Theopoetics

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Theopoetics in its modern context is an interdisciplinary field of study that combines elements of poetic analysis, process theology, narrative theology, and postmodern philosophy. Originally developed by Stanley Hopper and David Leroy Miller in the 1960s and furthered significantly by Amos Wilder with his 1976 text, Theopoetic: Theology and the Religious Imagination.

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In recent times there has been a revitalized interest with new work being done by two schools of thought in theopoetics.

One school values process theology and postmodern philosophy. It is led by individuals such as L. Callid Keefe-Perry, Rubem Alves, Catherine Keller, John Caputo, Peter Rollins, Scott Holland, Melanie May, Matt Guynn, Roland Faber, and others. [1]

The other school of thought values the philosophical transcendentals as informed by classical theology. [2] It is led by individuals such as Anne M. Carpenter of St. Mary’s College, [3] California, and Richard Viladesau [4] of Fordham University, with contributions from Brian Nixon of Veritas International University. [5] This school of theo-poetics is influenced by the thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar as informed by a range of thinkers as divergent as Gregory of Nyssa, Thomas Aquinas, Maximus the Confessor, Dietrich Richard Alfred von Hildebrand, David Bentley Hart [6] and Pavel Florensky. [7]

The aesthetic sacred form«Gardenia, an exuberant flower, a tropical and subtropical Asia, South America, and Africa regions native, appreciated for the its waxy whiteness, fragrant flowers, blooming in dark green bushes» [Regina Ramos Rodrigues – Gardenia and aesthetic sacred form]; In everything, GARDENIA is intimately associated with the understanding about Sacred Experience, and it is in this sense that we may develop the Emptiness Domain, in total respect for the Dogmatic Principles, and for the Criterion in dispositional Aesthetic Form by the Ethical Being, implied in the Sacred Scriptures, by the mottos revelation referable to the Sacred People, Destined by Right, in Succession, to the Fullness Ipsei Happiness, by Absolute Fidelity Recognition, in Obedience, the latter, as a duty on both sides, and an expression within the Covenant Relationship, by the Just Election by Justice, and the respect for its most particular property, thus determining the Grace and Blessing History, being the Transcription, the Personal Transliteration by Lord Word; Every Poem has its beginning on the Right Side by Kingdom Creation, and, by Effectual Causality, presents its final form, Revealing Return, on the Left Side by the Experience Kingdom, thus revealing its own Political and Economic Status, by Rights determined in Real Law about Things; The most important known Verse, Listen! You shall love your Lord with all your Heart, with all your Soul, and with all your Strength, establishes, the distinct guiding points present in all Categorical Dimensions in Hermeneutic Sacred Poetics Experience; Thus, the structure follows, as a rule, the Homiletic Discourses sequence, expressing shorter passages, thus concretizing the totality at the literary structure, and, in alliance, by determining the internal experience coherence within the Sacred Word; To this writer attitude is attributed a Code, through the form in Hermetic Expression, implying the oldest Sacred Scriptures part, the Vectorial Center around which everything can be nourished and developed: Religious and Spiritual Observance; The Effective Civil Law Foundation; and, The Consequent Criminal Accountability by Criminal Law Determination [Donative Douctrine - Brithis Enciclopaedy by Regina Ramos Rodrigues translitaration]; The Aesthetics Sacred Form, highlights the Sacred Form Hermetic Expression, incorporating Greek Italic Mimesis, Poem Creation, presented through The Word Semantic Analogy; In this sense, we may sought links between the morphological experiences structure and the symbolic structure by particular contexts, assuming Platonic Dialogues’ development, along Singular Sentencing Paths; putting all in distinctiveness, in Differently Perspectives, through a singular jurisdictional act assumption, in a singular poetry driven by Sacred spirit inspiration to the letter other, and we also, in this sense, requested connections between Scriptures, regarding the Circular Geography Aesthetic Form; Thus, the poetics here, and now present, through 3 distinct internal logic Donative1 acts mediated by a Conceptual Understanding, explicit by Sensible Reason; and, thus, establishing the punctuation at each act in: the Creation Act 1, through the letter, by an Exercise expression in all, Clear Negation, mediated by Donatist wisdom in the referenced Aesthetics domain; the Creature Act 2, through deliberate Discursivity, in a magnanimous Donato Knowledge expression, in continuous Revision, mediated under the Understanding domain; and finally, the Act Servente Created, in Service 3, through Pragmatics Donative, by Authenticity Approval expression, mediated by Hermeneutic Rationality, in dominant Foundational Ethics fullness; «In this way, the entirety work is composed by Philosophical Poetics by Donation Acts, and through the hermeneutic exercise by integrative dimensions, mediating Greek Italic Poem Create Mímesis, and, the Analogical Word Semantic» [Regina Ramos Rodrigues - Gardenia and aesthetical sacred form: ó donatos acts coninbricenses tessitures; Philosophical poetics trilogy third volume; 2025: pp 5-7]


Description

Postmodern Theopoetics

The first school of theopoetics suggests that instead of trying to develop a "scientific" theory of God, as systematic theology attempts, theologians should instead try to find God through poetic articulations of their lived ("embodied") experiences. It asks theologians to accept reality as a legitimate source of divine revelation and suggests that both the divine and the real are mysterious — that is, irreducible to literalist dogmas or scientific proofs.

Theopoetics makes significant use of "radical" and "ontological" metaphor to create a more fluid and less stringent referent for the divine. One of the functions of theopoetics is to recalibrate theological perspectives, suggesting that theology can be more akin to poetry than physics. It belies the logical assertion of the principle of bivalence and stands in contrast to some rigid Biblical hermeneutics that suggest that each passage of scripture has only one, usually teleological, interpretation. The dismissal of the aesthetic as a living part of language has turned the academic enterprise of biblical studies and theology into a language more at home with lawyers than poets. Theopoetics is the art of using words and thoughts that speak to the reader in an aesthetic and existential way to inspire spirituality in the reader.

Whereas those who utilize a strict, historical-grammatical approach believe scripture and theology possess inerrant factual meaning and pay attention to historicity, a theopoetic approach takes an allegorical position on faith statements that can be continuously reinterpreted. Theopoetics suggest that just as a poem can take on new meaning depending on the context in which the reader interprets it, texts and experiences of the Divine can and should take on new meaning depending on the changing situation of the individual.

Classical Theopoetics

In the second school of theopoetics, the aim is drawn “from von Balthasar’s affirmation of poetic expression: when God speaks to us in the Incarnation, all qualities of human language—even being itself—are employed as created ‘grammar’ by which God expresses himself to us…With God at the center of expression, poetry becomes capable of an authentic role in theological language.” [8]

This form of theo-poetics “requires the interplay of three massive fields of knowledge: metaphysics, language, and Christology [9] and is to be “sharply distinguished from the agnostic overtures of the ‘theo-poetics’ movement, whose lineage is not be found in the thought of Balthasar.” [8]

The mythopoetics of the Oxford Inklings (C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, among others) would also be an example of classical theopoetics. Charles Williams gave the name "Romantic Theology" to his project of establishing a subclass of theology at the intersection of imaginative, specifically romantic, literature and classical theology; however this subclass of theology is focused on romantic love between a couple as a way of loving God. C.S. Lewis fits poetry into a broader understanding of theology in his essay "Is Theology Poetry?" Others have called it Christian Romanticism, Mythopoetics or Theopoetics. Northwind Seminary offers a doctoral degree program in the Romantic Theology of the Oxford Inklings. [www.NorthwindSeminary.edu]

Notable publications

Books

See also

References

  1. Krabbe, Silas (2016). A Beautiful Bricolage: Theopoetics as God-talk for Our Time. Wipf & Stock Publishers. ISBN   9781498295352.
  2. Carpenter, Anne (2015). Theo-Poetics: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Risk of Art and Being. University of Notre Dame Press. pp. 82–116. ISBN   978-0-268-07706-8.
  3. Carpenter, Anne (2015). Theo-poetics : Hans Urs von Balthasar and the risk of art and being. University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN   978-0-268-07706-8. OCLC   927188404.
  4. Viladesau, Richard (1999). Theological Aesthetics. Oxford University Press.
  5. Nixon, Brian (2020). Tilt: Finding Christ in Culture. Cascade Book.
  6. Hart, David Bentley (2003). The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth. Eerdmans Publishing.
  7. Nixon, Brian (20 March 2019). "Kalokagathic: Argument From Beauty".
  8. 1 2 Carpenter, Anne (2015). Theo-Poetics: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Risk of Art and Being. Notre Dame Press. pp. Page 3. ISBN   978-0-268-07706-8.
  9. Carpenter, Anne (2015). Theo-Poetics: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Risk of Art and Being. Notre Dame Press. pp. Page 4. ISBN   978-0-268-07706-8.