19th and 20th Century Theology

This thesis examines Fr. William A. Van Roo's contribution to the wide field of theological reflection on the relationship between theological method and the religious experience of the theologian as believer. While the 'turn to experience' became a hallmark of theology after 1952, and much was written on the topic, no solid consensus emerged. The thesis concludes that Van Roo's contribution, which passes through his reflection on symbols and symbolizing, offers a synthesis of the important elements of the question, around which a consensus could be built.

Kekristenan, teologi, serta filsafat selalu mengalami pergerakan atau dinamika yang menarik dari masa ke masa, hal ini pun selalu memiliki ciri khas yang ada pada di setiap abadnya. Pada abad sebelumnya, khususnya abad ke 17-18, ada sebuah kecenderungan dari gereja dan para teolognya untuk memutlakan rumusan-rumusan dogmatis mereka dan menyamakan ”Beriman dengan mengamini atau menyetujui rumusan-rumusan dogmatis” (Hadiwijoyono, 2004, 9). Akan tetapi, Di abad 19 sampai 20 awal, kekristenan memasuki suatu era modern yang lebih “Berani terbuka, dan kritis” tidak seperti abad-abad sebelumnya. Era modern digambarkan dengan orang-orang terutama umat Kristen yang semakin banyak mempertanyakan dogma-dogma maupun doktrin-doktrin kekristenan tradisional dengan kritis. Pada abad ini para teolog memandang ilmu teologi dan biblika juga diperlukan sebuah logika atau cara berpikir yang benar, sebuah kritik, dan hal-hal etis yang harus ada di dalamnya agar tidak membuat umat salah dalam bertindak dan berpikir hanya karena suatu dogma maupun doktrin Kekristenan.
Tidak sedikit tantangan yang harus dihadapi pada era modern ini.  Pertama, perubahan dari ideologi atau gagasan gerakan pembaruan rohani atau pietisme yang menekankan pada kesalehan umat yang mutlak terjadi pada abad 17-18. Kedua, adanya pandangan mengenai pemisahan antara hal-hal spiritual (ilahi) dan non-spiritual (non-ilahi) atau sekularisasi yang pada akhirnya memunculkan suatu ide atau pandangan baru yang menjadi sebuah pilihan bagi umat untuk meyakininya. Ketiga, terjadinya revolusi industri yang berkembang di beberapa negara yang memicu berkembangnya ilmu pengetahuan atau sains dan kemudian sedikit demi sedikit mengurangi ketergantungan manusia kepada Allah. Keempat, berkembangnya pandangan baru seperti Deisme yang mengambil bentuk suatu konsep tandingan mengenai Allah dan agama (Lane 1990, 194). Tak lama kemudian berubah menjadi serangan terhadap agama. Abad ke-19 ateisme dan agnostisisme untuk pertama kalinya menjadi unsur yang umum di dunia barat dan Kristen. Keyakinan akan daya akal mengalami pasang surut dalam dunia modern, tetapi serangan terhadap pernyataan berlangsung terus tanpa surut.(Lane 1990, 194). Kelima, adanya penelitian kritis terhadap sejarah. Alkitab dianalisa melalui berbagai pendekatan dan dilihat sebagai kitab yang harus pastikan kebenarannya secara kritis, kisah mengenai Yesus Kristus, dan sejarah dogma Kekristenan diselidiki secara sistematis (Lane 1990, 195).

This essay considers the ecclesiology of William Robinson (1888–1963), a British theologian from the Stone-Campbell Movement. It surveys some of the distinctive features of his thinking on sacraments, theological ethics, and the nature of the church. It demonstrates that he sought to embody a “free church catholic” spirit. The conclusion brings Robinson’s ecclesiology in conversation with the present situation of the Stone-Campbell Movement, especially the Christian Churches (Independent) in America.

This conclusive chapter of the thesis argues that Van Roo's analysis of the complex relationship between theological reflection on the religious experience of the believer in community successfully integrates the fragmentary insights found in other authors into a unified whole. Van Roo thus offers a proposal around which a much needed consensus could be achieved.

Jurgen Moltmann stands as one of the most important and influential theologians of the 20th century.  After providing a brief biographical sketch and discussion of the philosophical commitment to a distinctly eschatological theology, the paper explores the key features of Moltmann's theological method and his doctrine of God.  Special attention is paid to his proposal of dynamic relatiionality (or perichoresis), his identification of the immanent Trinity with the economic Trinity, his view of divine passibility, and his conception of God in terms of panentheism.  The paper concludes with a critique of Moltmann's views, paying close attention to his strengths and ongoing revelation while also showing why many of his controversial proposals remain unconvincing.

In this paper I address how Karl Barth's doctrine of revelation moves from a Christological foundation into a Trinitarian portrayal of God's free act of disclosure He both has unveiled His truth, and veiled Himself from man. However, I propose that Barth's understanding of revelation secures us with a powerful framework to speak of God, and listen to God in our modern society.

In this paper I will explore three different visions of ecumenism found in three Orthodox thinkers of the last century, Nikolai Berdyaev, Fr Sergius Bulgakov and Vladimir Lossky. With the exception of Bulgakov, they are not the most frequently cited figures in relation to the ecumenical movement, and yet they all were deeply engaged in conversations and cooperation with Christians from other churches, and tried to spell out what these relationships meant for them and in what sense they made visible both already existing and desired unity. As they all are related to the controversial figure of Vladimir Solovyov, I will first briefly turn to him. Then I turn to Berdyaev's discovery of creative and free Orthodoxy, which should be instrumental in overcoming the divided life of the Christian world, followed by Bulgakov's sophianic and pastoral concepts of unity, and finally to Lossky's mystical-eschatological reading of the Christian sources and his devotion to various saints which did not follow divisions into confessional camps. In the conclusion I will ask what of these ecumenical visions could be fruitfully revived to provide inspiration in our search for unity, and strengthen our focus on what is experientially real.

This book investigates the relationship between nineteenth-century German theological Wissenschaft and the emergence of confessional Lutheranism. James Ambrose Lee II argues that the fi rst generation of German confessional Lutheran theologians were active participants in the multifaceted discourse over the relationship between theology and Wissenschaft. In examining the writings of Adolf Harleß, August Vilmar, and Johannes von Hofmann, this work illustrates confessional Lutheran attempts at creating a method of theological study in service to the church and university.

John Henry Newman spearheaded one of the first modern retrievals of the Christian doctrine of the Christian doctrine of deification. This article argues that, precisely because of the early date of Newman’s rehabilitation, his treatment is not tinted by the polemics surrounding theosis that developed in the late nineteenth century between Eastern and Western Christianity. To Newman, deification is not an Eastern doctrine, it is not cause for division between East and West, and it does not supplant justification. Instead, it is arises from a broad patristic consensus, it is a tool for union among the churches, and it provides resources for understanding justification properly.

This article explores how the Hesychast practices of prayer expand the notion of lex orandi as well as bringing lex orandi and lex credendi into an equal relationship of mutual exchange. It concentrates on the contributions of two theologians of the Neo-Patristic renewal, Vladimir Lossky and Fr Dumitru Stăniloae. Their understanding of the relation between the apophatic and the kataphatic dimensions of spiritual life and theology helps to expand the notion of lex orandi and to rediscover the antinomic character of the lex credendi, foundational for the discernment of what is and what is not Christian orthodoxy.

The article is an expanded and updated version of the study published in Czech in
Teologická Reflexe in 2013. On the examples of three theologians from different background, Tillich, Florovsky and Congar, it explores how tradition is related to the future, when and why it works with a notion of eschatological future, when and how it creates utopic visions. A prime attention is given to the works in which the theologians reacted to each other, and thus the Protestant, the Orthodox and the Catholic notions are brought into a conversation.

In this paper I argue that autism places an important restraint upon the use of relationality in theological anthropology. This argument proceeds by outlining how the appropriation of dialectic personalism, which initiated 'the relational turn' in twentieth century theological anthropology, has struggled to escape the capacity or property-based focus on individual subjects. As such, this relational account remains discriminatory against those who do not or cannot enact a particular kind of relationality, as some models of autism suggest. Moreover, attention to interpersonal relationships as a key human capacity within twentieth century theological anthropology closely parallels and may even have informed the development of autism within psychology as, in part, a social impairment. The devastating collision of these two intellectual trajectories is made apparent in explicit references by contemporary theologians to autism as a condition that prevents some humans from bearing the image of God, developing fully into persons, or receiving God's grace by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The article explores how three representatives of the Neo-Patristic synthesis, Georges Florovsky, Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff, found within tradition permanent reference points, such as Christian Hellenism, Greek fathers of the 2nd and the 3rd Centuries or Byzantine Theology . It explores problems arising from making these reference points superior to tradition in other periods of history and especially in Modernity.

Christians have traditionally conceived of the moral life as an imitation of Christ, whereby followers enter into fellowship with God. The American Transcendentalists can be understood as extending rather than subverting this legacy. For Emerson, a person cultivates virtues by imitating those she loves and admires. Ultimately, however, the virtues enable her to innovate on received models, to excel by pressing beyond exemplars. Emerson's famous line, " imitation is suicide, " is not a contradiction but a fulfillment of the imitation of Christ, understood in his terms. In his own time, John Brown was the public figure who, for Emerson, most nearly exemplified this innovative imitation of Christ. An examination of exemplarity, of this artful union of imitation and innovation in moral and spiritual formation, sheds light on how modern agents cultivate the virtues needed to be at home in the modern world.

zweifellos einer der bedeutendste Theologen des 20. Jahrhunderts gewe-sen. 1 Sein umfangreiches Werk verlangt daher auch nach einer Kontextuali-sierung, wie sie etwa in biographischen Studien zu einigen der genannten Theologen vorliegen. So erschienen in den letzten Jahren etwa gewichtige Biographien zu den vorstehend genannten Theologen: Barth, 2 Bultmann, 3 1 Hans-Urs-von-Balthasar-Bibliographie : 1925-2005 / [neu bearb. und erg. von Cornelia Capol und Claudia Müller].-Freiburg [im Breisgau] : Johannes-Verlag Einsiedeln, 2005.-223 S. ; 23 cm.-ISBN 3-89411-029-5 : EUR 24.00 [8902].-Rez.: IFB 06-1-027 http://swbplus.bsz-bw.de/bsz25036803Xrez.htm-Eine aktualisierte Version (Stand: März 2020) der Bibliographie liegt online vor: http://www.johannes-verlag.de/jh_huvb_bibliographie.pdf [2020-05-31].-Siehe auch Endliche Freiheit, unendlich zu sein : zum metaphysischen Anknüpfungs-punkt der Theologie mit Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar und Johannes Duns Scotus / Thomas Möllenbeck.-Paderborn [u.a.] : Schöningh, 2012.-406 S.-(Pa-derborner theologische Studien ; 53).-Vollst. zugl.: Paderborn, Univ., Diss., 2004.-ISBN 978-3-506-77015-8 : EUR 39.90.-Inhaltsverzeichnis: https://d-nb.info/1002362911/04-Ferner The early Hans Urs von Balthasar : historical contexts and intellectual formation / Paul Silas Peterson.-Berlin [u.a.] : De Gruyter, 2015.-XVIII, 379 S ; 24 cm.-(Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann ; 170).-Zugl.: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 2013 u.d.T.: The early Balthasar.-ISBN 978-3-11-037430-8 : EUR 99.95.-Peterson konnte die Korrespondenzen der frühen Jahre im Balthasar-Archiv nicht einsehen (S. 7).-Inhaltsverzeichnis: https://d-nb.info/1058498894/04 2 The early Karl Barth : historical contexts and intellectual formation 1905-1935 /

Pablo Argárate I-E RENOUVEAU DES ÉTUDES PATRISTIQUES EN AU:|RICHE, EN ROUMANIE ET EN HONGRM ET IAE DEVELOPPEMENT DU DIALOGUE GCUMÉNIQTIE Je vous propose de faire un voyage dès la Mer Noire jusqu'auxAlpes ; on pourrait prendre le Danube et partant de la Roumanie, puis, en faisant une courte escale à Budapest, arriver finalement àVienne. En effet, j'essaierai de présenter ce rapport entre renouveau des études patristigues et le développemenr du dialogue aecuménique dans rois pays de l'est et du centre de I'Europe. Ils ont çomme point commun d'avoir fait partie (en partie pour la Roumanie avec Ia Transylvanie) de I'ancien empire austro-hongrois. Il y a cependant des points de divergence, surtout après la disparition de l'empire et sr¡rtout après la deuxième guerre mondiale, la Hongrie er la Roamanie sont tombées au-delà du rideau de fer. En outre, alors que la Roumanie a eu une forte identité orthodoxe, la Hongrie a présenté une certaine majorité catholique avec une présence de l'église reformée. D'abord je me concentrerai su¡ la Roumanie. Depuis 1948 avec Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej et après, sous la dictarure de Nicolae Ceaugescu, la situation religieuse devint très dure, spécialement pour les églises. En effet, en 1948 deux lois, sur les religions er sur l'éducarion, sont passées qui vont déterminer la vie dans le pays jusqu'à la chute du régime 40 ans plus tard.

In my first academic monograph (2016, V&R, FSÖTh 156, S. 509, written in German), based on a reworked doctoral dissertation, I offer the first historical and systematic-theological analysis and interpretation of the voluminous oeuvre of German Baltic theologian, social ethicist and statistician Alexander von Oettingen (1827–1905). In my study I significantly revise both the results of the previous research on his thinking and the common view and the stand of research with regard to the course of modern theology and ethics. I am able to specify the standard view according to which Oettingen is the one who authored and influentially coined the concept of “social ethics”. However, my main thesis is that his work constitutes the first systematic formation of a theology of the cross and of social ethics. In Oettingen’s legacy the genesis of an explicitly fundamental-theological understanding of theologia crucis coincides with empirically accounted and fundamental-ethically conceived social ethics (all ethics is social ethics). For the first time in modern theology the expression “theology of the cross” receives the rank of a fundamental guiding concept of theology (since 1859). It leads to a fully elaborated and comprehensive academic treatise of the Christian doctrine (Lutherische Dogmatik, 1897–1902). Thus, this important, although controversial concept, which arguably signifies central insights of Lutheran Reformations and is usually held to be a (re-)discovery or (re-)creation of 20th century academic theology, occurs in modernity much earlier and in a very different epochal and social constellation. At the same time, we can see in the legacy of Oettingen the very first introduction of the concept of “social ethics” into theological discourse via intensive engagement with evolving empirical social sciences. He becomes a pioneer of a dialogue between theology and sociology. I explore these basic orientations of his work, theology of the cross and social ethics, and interpret their relation as “solidaristic tolerance”. The terms “tolerance” and “solidarity” play a very important role in Oettingen’s theology, which is particularly sensitive to the situation of religious and ideological pluralism. He turns out to be one of the first modern thinkers, if not the first, explicitly working with the concept of “solidarity” in the fields of theology and ethics.

Although nationalism attracts a great deal of attention in historical, political and social scholarship, the religious conceptual schemes of nationalism are not very popular in research. Gerhard Graf has pointed to the relevance of Christian imagery for understanding nationalism. According to Graf, it is necessary to study the way in which Christian concepts were used for the construction of national identities and for the justification of the existence of nations. Christian concepts of community and providence are essential for comprehending the self-understanding of nations and nationalist movements.
In this thesis, the focus will be on the period in which nationalism experienced its heyday, the nineteenth century. This “age of nationalism” is an ideal field of research for understanding the way in which a nationalist worldview is constructed. This project renders the first exploration of the way in which Christian concepts were used for designing nations. For that reason, the scope of the project is limited to a single casus, which will be studied in depth. The selected person, the German theologian Isaak August Dorner (1809-1884), was active as an academic theologian and church politician. In this way, Dorner was active in two nationalist projects of his age, the German academy and the creation of a German national church. In addition, Dorner elaborated on nationalism in lectures and speeches, which forms a valuable resource for understanding his stance towards the nation.
(Taken from the Introduction)

EDITION 11-3 Erinnerungen an Friedrich Nietzsche : mit Briefen an Hein-rich Köselitz / Franz Overbeck. Und mit einem Essay von Hein-rich Detering.-Berlin : Berenberg, 2011.-156 S. : Ill. ; 23 cm.-ISBN 978-3-937834-44-3 : EUR 20.00 [#1941] Der ungläubige Theologe Franz Overbeck, der zu den engsten Freunden Friedrich Nietzsches gehörte, ist ein wichtiger Zeuge für die biographische Erforschung des Philosophen. 1 Lange wurde Overbeck vor allem unter dem Gesichtspunkt seiner Freundschaft mit Nietzsche gesehen und gelesen. Walter Benjamin hatte als letzten Brief seiner Anthologie Deutsche Men-schen einen Brief Overbecks an Nietzsche abgedruckt und Overbeck dort in einem kurzen Text vorgestellt, von denen Jacob Taubes sagt, sie gehör-ten "zum Einsichtigsten, das über Overbeck geschrieben wurde". 2 Benjamin nennt Overbeck dort "eine der grossen Mittlergestalten": "Was Sinclair Höl-derlin bedeutet hat, ist Overbeck für Nietzsche gewesen." 3 Overbecks theo-1 Vgl. z.B. die Darstellung Flamme bin ich sicherlich! : Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Overbeck und ihre Freunde / Hermann-Peter Eberlein.-Köln : Schmidt von Schwind, 1999.-352 S. : Ill. ; 25 cm.-ISBN 3-932050-15-0.-Ferne: Der Geist der Historie und das Ende des Christentums : zur "Waffengenossenschaft" von Friedrich Nietzsche und Franz Overbeck ; mit einem Anhang unpublizierter Texte aus Overbecks "Kirchenlexicon" / Andreas Urs Sommer.-Berlin : Akademie-Verlag, 1997.-VI, 183 S. ; 25 cm.-ISBN 3-05-003112-3.-Der Briefwechsel ist als Einzelausgabe erhältlich: Briefwechsel / Friedrich Nietzsche ; Franz und Ida Overbeck. Hrsg. von Katrin Meyer und Barbara von Reibnitz.-Stuttgart ; Weimar : Metzler, 1999.-XXXII, 535 S. ; 22 cm.-ISBN 3-476-01617-X.-Zu Overbeck sieh auch die Neuausgabe eines ursprünglich 1931 erschienene Buches: Franz Over-beck : Versuch einer Würdigung / Walter Nigg.-1. Aufl.-Zürich : Römerhof-Verlag, 2009.-304 S. : Ill. ; 22 cm.-ISBN 978-3-905894-02-8.

Wenn man an Franz Overbeck (1837 -1905) denkt, so kommt dem philosophiegeschichtlich interessierten Leser wohl als erstes Nietzsche 1 in den Sinne, dessen Freund der Basler Theologe war, der gemeinhin als ein Ungläubiger gilt. Es gibt bekanntlich das Wort von der "Waffengenossenschaft" von Friedrich Nietzsche und Franz Overbeck. 2 Overbeck hat neben seiner Schrift über viele kleinere Texte wie Rezensionen oder Lemmata für sein nie veröffentlichtes Kirchenlexikon geschrieben, aber kein theologisches opus magnum. 3 Es ist aber ein "Schriftchen" von Overbeck, wie Heidegger es in seinem Vorwort von 1970 zu Phänomenologie und Theologie sagt, das zusammen

It is well known that John Henry Newman’s Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine contains strong autobiographical elements. Equally, the essay is an important 19th century contribution to the development of the history of theology. Another fact is less well known: in the case of Newman, biography and the history of ideas go hand in hand. This article aims to explain how Newman’s personal search for a spiritual home influenced his conception of the development of Christian thought. This is done by analysing Newman’s own writing as well as looking at the critical appraisal of Newman’s thought by Rowan Williams. Both authors share an interest in the development of theological ideas but differ in their opinion on the necessity of (dis-)continuity in this development.

My article offers a critical review of current strands and problems in the historiography of nineteenth century theology. This history is usually written by systematic theologians and has thus often been rather disconnected from the wider developments in the historiography of the period. The article suggests that the current crisis of 19th century historiography (as diagnosed by Nolte, Marchand and others) offers an opportunity for the theological historiography which can, however, only be grasped if a number of issues are successfully tackled. I discuss three such issues: (1) the coincidence of crisis and vitality in 19th century theology; (2) the occurrence of theological reflection outside of institutionalised theology; (3) the global range of theology in the 19th century.

Co-edited with Johannes Zachhuber. The full contents and papers are available here: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjpt20/80/1-2?nav=tocList.

Contents
1. Foreword, Walter Kasper
2. Editorial Introduction, Daniel Whistler and Johannes Zachhuber
3. Schelling and Protestant Theology, Jan Rohls
4. F.W.J. Schelling and the Rise of Historical Theology, Johannes Zachhuber
5. Immunitary Foreclosures: Schelling and British Idealism, Tilottama Rajan
6. Did Schelling Live on in Catholic Theology? An Examination of his Influence on Catholic Tuebingen, Grant Kaplan
7. Mythology, Essence and Form: Schelling's Jewish Reception in the Nineteenth Century, Paul Franks
8. Schelling's Prehistory in Russia: The Legacy of Enlightenment, Sigrun Bielfeldt
9. Schelling and the New England Mind, Joel Rasmussen
10. Freedom, Sin and the Absoluteness of Christianity: Reflections on the Early Tillich's Schelling-Reception, Christian Danz
11. "The Story Continues...": Schelling and Rosenzweig on Narrative Philosophy, Agata Bielik-Robson
12. Aspects of Schelling Influence on Bulgakov and other thinkers of the Russian Religious Renaissance, Tikhon Vasilyev
13. Schelling and Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology: The Case of Walter Kasper, Antonio Russo
14. The Schelling of Religious Existentialism, Daniel Whistler

A review of David Scaer's treatment of Baptism among 19th and earthly 20th century Lutherans. He explores how those who tended to deny the miraculous powers of the means of grace (that is to say, rejected the truth of infant faith) still practiced and defended infant baptism.

In Kierkegaard and the Staging of Desire: Rhetoric and Performance in a Theology of Eros Carl S. Hughes develops an original approach to Søren Kierkegaard’s religious writings. As is well known, Kierkegaard published these religious writings under his own name. Some interpreters take this to mean that he no longer relies on the poetics of indirect communication that underlies his pseudonymous works. According to them, the religious writings finally formulate Kierkegaard’s true views in a direct and unambiguous way. Others have suggested that these religious writings are just as indirect as all the others. Hughes belongs to the second camp. In his illuminating book, he convincingly shows that the indirect method of writing is not undermining the religious content of Kierkegaard’s works, as is feared by many interpreters from the first camp, but is essential for sustaining it. That is why Hughes believes that Kierkegaard’s indirect mode of writing is of vital importance for contemporary theology as a discipline.

This paper discusses three interrelated problems at the forefront of 19th and 20th century thought on subjectivity and the problem of God.  These issues will be explored as they were worked out by Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834), G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831), Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Freidrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Paul Tillich (1886-1965) and Karl Rahner (1904-1984).  The paper is divided into three parts.  Part one deals with the ontological nature of subjectivity itself and what it reveals about the conditions of the possibility of a subject’s relation to the Absolute.  Part two explores the role of subjectivity and interiority in the individual’s relation to God, and part three takes a look at the theme of the “unhappy consciousness,” and how its development led to important attacks on theism.  At the end of the chapter I offer a few reflections on how the sophisticated theist might reply to some of those attacks.

Using Augustine’s framework of sin as nonbeing I will give a brief exploratory account of how, since the Fall, humanity has been on a path toward nonbeing. I will highlight three areas of sin’s corruption as concerns humanity: the human in relation to him- or herself, the human in relation to the other, and the human in relation to God. I will then show how the gospel of Christ has provided a way back to true human being and how this affects the human in relation to God, himself, and others.

What does it mean to be human? A clue to the answer lies in the asking of the question, for this act presupposes both a [human] subject and object in a dialectic of self-transcendence. As Jenson observes, “in asking this question, we somehow take up a vantage outside ourselves to make ourselves our own objects, get beyond ourselves to look back at ourselves.”  The mystery of human existence is “that I am the subject of the object I am and the object of the subject I am.”  But what do I see when I look at myself? At others? At God? On my own, this self-transcendence leaves me at the mercy of my own divided desires – searching for definition. But with God, I receive my true humanity in the midst of divine discourse – finding significance in God’s recognition that I am a true human being. The failures of the former approach highlight the successes of the latter.

This article explores how apophatic method  re-emerges in contemporary theology. Using as examples three Frech thinkers: Jean-Pierre Jossua, Jean-Luc Marion, and  Louis-Marie Chauvet it shows that, like in the Greek Patristic tradition, apophaticism is not just concerned with purifying our concepts, but with the whole way of life. For Jossua its insights are necessary for living the life of a witness to the Gospel, for Marion it prevents conceptual idolatry and opens us to perceive God asa gift rather than a given, for Chauvet it belongs to the symbolic order within which he situates human conversion.