Transcendence Enables Intimacy

It is common amongst those who have studied theology in a more progressive theological institution to be deeply suspicious of or even reject the transcendence of God. They do so believing that by rejecting transcendence intimacy takes its rightful place in Christian theology unimpeded by the distant God of cold, bossy and controlling religion. Now, it is of course true that the distant and cold god is presented to the faithful in terms of transcendence. A god of a great gap between himself and us, and who is the heavenly image of an unemotionally involved father. And it is true that this betrays Jesus and the one he named 'Abba', and the specifically Christian doctrine of God (the Trinity). The god of coldness and control (predicated on distance) is not Christian, and let us affirm our atheism in respect to that god. But this is nothing more than a pale imitation of real transcendence when applied to God. It is precisely because God is transcendent that the deepest intimacy with God is possible. Transcendence and intimacy are correlates not enemies. This God is free because of God's transcendence to be vulnerable and to mould our response into God's own life.

The ontological chasm between us and God (wrong language actually because it makes it sound like God is just ontologically different from us, but still a 'something' like us, but anyway ...) is the ground upon which intimacy stands, rather than a philosophical affirmation we wheel out occasionally. It is this insight that was the subtext of the christological and trinitarian debates of the early church. I would not be overstating the case by much if I said that the God-world relationship is the most important theological doctrine to get right: everything else will be conditioned by it.

I can't resist putting in one final paragraph. It is because transcendence and intimacy are correlates that the dual nature of Christ is not a nonsense: human and divine in Christ are not competitiors because of the transcendence of God. (This is why many of those from progressive theological colleges reject the doctrine of the Incarnation: they don't have a truly transcendent God.) Correctly understood, the transcendence of God (that is, God is not just a more transcendent version of us) is also the underlying theological principle of grace. It is because of the transcendence of God that human action adds nothing to what God does for us on our behalf. However, it is also because of God's transcendence that there can be a synergy between human and divine, and why, when correctly understood, it is possible to talk about us as co-creators with God.

The Road to Emmaus

Some points on Lk 24:13-35:

1. The Two disciples are leaving Jerusalem, reversing the determined journey of Jesus to Jerusalem and his death and glorification. (9:51) Their retreat from jerusalem is a symbol of their lack of understanding of the events that have just occurred and the unravelling of their discipleship of the crucified-risen Jesus.
   
   
2. They are disappointed, for they had thought that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel (24:21). Jesus has not met their expectations and hopes. A crucified messiah, in their minds, is not the messiah. (See 1Cor 1:18-25)
   
   
3. They can recite the events of the past few days to the stranger in an almost creed like fashion. (Compare Acts 2:22-24; 10:38) Creed like knowledge of the events is not faith.
   
   
4. And they even know about the resurrection of Jesus. But a crucified-risen messiah does not fit their expectations, and so they are going home.
   
   
5. Jesus' response is twofold. First he teaches them the necessity of his death and glorification, and provides them with a christological reading of the Hebrew Scriptures. (24:26-27) This is more than proof-texting, but a new way of reading and understanding the mission and hope of Israel in the light of the crucified-risen Lord.
   
   
6. The two disciples show the stranger hospitality. In this they follow the example of Jesus, who was hospitable around the table. (7:36-50; 9:12-17)
   
   
7. And then Jesus makes his second response to their misunderstanding of who he is and his mission by breaking the bread. They remember the hospitable Jesus who gave the breaking of the bread added meaning with the words 'This is my body.' (See 22:14-23) Imbued with new meaning, the breaking of the bread proclaims the death and resurrection of Jesus and the sure arrival of the kingdom.
   
   
8. After having their eyes opened to the Scriptures and practicing the hospitality of Jesus, and then witnessing the breaking of the bread symbolic of his death and the coming of God's kingdom, they finally understand. Word and sacrament come together, mutually reinforcing one another. (After witnessing the breaking of the bread and Jesus vanishes, they say, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" [24:32])
   
   
9. They return to Jerusalem, retracing their steps and the way of Jesus himself on his way to his death and resurrection. Arriving in jerusalem they hear the proclamation, once again, of the resurrection of Jesus. And this time, knowing the nature of his messiahship, they join by relating how they have come to recognise the crucified-risen Jesus. (24:35)
   
   

What the Trinity Is

• The Trinity is, at its heart, a love story. When you read the words 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit' this is their simple meaning.
• We are included in this story of love by sheer grace. That is, God does not need us, but loves us.
• To be included in this love story is to be included into the very life of God because God is love. That is, to be loved by God is to receive God because God is love. God is not a shadowy figure behind God's love; God is love.

• The Trinity is revelation and salvation.

• The Trinity reorders our self-understanding and vision. (E.g. personhood, society, church, and salvation)
• The different areas of theology (e.g. sacraments, Christology, grace, etc.) are just different ways of talking about the Trinity.

• The Trinity is sensitive to contemporary interest in ecology, intimacy, justice, freedom, and respect for 'the other', etc.

However abstract trinitarian theology may have become in its doctrinal mode, there is, at its heart, the simplicity and complexity of a love-story. It tells of how God, out of love, gave what is most intimate to himself, his Son and Spirit, to be involved with this human world as saviour and redeemer. (Tony Kelly)