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Eschatology 2

Submitted to Program Units
1: Reformed Theology and History Unit

Christina Larsen,, Presiding

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Eschatological themes have long been discussed in Reformed theology. This session is centered largely in the thought of key figures in the Reformed Orthodoxy of the 17th and 18th centuries, exploring their significance for today. Sister Macrina’s views on death and dying are put in conversation with those of John Owen; Petrus van Mastricht’s 17th-century rejection of the idea of deification earns a revision; and the strengths and weaknesses of Jonathan Edwards’ approach to eschatology are examined, both in his evaluation of non-human creation and in his rejection of purgatory.

Papers

  • Ty Kieser, Wheaton College, Illinois
    Kelly Kapic, Covenant College

    Not Like Those Who Have No Faith, Hope, or Love: Sister Macrina and John Owen on Christian Dying

    Abstract

    This paper places the Reformed theologian John Owen and the fourth Capadocian, Sister Macrina, in conversation to sketch a Reformed account of dying well. Specifically, through resourcing the thought of these two theologians, we present the virtues of faith, hope, and love in the process of dying as a "testimony" to the value of Jesus. The paper begins by examining the theme of "hope" in the thought of Macrina, focusing on its role in her account of the nature of death and in her own death. The second section looks at John Owen's understanding of "faith" through an examining of three sermons that he preaches toward the end of his life on dying well. Finally, we draw on the thinking of Macrina and Owen to briefly construct an account of "love" in the face of death and the validity of grief in the process of dying. 

  • Daniel Hill, Baylor University

    Union with Distinction: The Promise and Perils of Petrus van Mastricht’s Rejection of Deification

    Abstract

    The doctrine of deification or theosis has experienced something of a resurgence within theological circles in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This paper seeks to make a modest contribution to Protestant and Reformed theological consideration of the doctrine of theosis. In it, I retrieve and critically engage Petrus Van Mastricht’s rejection of this doctrine, articulating the theological and Christological impetuses that are at play in his writing. In it, I articulate that van Mastricht’s work helpfully highlights the felt need within Reformed theology to emphasize the creator/creature distinction and the goodness of human, creaturely predicates. Yet his project also risks insofar as his identification and articulation of human, creaturely predicates is disassociated from consideration of the human flesh of God in Christ.  

  • Laura Cerbus, University of Divinity, Australia

    The Redemption of Secondary Beauty: Jonathan Edwards's Eschatology and Creation's Telos

    Abstract

    Recent literature has assessed Jonathan Edwards’s theology of creation, particularly of creation’s beauty, as one that provides the resources for environmental ethics. Understood as a communication of God’s glory, creation in all its beauty becomes a crucial means of human knowledge and sense of divine beauty. However, these accounts neglect Edwards’s eschatology in its exclusion of the non-human creation from redemption, an exclusion that results from Edwards’s definition of secondary beauty. The telos of the creation as a whole becomes subservient to the telos of humanity, and thus, once humanity’s goal of union with God is achieved, the creation serves no other purpose. This paper explores these weaknesses of Edwards’s eschatology and offers a revision of Edwards that seeks to be faithful to his Reformed emphasis on both the effects of sin in the world and the orientation of all creation towards divine glory.  

  • Jeremy Wynne, Whitworth University

    “Only Four Last Things: Jonathan Edwards, the Dynamism of Heaven, and One More Reason Purgatory is Unnecessary”

    Abstract

    Reformed critiques of the doctrine of purgatory have typically leaned upon close exegesis of scripture; restrained reception of patristic thought; and the sufficiency of God’s prevenient grace. This direct approach is necessary, but the debate itself has grown stale. In hopes of reinvigorating discussion, this paper takes the indirect route of addressing one ancillary concern, often cited in support of the doctrine of purgatory. A universe without purgatory, it is said, leaves us in a morally intolerable situation. Those who lived lives of sacrifice and those who did not will simultaneously ‘wake up in heaven’ to the equal enjoyment of heaven's rewards. Drawing broadly from the work of Jonathan Edwards, I argue that it is not purgatory which completes earthly human life and upholds God’s justice. Rather earthly life anticipates the unending growth of God’s self-gift and the soul’s capacity to receive it.

Business Meeting
Christina Larsen,, Presiding
Arnold Huijgen, Protestant Theological University, Presiding
Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

Podium microphone

Sabbath Observance

Sunday morning
Accessibility Requirements

Resources

Wheelchair accessible

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

2 Hours

Schedule Preference

Saturday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Schedule Info

Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Tags

#deathanddying
#Reformed Theology
#Christian systematic theology
#JohnOwen
Deification
Reformed Theology
Theology and Eschatology
theosis
Petrus van Mastricht
#Creation Care
#beauty
Jonathan Edwards
#eschatology
heaven
Purgatory

Session Identifier

A25-219