Abstract
This complements Southgate’s previous book, The Groaning of Creation, and while the latter addresses the problem of evil, this volume moves beyond these concerns and provides a multidimensional reflection on how theologians take seriously ‘an ambiguous world’ in light of its ‘Creator and Redeemer’ (p. 3). The book also explores how human beings respond to God, with longing, against the backdrop of ‘ambiguity’.
To achieve his aim, Southgate argues for a hermeneutic of divine glory as the vehicle through which God communicates Godself to the world. He explains and justifies his decision with care, recognizing that ‘glory’ is not an obvious choice for exploring ‘God’s ways with this ambiguous world’ (p. 24). To indicate the complexity of ‘glory’ as a theological concept, a broad hermeneutic is adopted, which roams ‘along a spectrum of meaning between equation with divine reality and disclosure of divine reality’ (p. 24). Important to note is the particular view of Trinitarian doctrine that underlines the argument in the book. Southgate is not alone among contemporary theologians who engage with suffering as a live theological issue, treating ‘kenosis’ as an ‘eternal property of God’, following Hans Urs von Balthasar. This supports his interpretation of ‘the mysterious God of creation’ (p. 19) and allows for the complex spectrum of suffering in the natural world.
Drawing on C. S. Peirce, Southgate begins with a discussion of semiotics, arguing that wonder is integral to the human contemplation of glory. Having located glory ‘as sign’ (Chapter 1), he then explores this with respect to biblical texts, the natural world, the arts and mysticism, and the Christian journey. Poets such as Thomas Traherne, Gerard Manley Hopkins and R. S. Thomas are utilized to reflect on the way in which creation groans, at the same time reflecting glory. Southgate’s central claim is that we need a ‘three-lensed seeing’ to appreciate fully the nature of ‘glory’. This comprises ‘Gloria mundi, Gloria cruces, Gloria in excelsis’ (p. 95), which refer to the world that is ‘not-yet-completely redeemed’, ‘the cross’ and the ‘new creation’. By adopting this hermeneutical lens, Southgate claims, we are able to explore more fully ‘God’s engagement with all suffering’ (pp. 14–15). He does not err from testing this hypothesis against the most troubling cases, such as the tsunami, which is considered as a potential sign of a manifestation of glory, and the work of Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish mystic murdered at Auschwitz. While the test cases are varied, a more rigorous exploration of each one is needed for an incontrovertible argument. In the final chapter, Southgate explores glory with respect to human longing and transformation through biblical texts and a range of historical and contemporary theologians. In addition to those already mentioned, he draws on figures as diverse as Darwin, Thérèse of Lisieux and Rowan Williams. While the range of interlocutors is impressive, due to the lack of contextualization of the vast array of quotations and the rare justification of exegesis, the reader is left wondering whether the texts do indeed support the thesis. The question would benefit from deeper analysis; nevertheless, this book engages with an important subject in an innovative way.