Theological Notebook: Augustine, Vienna Teng, The Dark Night of the Soul, and Modernity

[novak]

Huh. I just had a thought. A Thought, if I be flamboyant enough to capitalize it. I've been unpacking after a tiring separation from my luggage for a day, resulting in me just getting it a little while ago.

In the background is Vienna Teng's oddly exultant "Augustine," which, as I mentioned earlier, had been the occasion for my and Mike's

Comments

[naamah]

I don't know if you've ever seen Ephraim's Radner's book The End of the Church: A Pneumatology of Christian Division in the West, but his basic argument is that in modernity the Holy Spirit has abandoned the church. It's fascinating and provocative. I don't agree with everything he writes, but it's definitely one of the most interesting books that I've read, and would possibly have some intersections with the sort of thing you're thinking about.

[novak]

No, I hadn't heard of him or the text, but it certainly does sound provocative. I wouldn't sign off on such a thesis as such, as I think there are overwhelming indications to the contrary, but if he simply means some sense analogous to what I was saying, of a sort of "gestalt" sense of withdrawal, then it would be interesting to see how he puts his argument.

[naamah]

In many ways, I think it's the sort of book that could only be written by an Anglican!

It's been a while since I've read it, but as I remember, it's very Biblical, drawing a lot of parallels between the Spirit of God leaving the temple, and the withdrawal of the Spirit from the church. I will probably be re-reading it for my thesis this year, since I'm reading everything about divine abandonment that I can find, but haven't gotten around to it yet.