Mount, Thomas Speed Blair  <br/><br/>
Existential Dimensions of the Contemporary Impassibility Debate:   A Pastoral Approach to the Question of Divine Suffering Within the Context of Conservative Evangelicalism 

 - Johannesburg, South Africa  South African Theological Seminary  2015 
 - 489p  PDF  A4  Abstract. Table of contents. Works cited.  
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<br/><br/> The  hegemony  of  passibilist  theological  construals  since  the  last  quarter  of  the twentieth  century  has  garnered  a  mixed  response  from  within  the  conservative evangelical  sub-tradition,  from  outright  rejection,  to  widespread  acceptance,  to various qualified (im)passibilist via media. The seismic shift from impassibilist to passibilist    ways    of    representing    the    God-world    relationship    has    been documented,  as  have  the  historical-critical  and  philosophical  developments  that contributed to the shift. However, the existential dimensions of the phenomenon have  not  been  extensively  inventoried  and  assessed.  This  project  seeks  to address  this  lacuna.  Following  the  Loyola  Institute  of  Ministry  (LIM)  practical-theological  model,  the  work  surveys  the  more  important  contemporary  (post-1973)  literature;  proposes  a  typology  of  existential  considerations (denominated devotional,  psychological,  ethical,  apologetic  and  missional);  critically  assesses these  five  species  of  argument  by  means  of  two  benchmark  Biblical  texts (Acts 17:24-28   and   Hebrews   2:17-18) and   twin   core   conservative   evangelical theological foci (God’s transcendence and God’s relatedness) and evaluates the impact  of  passibilist  proposals  on  conservative  evangelicals,  including  scholars, leading  opinion-shapers  and  rank-and-file  believers.  The  hypothesis  is  that passibilist arguments are unsustainable Biblically and theologically, that qualified impassibilist  existential  arguments  are  more  compelling  than  their  counterparts and   that   an   impassibilist   account   best   meets   the   Biblical   and   theological demands  of  the  conservative  evangelical  academy  as  well  as  the  existential needs of rank-and-file church members. The research confirmed the hypothesis. The  dissertation  concludes  with  practical  suggestions  for  teaching  a  more balanced  theology  of  divine  transcendence-relatedness  that  honors  the  Biblical witness   and   makes   use   of   the   conceptual   resources   within   the   inherited Tradition,  including  a  Chalcedonian  two-natures  Christology  and  a  Cyrillian communicatio idiomatum. 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Leadership--Leadership of Theologians --World wide