Trinity, time and ecumenism in Robert Jenson’s theology

Abstract

Robert Jenson, an American Lutheran theologian, is well known as a Trinitarian and ecumenical theologian. In his Trinitarian theology he makes specific choices regarding the relationship between God and time as an attempt to overcome the Hellenistic influences on the early church's theology, especially about the timelessness of God. Jenson proposes a temporal infinity or timefullness of God, which is central to the relationships within the Trinity. Jenson temporally defines the unity of the Trinity in relation to the claim that God is in fact the mutual life and action of the three persons, Father, Son and Spirit as they move toward the future. In the Trinity's relationship to time the person Jesus fulfils a very specific role, namely the "specious present", and this temporal location of Him leads in Jenson's theology to a very strong ecclesiology and eventually to specific proposals regarding ecumenism. In this article I will investigate this link between Trinity, time and ecumenism in Jenson's theology.

The Relevance of Continental Philosophy of Religion for Theology in Contemporary South Africa

“…Both Barth and Jenson have had a strong influence on South African theology, especially with regard to Trinitarian theology (Venter 2004;Verhoef 2011aVerhoef , 2011b). Barth's theology makes claims that can only be justified from first-order discourse of faith (praise and proclamation) and it largely escapes the usual criticisms of metaphysics.…”