The Monastic Life of a Medieval Nun

Monasticism, in general, involved the “special and real calling of the Christian, [and] the ideals most beset for every Christian, that he free himself from the world and dedicate himself alone, in a monastic life, to God and Christ.”[1] This monastic life, then, was not only steeped in an engagement in continually renewed struggles to …

Medieval Christian Women

When considering the medieval Christianity, it must be, first, placed in context as, above all, being a significant era in history between the years of the Early Church and the birth of Christianity and our modern-day. To approach it this way means to understand that this period involved many changes and upheavals in the Church, …

Six Women and the Reformation

In Chapters 22 through 27 of the In Her Words: Women's Writings in the History of Christian Thought (1994), what Amy Oden, as editor of volume, illustrates with six very different female writings from the period of 1500 to 1800 CE is six reactions to the Reformation in the form of confessional writing. Each of these …

Dwight Hopkins and Theologizing toward Black Existentialism

In Chapters 2 and 3 of Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion (2005), Dwight N. Hopkins individually investigates culture and self as respectively being comprised of, on one hand, human labor,[1] the aesthetic,[2] and the spiritual,[3] and on the other hand, community,[4] communalism,[5] and gender critiques.[6] But, it is in Chapter 4 that examines race …

Dwight N. Hopkins and Theological Anthropology

In the Preface to Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion (2005), Dwight N. Hopkins proposes “how religious reflection and discussions about the nature of an individual person –what we call theological anthropology –already assumes definite ideas about the self, culture, and race.”[1] Not only is this proposition based on the presumption that notions of self, …

More on the Politics of Jesus: The Early Church and Subordination

In the second half of The Politics of Jesus (1972), J. Howard Yoder asserts that the early church took a stance of subordination, where they put forth a set of rules to the Christian faithful about the roles they should play in society. This kind of concept, in my view, is about the dialectic relationship …

On the “Politics of Jesus”: Jesus as a Political Person

John Howard Yoder situates his basic thesis of The Politics of Jesus (1972) as hinging on the following supposition: whether Jesus was in principle a political person.[1] Though, as Yoder asserts, such a supposition fuels debate in New Testament Studies, I do not see any room for debate on the issue. In my view, Jesus …

Paul’s “Gospel” to the Galatians (circa 40-60 C.E.)

Paul’s Letter to the Galatians serves chiefly as his response to a crisis occurring in Galatia after his departure involving a group of Jewish Christians that spread through the churches of Galatia a teaching on faith in terms of Mosaic Law that directly conflicted with Paul’s teaching. What Paul puts forth in his letter to …

“Vision of God” as Onto-Theology in the Systematic Theology of James H. Evans Jr.

In Chapter 3 of We Have been Believers (1992), James H. Evans Jr. argues that God is “ungiven” for African-Americans on what I find to be two essential fronts: the idea of God and language about God. The former is, as Evans proposes,” is rooted in concrete human experience,”[1] while the latter “is experiential, metaphorical, …

Theodicy: From Aquinas to Luther to Leibniz to Migliore

In Daniel L. Migliore’s “The Providence of God and the Mystery of Evil,” from his Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology (1991), along with Martin Luther’s On the Bondage of the Will (1525), articulate one of the most biggest challenges facing human existence, human being’s faith in God, and the means by which humans interact …