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George Lindbeck once characterized postliberalism, which received its initial structure from his book The Nature of Doctrine, as an attempt to recover pre-modern scriptural interpretation in contemporary form. In Lord, Giver of Life: Toward a Pneumatological Complement to George Lindbeck’s Theory of Doctrine, Jane Barter Moulaison explores the success of that effort through a close examination of Lindbeck’s own theological contributions. Taking seriously the ecumenical promises of Lindbeck’s writing (he was instrumental in advancing Lutheran and Roman Catholic dialogue throughout the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s), this book brings Lindbeck’s famous cultural-linguistic model of religion into dialogue with Christianity’s theological forbearers: specifically, the Eastern progenitors of orthodox confession.
This constellation of theological voices—Lindbeck, his supporters and detractors, along with patristic theologians—is meant not only to test the viability of a religious model but, more importantly, to advance Lindbeck’s project in ways that have not yet been pursued. Among the critical questions engaged are: to what degree can the excesses of modern theology be overcome by a return to premodern sources? What are the implications of a constructive pneumatology to the cultural-linguistic model? Does this complement address the critiques of postliberalism, particularly those that consider the role of human agency, rationality, and autonomy?
While Lindbeck recovers significant and forgotten elements of pre-modern biblical interpretation, the very formalism of his project sometimes obscures the theological underpinnings of premodern insights and practices. Through specific attention to Eastern Trinitarian theologies of the fourth century, this book exposes a rather persistent oversight within Lindbeck’s recovery: namely, that alongside the regulative function of canon and doctrine, early biblical interpretation recognizes the role of the Holy Spirit in the appropriation of scripture, in the mission of the church, and in the defence of the gospel within the context of an unbelieving world. This book attends to these insights from the early churchs doctrine of the Holy Spirit in appreciative service to the cultural-linguistic model of religion.
Jane Barter Moulaison is an associate professor of theology and church history at the University of Winnipeg and a priest in the Diocese of Rupert’s Land. She is the author of Lord, Giver of Life (WLU Press, 2006) and Thinking Christ: Christology and Critics.
Table of Contents for Lord and Giver of Life: Toward a Pneumatological Complement to George Lindbeck’s Theory of Doctrine by Jane Barter Moulaison
Acknowledgments
I The Spirit Who Saves: Pneumatological Efficacy as the Fourth Regulative Principle
Introduction
Three Regulative Principles—and a Fourth
Development of an Argument
Methods and Sources
Conclusion
II The Spirit of Language: Pneumatology and Theological Discourse
Introduction
The Picture of Theological Language That Holds Us Captive
Overcoming Modern Epistemologies: A Theological Rationale
How Are Doctrines Justified?
Conclusion
III The Spirit of Truth: Pneumatology and the Apologetical Task
Introduction
Assessing Religious Truth
Assessing Lindbeck’s Account of the Holy Spirit
McGrath’s Critique of Lindbeck
Ad Hoc Apologetics
A Soteriological Epistemology
Conclusion
IV The Spirit’s Address: Toward a Pneumatological Intratextual Theology
Introduction
Intratextual Theology and the Gospel’s “Untranslatability”
Intentionality
Apophaticism and Pneumatology
Conclusion
V Life in the Spirit: The Church’s Practices and Mission
Introduction
George Lindbeck’s People-of-God Ecclesiology
A Pneumatological Corrective? Reinhard Hütter’s Proposal
The Holy Spirit and the Church’s Mission: A Patristic Alternative
Conclusion
VI Staying with Us: The Spirit Between Culture and Kingdom, Language and Word
Aspects of a Conversation
More Than Two Men and a Bird: A Pneumatological Complement to the Cultural-Linguistic Model
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index