After Our Likeness: The Church As the Image of the Trinity (Sacra Doctrina)

Rating:
Summary: It's not the Trinity!
Review: I must admit, I have read a chapter (VI) of this book for an ecclesiology class and have not read the entire text. That being said, I would not recommend Volf for those looking into the doctrine of the church. Too often theologians approach their task without adequately thinking through the correct method of inquiry. Volf demonstrates this error when he uses the Trinity to articulate a theology of the Church, focusing largely on the passage in 1Cor. about charisma. When Paul speaks about the Church, though, he calls it the Body of Christ, and does not enter into a Trinitarian framework at all. To extend the community of Christ unbiblically into Trinitarian theology will lead to the wrong conclusions, as Volf tends more to write polemically for a free church model than to approach theology theologically. Such an association (between Trinity and Church) is demeaning to the Trinitarian community, which is wholly incomparable to human community.

This trend has become popular of late, as theologians turn to a "communion" model of the faith which focuses more on the mass of communicants than on the Crucified Christ who IS the essence of our communion. I suppose a Memorialist approach to communion should be expected to deteriorate to this point. We must remember that Christ is the Center of all that we are as Christians- this is not to deny the other persons of the Trinity, but to set them in proper relationship to one another and to humanity.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent actually
Review: It is always a distinct pleasure when one comes across an author which one has not read before. Although I have perused articles by Dr. Volf before, this was the first occasion in which I really read his text. The fact that upon finishing this book I began to seek out more of his books is a sign that something he wrote really caught my attention. Maybe it is the fact that as one raised in what can be called the free-church tradition (Baptist, Pentecostal, etc.), it is always delightful when I find a well thought out theologian who shares those same convictions. Or indeed it could be that the intention of the series to provide a Christian Theology for a postmodern age resonated within me.
After Our Likeness begins with the discussion of two very different ecclesiologies. The first is the great Catholic theologian, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. The second is the Orthodox theologian John Zizioulas. Both are esteemed within their respective Church and they are quite able representatives of their traditions. In doing this, Volf seeks to first establish the foundations of these distinct understandings of what it means to be a church, which more or less represent broadly Western and Eastern thinking as a whole. It is because of his real intent that he feels this is necessary. The primary goal of Miroslav Volf in this text is to, "contribute toward making the Free churches and their ecclesiology (or ecclesiologies) presentable, Free Churches that are dogmatically orthodox and that are numerically becoming increasingly significant." He is essentially seeking to provide a theologically developed ecclesiology which could be in dialogue with the older, and rather now defensive, ecclesiologies of the traditional churches. An example of why this is needed is found in the Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry document which was published by the World Council of Churches. Here one from a Baptist tradition feels completely left out of the so-called dialogue.
Having briefly discussed the traditional ecclesiologies, Volf then proceeds to develop one which takes into account the ancient and the modern, seeking to provide a theological model which will be useful for this century, understanding that the global church will increasingly reflect a Free Church form with or without the approval of the World Council of Churches. He begins by looking at the foundations of what the Church is, seeking to show what is at the roots and core of the creation and continuation of the Church in this world. Understanding that the Church is essentially part of ?God?s eschatological new creation?, Volf develops how a church can be identified as such. The core idea is that the Church is an assembly, an assembly which gathers in the name of Christ, committed as individuals to allow their lives to be determined by Jesus Christ. Volf then develops what this means, dealing with the issues of faith, God?s being, the specific structures which result from this core idea, and the question of how differing perspectives can still be united into one whole catholic church. In many ways, what Volf is offering is more of a starting point than a completely thorough treatment, but a starting point which demands to be included in global ecumenical discussions as representing the fastest growing understanding of what being the Church means.

Rating:
Summary: A free church vision?
Review: Volf's book explores the question of the manner in which the church is a reflection of the triune God. His own interest is to articulate a free church vision of the church. He seeks to do this in dialogue with the Catholic theology of Ratzinger and the Orthodox theology of Zizioulas. The benefit of this is that both Ratzinger and Zizioulas represent particular and distinctive comprehensions of the trinity. The danger is that it allows Volf considerable latitude in forming his own position. The result is that the book is stronger as a critique of others than as an alternative proposal.

There are a couple of points to be made of Volf's critique of Ratzinger and Zizioulas:

1. Has he been overly selective in his choice of Ratzinger's texts in view of the fact that Ratzinger has not published a comprehensive ecclesiology nor written extensively about the Trinity.

2. Given the importance of eschatology to Volf's argument, the book would have been strengthened by a more detailed engagement with Ratzinger at this point.

3. His critique of Zizioulas's desire to give precedence to person over substance has validity. But given that Zizioulas claims to be working in continuity with the Cappadocians, it would have been helpful to draw distinctions between what Zizioulas is claiming and what they had written. In particular Zizioulas's insistence on the monarchy of the Father is an example of the degree to which he has moved from Gregory Nazianzus.

In Volf's own argument there are times when it reads like a complex justification for much current western practice. While he correctly identifies that free church ecclesiology frequently starts from below rather than from a view of the Trinity one wonders how far Volf goes to correct this. While this book does much to sharpen our thinking and opens up a number of crucial questions there are deficiencies in Volf's proposals:

We must start from a view of the Trinity that give due attention to the person and work of each member and which seeks greater understanding of the relationships between the members. While Volf seeks to distance himself from hierarchical understandings of the Trinity his own views seem to suggest that the Trinity is some form of democracy. Mutual indwelling is a critical part of our understanding but so is the priority of the Father. Flowing from this is an understanding of the role of the Spirit in the creation of fellowship and as the bond of unity as we are being incorporated into the one body over which is Christ as head. Is unity, as Volf claims, derived from the plurality of its members or not.

In short, an important book which raises important questions for the church. It is worth reading and grappling with the issues. However, in the end I think a better case can be made.