Volume 12, Issue 3, October 1999
Editorial
Dan Madigan, iii
Readers will no doubt have their own strong opinions as to whether or not the end of this year marks a significant historical watershed either of a millennial or a centenary nature. Whatever of that, it does mark the end of the comparatively uneventful tenure of this editor-in-chief. Next year I will be moving to Rome to take over the establishing of a new department for the study of religions at the Pontifical Gregorian University – a somewhat daunting project but nonetheless an exciting one.
Being involved with Pacifica has provided a welcome opportunity to establish contact with many members of the theological academy in Australia and New Zealand after many years away. Although based in Melbourne since its inception, Pacifica involves writers from all parts of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, as well as contributors from North America and Europe. This year has seen a developing interest in sponsorship of the journal on the part of other Colleges of Divinity and Theology around the country. We hope to be able to announce next year an official relationship with at least two other bodies apart from the Melbourne College of Divinity, which has supported the journal so strongly in recent years.
The processes of a refereed journal are extraordinarily collegial and it has been impressive to see the generosity with which scholars undertake to engage with their colleagues’ work and help them to refine and polish it for publication. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with members of the Pacifica Association and the editorial board, especially Dr Maryanne Confoy R.S.C., the book-review editor. In addition I have learned a great deal from Dr John Honner and Professor Frank Moloney S.D.B., two of the founding editors.
Later in this issue there appears an advertisement for the post of editor-in-chief. Until the position is filled, Dr Brendan Byrne S.J. has agreed to act in that capacity.
This issue also announces a small rise in the price of Pacifica. The increase is slightly larger than would be expected due to the imposition of the 10% Goods and Services Tax in the coming year. Even subscriptions paid in advance still by law attract the tax on any part of the subscription filled on or after 1 July 2000.
Articles
Towards an Inclusive Vision for Moral TheologyPart I: A Look into the Past
James F. Keenan, pp.249-263
In this article the author argues that moral theologians must seek to overcome the separation between moral and ascetical theology. Such a distinction entered practical theology comparatively recently. The first part of the article consists chiefly of a historical survey, beginning with the writings of the twelfth century, pointing to the close connection between evangelical and spiritual activity that found in conscience the voice of God. By emphasising a scripture based, holistic, self-directed, embodied and relational practical theology, ascetical theology offers moral theology a way of exploring a broadened and positive agenda for examining the ethical life.
Palamite Influence in Contemporary Pneumatology
Duncan Reid, pp.264-274
This century has seen a renaissance of Palamite theology, and though this has been recognised by a small number of Western theologians, responses have rarely gone further than sympathetic descriptions on the one hand, and the reiteration of traditional criticisms on the other. This paper seeks to explore the use made of Eastern Orthodox, and specifically Palamite theology, as a constructive theological resource in the area of pneumatology by one contemporary theologian who has gone beyond this impasse, Anna Marie Aagaard. The question of the possible broader but indirect influence of Palamism will also be raised with reference to the pneumatology of Michael Welker.
In the Name of Who? Levinas and the Other Side of Theology
Terry A. Veling, pp.275-292
“Theology’s About Face” makes a tentative and initial link between theology and the ethical concerns of Levinas’ writing, particularly around his notion of responsibility for the face of the other as presented in his first major work, Totality and Infinity. “Being Faced” echoes themes from Levinas’ second major work, Otherwise Than Being or Beyond Essence. This essay explores the metaphor of “being faced” (with the sense of persecution and obligation this “forces” upon us) in contrast to our more familiar and usual stance of “facing being” (with the sense of anxiety and questioning this produces in us).
Narrative as Ideology: Synchronic (Narrative Critical) and Diachronic Readings of Jeremiah 37-38
Brian Boyle, pp.293-312
While synchronic and diachronic readings of Old Testament texts are generally taken as methodologically diverse, there have been recent attempts to explore how the two readings may in fact be complementary. Taking the narrative of Jeremiah’s final audience with Zedekiah in Jeremiah 37-38, this article offers just such a reading of the text. One episode from this narrative, Jer 37:11-16, is taken as an example of a synchronic (narrative critical) reading of the text. An example is then offered of a diachronic reading, drawing on the work of Seitz and Stripp. The article argues that a diachronic reading of this narrative is necessary and complementary to a synchronic reading. The ideological nature of this story of Jeremiah’s imprisonment becomes clearer.
The Word in Question: Barth and Divine Conversation
Frank D. Rees, pp.313-332
In Barth’s theology, faith is the determination of human beings by the Word of God. Critical response sees a fundamental difficulty in the totalizing impact of God’s Word, leaving no room for human freedom and initiative. One means of resolving this difficulty is to reconsider the form of God’s address. Whereas Barth implies that God always speaks in the indicative or prescriptive voices, the Bible also presents God as one who asks questions. A development of Brueggemann’s theology of divine rhetoric allows us to speak of God the conversationalist while preserving Barth’s stress upon divine initiative. The divine-human conversation includes elements of invitation, exploration and the gathering of consensus. In this context, faith involves responsive engagement with divine questions and is not limited to belief and obedience. Doubt and protest can also find positive expression within the divine conversation.
Paul, Philemon and Onesimus: Feeling one’s way into a Bible story
Book Reviews
The Book of Revelation
G. K. Beale
Keith Dyer pp.341-342
Jesus in the Nag Hammadi Writings
Majella Franzmann
Judith Lieu pp.342-344
Women In The New Testament: Questions and Commentary
Bonnie Thurston
Mary Coloe pp.344-345
The World of Catholic Renewal 1540-1770
R. Po-Chia Hsia
Lawrence Nemer pp.345-347
An Introduction To Catholic Theology
Richard Lennan (ed.)
Tony Kelly pp.347-348
What is Theology? Foundational and Moral
Edmond J. Dunn
Paul Gwynne and Tony Ireland pp.348-350
The College Student’s Introduction to the Trinity
Lynne Faber Lorenzen
Richard Treloar pp.350-352
Indiscretion: Finitude and the Naming of God
Thomas A. Carlson
Robyn Horner pp.352-354
The Exercise of the Primacy: Continuing the Dialogue
Phyllis Zagano and Terrence W. Tilley (eds.)
Ormond Rush pp.354-355
Truth and the Reality of God: An Essay in Natural Theology
Ian Markham
Tony Kelly pp.356-357
Storytracking Texts, Stories, and Histories in Central Australia
Sam D. Gill
John Wilcken pp.357-360
The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science
Peter Harrison
David Parnham pp.360-363
Listening: A pastoral style
Frances Moran
Margarita Frederico pp.363-366
Contributors
BRIAN BOYLE M.S.C. lectures in Old Testament at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle, Western Australia. He recently completed his doctorate on the Book of Jeremiah at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has a particular interest in the Prophetic Literature.
JAMES KEENAN S.J. is Professor of Moral Theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He toured Australia this year as the guest of the Society of Jesus (in association with their Australian sesquicentenary) and the Order of Malta. His work on the future of moral theology, of which the first part is published here, was presented to the Catholic Moral Theology Association’s conference in Melbourne. The second part will appear in Pacifica in February.
FRANK REES is Professor of Systematic Theology at Whitley College in Melbourne. He has studied in Melbourne and Manchester (UK) and served Baptist congregations in Victoria and Tasmania, before taking up his current teaching position in 1991. He is the President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools (ANZATS) and a member of the Editorial Board of Pacifica. The position he presents in his article is part of a much larger work on the subject of doubt.
DUNCAN REID is an Anglican priest who is presently head of the School of Theology at Flinders University in South Australia. He has been teaching systematic theology there and at St Barnabas College (Adelaide) since 1991. He has a special interest in the doctrines of God and creation, and Eastern Orthodox thought, and is involved in several Adelaide-based collaborative research projects to do with ecological theology.
TERRY VELING taught at the Catholic Theological Union in Sydney and has recently taken up a position as Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Saint Thomas in Houston, Texas. His article is part of a larger work on the thought of Emmanuel Levinas that he worked on while a Golda Meir Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
NIGEL WATSON is Professor Emeritus of New Testament in the United Faculty of Theology in Melbourne. In his teaching and writing, especially his commentaries on Paul’s letters to the Corinthians he has long sought to make the insights of biblical scholarship accessible to a wider audience of teachers and preachers.
