Gunton (ii) on Creation

The Triune Creator (1998) is a masterly account, (based on the doctrine of creation course Colin taught at King’s for many years) of a trinitarian doctrine of creation. It has not (yet) been bettered. The articulating of a proper theological doctrine of creation is a key theme that pervades through much of Gunton’s work, especially from the early 1990s onwards. In the preface to The Triune Creator he argues that in a history of the doctrine of the creation ‘serious mistakes were made which led to highly problematic outcomes, among them the effective de-christianising of the doctrine and the effective divorce of theology from science’ (TC, ix). Gunton’s achievement is to follow others (like Barth, Torrance, Pannenberg) in the recovery of the doctrine of creation in Christian theology; to emphasize, like Barth, the connection between creation with redemption.

The book takes a historical journey from biblical beginnings and its interplay with Greek philosophy, through the Early Church’s description of mediation and its claim of creation ex nihilo, via the rise of science in the Middle Ages, where the doctrine was all but lost, to its more recent recovery in theologians like Barth, Pannenberg and Moltmann. The last three chapters explore providence, the imago dei and the question of eschatology and ethics.

Gunton argues that the features of the doctrine of creation are as follows: 1. creation 'out of nothing'; 2. creation is a project, that is, it exists for a purpose, derived from the love of God; 3. God relates to creation through his 'two hands' - the Son and the Spirit, who enable creation to be itself; 4. 'conservation', 'preservation', 'providence', 'redemption' are ways in which God works in and towards the creation; 5. the term 'redemption' reminds us that we cannot escape the question of evil - evil is that which prevents the created order from fulfilling its proper purpose; 6. no theology of creation is complete without proper attention being paid to the place of humankind in the project - this cannot be understood apart from christology. Genesis makes the human race both the crown of, and uniquely responsible for, the shape creation takes. By speaking of Jesus Christ as the true image of God, the New Testament shows that this responsibility takes shape through him; and 7. ethical dimensions - ethics, as encompassing not simply principles of action but a whole way of being in the world (see 'The Doctrine of Creation' in The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine, ed. Gunton, 1997 and chapter 1 of The Triune Creator)

There is not the space to discuss everything Gunton says on the doctrine. I refer you to the texts mentioned for a more detailed description. There is much I've missed out. Instead, here are some choice quotes from Gunton, which give a flavour:

'It is remarkable how deep the assumption that the Christian doctrine of creation is in some way the same thing as some version of the truth of Genesis' (DC, 61)

'The doctrine of creation has to do . . . with the establishment of the other in its own distinctive reality: not divine self-communication, but divine constituting of the world to be truly other, and so itself' (DC, 81-82)

For Gunton, the doctrine of creation requires a strong doctrine of mediation. He writes, 'there is a great deal of difference between saying that all things were created in God, simpliciter, and that it happened and happens in Christ. The reason is ... that the Son is the principle of the distinction between God and the world. It follows that to create in the Son means to create by the mediation of the one who is the way of God out into that which is not himself' (TC, 142-143)

'The Spirit is shown to be the mediator not only of God's creation, but also of his recreating and transforming action ... the Spirit is God's free and unpredictable power of life and renewal in action. The Spirit is not the Spirit of the 'spiritual' or 'religious' part of the human person, but of life in all its dimensions' (CF, 9)

'On the one hand, science, as the study of the created order in its own right, is a proper human activity, as are technology, art and other human activities we call culture. God makes a world that, unlike him, has a beginning and an end, and it is therefore of interest in and for itself as contingent reality ... But on the other hand, particular scientific discoveries are, at the very least, of limited relevance to the doctrine of creation ... however far we back we trace the processes of cosmic evolution after the big bang we shall in principle not be able to trace the hand of God (TC, 87).

According to Gunton, he traces 'the effective exclusion of the doctrine of the Trinity from the structuring of the Christian dcotrine of creation is ... at the root of both its Babylonian captivity and of the apparent mutual exclusion of theology and science' (TC, 116).

'When God is not confessed as the Lord of creation, either titanic man or deified gene take the floor, with the result that both understanding and the world are distorted' (TC, 145).

'The doctrine of creation is not a piece of natural theology, but the first article of the church's confession of faith' (TC, 157).

DC = The Doctrine of Creation (1997, ed. Gunton)
CF = The Christian Faith (2002)
TC = The Triune Creator (1998)

Comments

[-ash]

this is, again, a fascinating article! i'm rather disappointed to find The Doctrine of Creation is about £30 used on amazon. I shall have to wait until I'm in close proximity to a good library it seems!

[andy goodliff]

Glad, you're enjoying the gunton stuff. You'll find it cheaper here, and I can get it even cheaper at the moment at £15. Having said that, its a heavy-going book and I recommend starting somewhere else first. The Triune Creator is first-rate, although difficult to get hold of - I have a used copy I got off amazon a few years back.

[Brodie]

hey www.abebooks.co.uk have the Gunton book you are talking about from £9.54. Ok it's second hand, but they give a good description of the condition that the book is in.

[-ash]

thanks guys. I did look on ABE, but i always forget to convert the dollars to pounds, so it looks more.