Abstract
Jesus in the Trinity is an introduction to the American theologian Robert Jenson. Lincoln Harvey focuses on Jenson’s novel account of the second person of the Trinity, deriving from it the particular character of Jenson’s writing and the repercussions for the rest of his systematic theology. The defining aspect of his approach is his attention to Jesus. For Jenson, there is no ‘unfleshed Word’ – Jesus and the Son are eternally one. The Christian tradition, in its metaphysics, he claims, is insufficiently evangelized. Too much room has been given to Greek philosophy, which lends itself to abstraction – Jenson’s prime target – against the narrative priority of the lived story of Jesus, especially his crucifixion and resurrection. In this, Jenson stands against classic articulations of Christology, but Harvey teases out the lines of his argument in a very convincing manner, painstakingly unpacking it. We have repeated rephrasing of Jenson’s words, so that ‘put otherwise’ and ‘in other words’ become a refrain.
Greater development of points of contrast with other theologians might have been useful in elucidating the contentious areas, but Harvey’s preoccupation is with setting out Jenson’s line of thought, and so it is Barth who takes the primary place as the most significant influence on Jenson. Jenson’s Christology is engaging and at times surprising, and Harvey writes with the passion of a convert. There is an emphasis on narrative, embodiment, humanity and particularity. Ultimately, it is the life of Jesus that defines God and all reality, and to which all time is related. Time, in itself, becomes a crucial category. Despite this emphasis, Jenson and Harvey steer clear of a linear sense of movement from creation to redemption, describing instead a single act of God in which time and eternity coincide in the Son. The life of Jesus, therefore, especially in crucifixion and resurrection, becomes the axis of creation reaching forwards to resolution and backwards to creation.
Although the overwhelming majority of the book is focused on Trinitarian theology, the final part happily broadens the scope with a wider range of subjects. There is more application of Jenson’s thought to the Christian life, authority and the place of the Church. In particular, and following from his refusal of abstraction, we are invited to ‘celebrate the humdrum particularity of our own religious life’ (p. 186). There is also a high view of the sacraments, priesthood and church, which we might expect from a theology that celebrates the particular and embodied. With it there is an encouragement to find God – or rather to allow God to find us – in the concrete practices of the Church, with a wonderful expression to ‘baptize like it is life and death, and bury like it is death and life’ (p. 194).
Harvey has written a stimulating introduction to Jenson’s theology, providing a welcome opportunity to reflect on the central truths of the Christian faith. It is pacily written and, as any good introduction should be, it is a great incentive to reach for the works of the theologian himself.