Can anyone recommend a good theology of the individual?
Good thoughts of writers, thinkers, and theologians have been offered on this blog as arguing for a theology of community, or theology of an individual-only-in-relation-to-community. If I understand the Christian doctrine correctly, then there is also a very strong emphasis there that the individual is also important to God qua individual, without the prerequisite social context. Now, clearly, the individual is the whole picture, and may not be the most important part of the picture. But our theological sources are rich - surely if people like John Paul II, G. K. Chesterton or even Wendell Berry offer a theology of community (at least in part) then there have to be some good theologians or thinkers who have put forth a strong biblical defense of the individual, perhaps even the individual as the most important social unit for God.
Do you have any recommendations?
Miroslav Volf has an interesting, thogh dense work called "After Our Likeness: The Church As the Image of the Trinity" in which he defends a stress on the individual over against the more communal theologies of Roman Catholic Joseph Ratzinger and Eastern Orthodox John Zizioulas. He is particularly interested in stressing the church as a free assembly and the church as those spiritually gifted. he might be a start.
ReplyDeleteI would suggest you consider Soren Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism. He was a Christian existentialist who focused on the authentic religious experience of the individual over against that of larger entities. He wrote in response/reaction to the corrupt and listless state church in Denmark, and he wrote in response/reaction to Hegel, who considered philosophy in terms of large corporate entities (he is the "thesis, antithesis, sythesis" philosopher, where all reality is becoming increasingly integrated). In terms of specific works by Kierkegaard, I might suggest Fear and Trembling, The Sickness Unto Death, and Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing. These are a few of his significant books that are not particularly complicated or hard to understand.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Great suggestions. I have read neither extensively, to my own loss. The ideas of stressing church as a voluntary association and individual experiences as more important as the experiences of entities could be justified biblically (from my current vantage point) and it will be great to see if and how Volf and Kierkegaard do that.
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