In Case you are interested...

(apologies for the blurry picture, but there is the start of my abstract on the programme!)

The last couple of months have been pretty frantic, as I've finished and submitted my first MA essay, got stuck into the second/third, finalised my dissertation proposal, delivered a conference paper, and the application deadline for some further study closes in. I've recently started using 'Academia.edu', and this post is kind of to link to that, but also to give you an idea of what interests me. 

I reproduce here the abstract (that is, the bit that tells you whats in the paper and what I'm trying to do!) of the paper I presented in Oxford at the Society for the Study of Theology Postgraduate Conference, Bodies: Bridges and Boundaries. You can read the full paper here.

‘Bodiliness and relationality’ - an examination of key themes in Anthony Thiselton’s summary of Imago Dei.

The central nature of The Doctrine of the Image of God is echoed by Anthony Thiselton in his treatment of the topic in the constructive end of his wide ranging work, ‘The Hermeneutics of Doctrine’. In his discussion of “Major Themes in Christian Doctrine”, Thiselton demonstrates how his hermeneutical approach can aid in understanding what it is to be human, as embodied and relational creatures.

In this paper a brief exploration of what Thiselton is proposing will be brought into conversation with previous work on the Theology of the Body,  his relevant textual work in 1 Corthinthians, and a synthesis of these two key terms. The strengths of Thiselton’s hermeneutic, and thus theological approach, will result in a movement towards understanding the way in which ‘bodiliness’ and ‘relationality’ are key in engaging with the Doctrine of Imago Dei.

Throughout the larger work in which this doctrinal sketch is found, Thiselton brings his work into conversation with a range of other traditions. This is evident in the wide-ranging use of systematic theologians, and noting Barth’s understanding that “Jesus Christ is the paradigm case of the truly human”. This ‘paradigm’ nature is a key concept regarding the role of the Body in Christian Theology. This is often echoed in the Roman Catholic tradition, which has historically rich resources to draw on in discussion of Body and Theology. One example is Mary Prokes, who comprehensively states that “Christian faith is embodied faith”, before moving on to make clear that “the significance of embodiment is crucial to all theological inquiry”. Thiselton reflects something of this thrust, observing that “high stakes” are attached to what “a bodily and temporal mode of life brings”.

Constructive engagement with elements of Thiselton’s exegetical work will be a feature of this paper, especially his interpretation of 1 Cor. 6:12-20, where he observes that “the section demonstrates, once again, the inseparability of Christian identity and Christian lifestyle [and] the importance of the body and bodily actions”. Such an observation demands exploration of the relationship between our own embodied selves and the corporate nature of the Church as the Body of Christ. The relational dynamic has profound implications for Christian worship and ecclesiology, hence Thiselton observes that the outworking of his understanding should be “the call of discipleship, to the acceptance of responsibility, and to engagement in social formation”. We glimpse here a vision of the Christian life that goes beyond mere conversion-centric salvation, instead resonating with the grand narrative of Creation, Redemption, and New Creation. 

This paper will implicitly construct a relational understanding of the Church as the body of Christ, even whilst affirming the bodily nature of individuals. Thiselton is clearly drawing the two together, under the aforementioned concept of Christ as the paradigm of true humanity, in such a way as to give a helpful expression to the Doctrine of Imago Dei, by grounding it in wider Christian theology, and engaging with both individual and corporate elements. If Christ is, as Thiselton appears to posit, the perfect image of God and of what it means to be truly human, then the embodied relationality of his understanding of Christ is key in to our beginning to understand the Imago Dei.

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As I said, if this abstract has whet your appetite, you can read the full paper here.

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As ever, I'd value comments, suggestions for further reading, editorial-typo-observations, and so on...