The problem of creationand grace has a long history of contention within Protestant and Catholic theology, involving not only internecine conflict within the traditions but fueling, as well, ecumenical debates that have continued a dogmatic divide. This volume traces out that conflict in modern Catholic and Protestant dogmatics and provides a historical genealogy that situates the origin of the problem within different emphases in the thought of St. Augustine. The author puts forward an argument and reconstruction of the problem that overcomes the longstanding abstractions, elisions, and divisions that have characterized the theological discussion. What is called for is a reclamation of the reading of Augustine in Aquinas and Luther, a recovery of an ethical metaphysics, and a Christological reconstruction of being and otherness as the path toward a concrete union of creation and grace.
Joshua B. Davisis assistant professor of systematic theology at The General Theological Seminary in New York. He earned a Ph.D. in theology at Vanderbilt University. Davis co-founded the Theology and Apocalyptic working group at AAR and is co-editing a forthcoming volume, Apocalyptic and the Future of Theology, with Douglas Harink. The present volume is a revision of a dissertation completed at Vanderbilt University under the supervision of Paul DeHart.
"Waiting and Being provides an exemplary critical history of Catholic theology in the post-Vatican I era, as well as a close reading of Protestant Liberalism and its chief detractor, Karl Barth. But Davis cuts against the grain of much historical theology, which perpetuate 'abstract and negative' doctrines of grace, by offering a rich and extensive constructive theology of grace. A beautifully researched and stimulating book!" Katherine Sonderegger Virginia Theological Seminary "Davis's book reveals a deep thinker in close conversation with the richest sources of our contemporary theological tradition, one who creatively challenges longstanding dividing lines between nature and grace, Protestant and Catholic. This dense and demanding essay will not just invite re-reading; it will also repay the effort." Paul H. Dehart Vanderbilt University "A learned, far-reaching, and valuable book. Joshua Davis's complex and provocative argument - which engages authors ranging from Augustine to Gillian Rose, and culminates in a striking constructive statement - opens up important new lines of thought and deserves close attention." Paul Dafydd Jones University of Virginia "In this hugely ambitious first book, Joshua Davis tracks his own distinctive path through the contentious thickets of modern debate on nature and grace. Evidencing meticulous care and clarity in his own readings of Augustine, Aquinas and Luther, amongst many others, Davis shows how the French ressourcement theologians overreacted to the neo-Thomisms that preceded them, and that Protestant theology also faltered in its account of the crippling effects of sin. Hence, work still remains to be done in reconceiving the vital role of grace in transforming human (and especially social) relations. This book is itself a dazzling manifestation of ressourcement at its best: it goes back (with deep care and respect) in order to go forward (with verve and hope)." Sarah Coakley University of Cambridge
