The Creative Suffering of God by Paul S Fiddes

The Creative Suffering of God by Paul S Fiddes

The theme that God suffers with his world has become a familiar one in recent years, but a careful examination is needed of what it means to talk about the suffering of God, avoiding the danger of a merely sentimental belief. This book offers a consistent way of thinking about a God who suffers supremely and yet is still the kind of God to whom the Christian tradition has witnessed, and also about a God who suffers universally and yet is still present uniquely in the cross of Christ. It is at once both a survey of recent thought about the suffering of God and a proposal for a way forward in this important area of Christian theology. The author surveys four main trends of recent thought: the 'theology of the cross' in modern German theology (as represented particularly in the work of Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, and Eberhard Jüngel); American process theology; 'the death of God' theology; and finally, the rejection of the whole idea of divine passibility by modern followers of classical theism. He draws upon these schools of thought in the course of reflecting upon various aspects of the main theme of the study. This thematic structure enables an idea of divine suffering to be developed throughout the book, affirming that God freely chooses to limit himself, to suffer change, to journey through time and even to experience death while remaining the living God.

Creation, fall, incarnation, and atonement are.. interwoven with the theme of suffering in a profoundly original way. * Theological Book Review *
Paul S. Fiddes has now provided the most comprehensive and thorough study of the issues yet to emerge. His treatment of the sources is accurate and probing ... this is a valuable and thought-provoking book. * Daniel W. Hardy, Expository Times *
this important survey illuminatingly explains how human suffering can be understood in the light of God's response to creation * Dan Cohn-Sherbok, University of Kent, Theology *
the lasting impression of the book is of one of the livelier minds of British theology opening up, with courage and rational persuasiveness, one of the critical contemporary theological topics * David F. Ford, Journal of Theological Studies *

Fiddes, Paul S.: - Paul S. Fiddes is Principal of Regent's Park College, Oxford, and holds the title of University Research Lecturer in the Faculty of Theology of the University of Oxford. He has written numerous books and articles, especially on the relationship between literature and theology, including Freedom and Limit: A Dialogue between Literature and Christian Doctrine and The promised End: Eschatology in Theology and Literature.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780198263470
ISBN 10	0198263473
Title	The Creative Suffering of God
Author	Paul S Fiddes
Series	Clarendon Paperbacks
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	1992-09-10
Number of pages	292
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.