Eros, Agape, and neighbour-love as ontological gift
In Eros and Self-Emptying, Lee Barrett suggests a reading of Augustine and Kierkegaard that interprets the believer's love for God as eros for God's agape-nature. While Barrett's analysis suggests how one might mediate between the teleological necessity of eros and the gratuitous move...
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Toronto Press
2015
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| In: |
Toronto journal of theology
Year: 2015, Volume: 31, Issue: 1, Pages: 84-93 |
| Review of: | Eros and self-emptying (Grand Rapids, Mich. [u.a.] : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013) (Gonwa, Janna)
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| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | In Eros and Self-Emptying, Lee Barrett suggests a reading of Augustine and Kierkegaard that interprets the believer's love for God as eros for God's agape-nature. While Barrett's analysis suggests how one might mediate between the teleological necessity of eros and the gratuitous movement of agape in the love between God and the believer, it does not answer the question of how this same mediation can be accomplished in the case of neighbour-love. As a result, it leaves unaddressed certain lingering worries in Augustine and Kierkegaard studies about how the neighbour can be the proper object of love rather than an indirect recipient of the believer's love for God. This article suggests that the problem of neighbour-love can be addressed by extending Barrett's account of God's love as ontological gift in light of Augustine's assertion in De Trinitate that God “loves us in order that we might become.” The resultant picture grounds love for the neighbour in her particular individuality as she is being called into fellowship with God, rather than in the application of a universal ethical law or as a by-product of the believer's obligation to Christ. |
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| Item Description: | Thema: Augustine and Kierkegaard |
| ISSN: | 0826-9831 |
| Contains: | In: Toronto journal of theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3138/tjt.3113 |