Li Qu
Published 2014 by Langham Monographs, an imprint of Langham Creative Projects
Langham Partnership
PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
ISBNs:
978-1-783689-78-1 Print
978-1-783689-76-7 Mobi
978-1-783689-77-4 ePub
Li Qu has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Qu, Li, author.
Concrete time and concrete eternity : Karl Barth’s doctrine
of time and eternity and its trinitarian background.
1. Barth, Karl, 1886-1968 2. Time--Religious aspects--
Christianity. 3. Eternity--History of doctrines--20th
century. 4. God (Christianity)--Eternity. 5. Trinity.
I. Title
231.7-dc23
ISBN-13: 9781783689781
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and a scholar’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth, and works referenced within this publication or guarantee its technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

Converted to eBook by EasyEPUB
Contents

Cover


Acknowledgements


Abbreviations


Introduction


Section 1: Temporal and Atemporal God Debate


Section 2: The Development of the Conception of Eternity in Barth


Section 3: Structure and Literature Review


Chapter 1 Preliminary Studies


Section 1: Time and Eternity: Historical Theological Views


Section 2: Time and Eternity: Modern Physical Views


Section 3: Time and Eternity: Modern Philosophical Views


Chapter 2 The Eternal Concrete Father


Section 1: Eternal Trinity and Three One-sidednesses


Section 2: The Eternal Creator Revealed


Section 3: The Father’s Eternal Preservation


Section 4: The Eschatological Creator


Chapter 3 The Eternal Concrete Son


Section 1: Eternity before Time – The Preexistence of the Son


Section 2: Eternity in Time – The Incarnation of the Son


Section 3: Eternity after Time – The Resurrection of the Son


Chapter 4 The Eternal Concrete Holy Spirit


Section 1: The Eclipse of the Spirit


Section 2: Holy Spirit the Eternal Creator


Section 3: Holy Spirit the Reconciler in “Time Between”


Section 4: Holy Spirit the Eschatological Redeemer


Chapter 5 Conclusion


Section 1: A Concrete Trinitarian Understanding of Time and Eternity


Section 2: The Significance of Barth’s Contribution


Bibliography


Primary Sources


Secondary Sources


About Langham Partnership

Endnotes
Acknowledgements
First of all, I am grateful to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who are the topic of this thesis and the Lord of my life alike. To our triune God is given my deepest thanks and highest praise.
This book is based on a revised version of my PhD thesis. Without the help of many people, this research project would have been impossible. First, I am indebted to my PhD programme supervisor, Dr. Graham McFarlane, for his enduring patience, intelligent advice and strict criticism. The librarians and other staff of London School of Theology gave invaluable assistance in the search for some material.
My special thanks are due to the Langham Partnership (UK & Hong Kong) for awarding a generous scholarship in order to fund this period of research. Finally, to my wife Miranda, belongs all my gratitude for accompanying me and encouraging me continuously in our first five years of marriage.
Abbreviations
CD Church Dogmatics
, 13 part volumes, (eds.), G. W. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance, Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1956-75. ER The Epistle to the Romans
, trans. Sir Edwyn Hoskyns, London: Oxford University Press, 1980. SJT Scottish Journal of Theology IJST International Journal of Systematic Theology
Introduction

Section 1: Temporal and Atemporal God Debate
The purpose of this book is to study how Karl Barth’s doctrine of time and eternity can contribute to the continuing search for a way of understanding the relationship of divine eternity to time or temporality. Traditional debate on this issue focuses on whether eternity, as an attribute of God, is temporal or atemporal. The atemporal trend approaches God’s eternity by transcending or negating time, whereas the temporal trend understands the relationship of eternity and time in an immanent way. However, both trends start from time rather than eternity, i.e. the concept of eternity can only be derived from time and not vice versa. For Barth, those advocators of both sides put the cart before the horse and arrive at abstract conclusions. According to Barth, there is no absolute and independent human time outside of God’s eternity. Therefore we must start from the triune God and his eternity before a concrete understanding of time could be achieved. It follows, then, that in order to understand Barth’s doctrine of time and eternity fully, we need to review briefly the traditional theological arguments first.
What is time? What is eternity? Is divine eternity temporal or atemporal? It appears that from the inception of western Christian tradition as we know it, such questions have fascinated numerous theological minds. The idea that God should be eternal in the sense of atemporal dominates early Christian doctrine. A timeless approach to divine eternity is offered by Augustine and Boethius. Their classical analysis is partially derived from the characteristic of God being omniscient: if God exists outside of time, then God can observe all parts of time throughout the course of history as if they were simultaneous.
For Augustine time and eternity are essentially different from each other. Eternity is perfect stability and total simultaneity; time, however, is unstable and to some extent unreal. Time, in turn, consists of past, present and future. However, what has passed is no longer, what is coming is not yet, and what is, is time only insofar as it becomes past from future. Thus, time tends to be ideal rather than real. Time exists only as the present: the present of the past, the present of the present, and the present of the future. [1] This Augustinian presentism means that time exists in the soul as present memory ( memoria ), present perception ( contuitus ), and present expectation ( expectatio ). [2] Thus the three dimensions of time should be understood as nothing other than a psychological function, an extension of the mind itself. This is our relation to time. On the other hand, God’s relation to time cannot be likened to ours. God, as the eternal Creator of time, must exist outside of time and thus transcends time at all times. From God’s eternal point of view, all times are simultaneous before the great Creator.
Giving classic definition to God’s eternity, Boethius argues that God has divine life that cannot be the same as ours. We creatures lose life to the past or anticipate its future. However the eternal God possesses his life at once, simultaneously, without loss or anticipation. The expression “simultaneous and perfect possession” [3] derives from its opposite concept, i.e. temporal life. Such a simultaneity of all time is not meant to indicate any moment in time, but the absence of temporality. God’s “boundless life” thus does not exist in time; on the contrary, it embraces and transcends all time. Furthermore, Boethius’ eternity distinguishes itself not only from temporality, but also from time everlasting. The three parts of time – past, present and future – even in the everlasting life still remain separate, and hence cannot be com