|
Peter Taylor Forsyth, also known as P. T. Forsyth, (1848–1921) was a Scottish theologian. The son of a postman, Forsyth studied at the University of Aberdeen and then in Göttingen (under Albrecht Ritschl). He was ordained into the Congregational ministry and served churches as pastor at Bradford, Manchester, Leicester and Cambridge, before becoming Principal of Hackney College, London (later subsumed into the University of London) in 1901. An early interest in critical theology made him suspect to some more 'orthodox' Christians. However, he increasingly came to the conclusion that liberal theology failed to account adequately for the moral problem of the guilty conscience. This led him to a moral crisis which he found resolved in the atoning work of Christ. The experience helped to shape and inform a vigorous interest in the issues of holiness and atonement. Although Forsyth rejected many of his earlier liberal leanings he retained many of Adolf von Harnack's criticisms of Chalcedonian Christology. This led him to expound a kenotic doctrine of the incarnation (clearly influenced by Bishop Charles Gore and Thomasius). Where he differed from other kenotic theologies of the atonement was the claim that Christ did not give up his divine attributes but condensed them; i.e., the incarnation was the expression of God's omnipotence rather than its negation. His theology and attack on liberal Christianity can be found in his most famous work, ''The Person and Place of Christ'' (1909), which anticipated much of the neo-orthodox theology of the next generation. He has sometimes been coined the 'Barthian before Barth', but this fails to account for many areas of divergence with the Swiss theologian's thought. While many of Forsyth's most significant insights have largely gone ignored, not a few consider him to be among the greatest of English-speaking theologians of the early twentieth century. In his ''Christian Theology: An Introduction'', Alister E. McGrath describes Forsyth's ''Justification of God'' (1916). The book
In his ''Theology and the Problem of Evil'', Kenneth Surin points to Forsyth's ''Justification of God'' as offering a theodicy based on the cross. God can be justified for creating a world with so much pain and suffering “only if he were prepared to share the burden of pain and suffering with his creatures.” Surin concurs with Forsyth.〔Quoted in Kenneth Surin, ''Theology and the Problem of Evil'' (Basil Blackwell, 2004), 67, as cited in Karen Kilby, “Evil and the Limits of Theology,” (Theologyphilosphycentre.co.uk ), Accessed October 23, 2009.〕 Forsyth wrote ''The Justification of God'',〔Peter Taylor Forsyth, ''The Justification of God: Lectures for War-time on a Christian Theodicy'' (Independent Press, 1916 and 1957; Latimer House, 1948.) Online at http://www.luc.edu/faculty/pmoser/idolanon/ForsythJustification.pdf.〕 while the first world war was killing ten million and wounding another twenty million from around the world.〔According to “World War I," ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 6th Edition, 2008. ''Encyclopedia.com''. (January 10, 2010). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-WW1.html. "To calculate the total losses caused by the war is impossible. About 10 million dead and 20 million wounded is a conservative estimate. Starvation and epidemics raised the total in the immediate postwar years."〕 Through the lens of biblical faith, Forsyth saw even “a world catastrophe and judgment of the first rank like the war” as “still in the hand and service of God.” 〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', 11.〕 Before the start of World War I, widely held views about God and human progress muted the theodic question. “Popular religion” had preached a God whose sole purpose was “to promote and crown () development.”〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', 25.〕 The “doctrine of progress” (first formulated by Abbé de Saint-Pierre) dominated Europe.〔Christopher Dawson, ''Progress and Religion: An Historical Inquiry'' (Sheed and Ward, 1929; reprint Catholic University of America, 2001), 3.〕 As Forsyth observed, but the war’s “revelation of the awful and desperate nature of evil” exploded these optimistic views and raised the theodic question about the goodness of God to full force.〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', 28.〕 There was no theodicy extant to which Forsyth could turn. In spite of his extensive theological studies, he could find no satisfactory “philosophical theodicy or vindication of God's justice.”〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', v.〕 From this, Forsyth concluded that
Forsyth began formulating what he called “God’s own theodicy”〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', 6.〕 with Romans 1:17: “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith”.〔http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/righteousness.html〕 There he found the righteousness of God revealed in the Christ who “is the theodicy of God and the justifier both of God and the ungodly.”〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', 169.〕
For Forsyth, “God’s own theodicy” stood in contrast to theodicies devised by humans.〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', 14.〕 God’s own theodicy provided Forsyth no philosophical answers to ''why'' in God’s “creation must the way upward lie through suffering?”〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', 136.〕 “The tactics of providence cannot be traced,” but “His purpose we have, and His heart. We have ''Him''.”〔Forsyth, ''The Justification of God'', 23.〕 God’s own theodicy is a theodicy of reconciliation and relationship, a theodicy that enables trust in God in spite of unanswered questions. Forsyth’s understanding of “God’s own theodicy” as enabling a right relationship with God rather than a philosophical justification of God correlates with the two connotations of the word theodicy. Theodicy derives from the Greek words ''theos'' and ''dikē''. ''Theos'' is translated “God.” ''Dikē'' can be translated as either (a) just (and its derivatives justice, justified)〔http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G1349&t=KJV〕 or (b) right (and its derivatives righteousness, righteoused).〔http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2316&t=KJV〕 Righteoused is an obsolete verb meaning “made righteous.”〔''Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)'', s.v. “righteoused.” Online at http://dictionary.die.net/righteoused.〕 A theodicy designed to ''justify'' connotes rational arguments.〔http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justify〕 A theodicy designed to ''righteous'' connotes relationship because in the Bible righteousness is primarily a relational term.〔''Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology'', s.v. “Righteousness,” http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/ (also available in print edition, Baker Books, 1996) and “Exploring right relationships,” http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=6937&key=48121967. Accessed October 18, 2013.〕 __NOTOC__ ==Books== *'Pulpit Parables for Young Hearers'. With J. A. Hamilton. Manchester/London: Brook & Chrystal/Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1888. *'Religion in Recent Art: Being Expository Lectures on Rossetti, Burne Jones, Watts, Holman Hunt, and Wagner'. New York: AMS Press, 1972 (reprinted from the 3rd edition, 1905; 1st ed. 1889) *'The Charter of the Church: Six Lectures on the Spiritual Principle of Nonconformity'. London: Alexander & Shepheard, 1896. *'The Holy Father and the Living Christ'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1897. *'Intercessory Services for Aid in Public Worship'. Manchester: John Heywood, 1896. *'Rome, Reform and Reaction: Four Lectures on the Religious Situation'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1899. *'The Taste of Death and the Life of Grace'. London: James Clarke, 1901, included in God the Holy Father. Blackwood: New Creation, 1987. *'Positive Preaching and Modern Mind: The Lyman Beecher Lecture on Preaching, Yale University, 1907'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1907. *'Missions in State and Church: Sermons and Addresses'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1908. *'Socialism, the Church and the Poor'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1908. *'The Cruciality of the Cross'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910. *'The Person and Place of Jesus Christ: The Congregational Union Lecture for 1909'. London: Congregational Union of England and Wales/Hodder & Stoughton, 1909; London: Independent Press, 1948. *'The Power of Prayer'. With Dora Greenwell. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910. *'The Work of Christ'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910. *'Christ on Parnassus: Lectures on Art, Ethic, and Theology'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1911. *'Faith, Freedom and the Future'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1912. *'Marriage: Its Ethic and Religion'. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1912. *'The Principle of Authority in Relation to Certainty, Sanctity and Society: An Essay in the Philosophy of Experimental Religion'. London: Independent Press, 1952 (1913). *'Theology In Church and State.' London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1915. *'The Christian Ethic of War'. Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 1999 (1916). *'The Justification of God: Lectures for War-Time on a Christian Theodicy'. London: Independent Press, 1957. *'The Soul of Prayer'. London: Independent Press, 1949 (1916). *'The Church and the Sacraments'. London: Independent Press, 1947 (1916). *'This Life and the Next: The Effect on This Life of Faith in Another'. London: Independent Press, 1946. *'Christian Aspects of Evolution'. London: The Epworth Press, 1950. *'Congregationalism and Reunion: Two Lectures'. London: Independent Press, 1952. *'The Church, the Gospel and Society'. London: Independent Press, 1962. *'Revelation Old and New: Sermons and Addresses'. (ed. John Huxtable). London: Independent Press, 1962. *'God the Holy Father'. Blackwood: New Creation Publications, 1987. *'The Preaching of Jesus and the Gospel of Christ'. Blackwood: New Creation Publications, 1987. *Forsyth’s works are available online at http://www.luc.edu/faculty/pmoser/idolanon/Forsyth.html. :(Forsyth died in 1921, and dates after that are re-prints of earlier publications) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「P. T. Forsyth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|