Gravity of sin Augustine, Luther, and Barth on homo incurvatus in se by Matt Jenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jenson, Matt, 1976- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430.

Augustine.

Sin--Christianity.

Sin.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (225 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London New York T & T Clark 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Matt Jenson argues that the image of being 'curved in on oneself' is the best paradigm for understanding sin relationally, that it has sufficient explanatory breadth and depth to be of service to contemporary Christian theology. He looks to Augustine as the Christian source for this image in his various references to humanity's turn to itself, though the threads of a relational account of sin are not drawn together with any systematic consequence until Martin Luther's description of 'homo incurvatus in se' in his commentary on Romans. Luther radicalizes Augustine's conception by applying this relational view of sin to the totus homo and by emphasizing its appearance, above all, in homo religiosus. The Western tradition of sin understood paradigmatically as pride has been recently called into question by feminist theologians. Daphne Hampson's critique of Luther on this front is considered and critiqued. Though she is right to call attention to the insufficiency of his and Augustine's myopic focus on pride, the question remains whether 'incurvatus in se' can operate paradigmatically as an umbrella concept covering a far wider range of sins. Karl Barth's extension of 'incurvatus in se' to apply more broadly to pride, sloth and falsehood suggests that incurvature can do just that.

Contents:

Introduction

Augustine's inward turn: an ambiguous beginning

Luther's radical and religious incurvature

(How) do women sin? : Daphne Hampson and the feminist critique of Luther

Broadening the range of the metaphor : Barth's threefold description of sin

Coda

1. Augustine's inward turn: An ambiguous beginning

Love makes the city

The goodness of the garden

Participation and relationality

Civic foundations

What happened? The beginning of sin

Falsehood

Pride

Isolation

Falling into slavery

The call to humility

Augustine's ambiguous inwardness in The Trinity

A conclusion

2. Luther's radical and religious invurvature

Setting the task

Simus iustus et peccator

Fuel to the fire: The persistence of the fomes

Copernicux Redux

The logic of person and works

Totus homo? The postures of death and spirit

Incurvatus in se as ignorance: The critique of natural understanding

Using, enjoying: Incurvatus in se as egoism

Homo religiosus as Homo incurvatus in se

The violation of vocation: Transgressing the limits of calling

Conclusion: Augustine versus Luther?

3. (How) Do women sin? Daphne Hampson and the Feminist critique of Luther

Introduction

Hampson's critique of Luther on sin, incurvatus in se and the self

Hampson's alternative

Transition: Key questions

Problems with a gendered approach to sin

Hampson's account of sin per se and the controlling factor of continuity

On the explanatory sufficiency of incurvatus in se

4. Broadening the range of the metaphor: Barth's threefold description of sin

A brief apology for paradigms

Sin Christologically defined

Humanity through a Christological lens: A closer look

Sin as pride

Sin as falsehood

Sin as sloth

Hampson and Barth: A tale of two sloths

Conclusion

Coda

Select Bibliography

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [193]-202)

ISBN:

9786613200839

9780567660657

0567660656

9781283200837

128320083X

9780567577887

0567577880

OCLC:

741690826