A critical assessment of John Milbank’s christology
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Date
2012
Authors
Vorster, N.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State
Abstract
John Milbank is well known for attempting to develop a participatory theology.
This article specifically assesses his Christology. The first section provides a
synthetic explication of his Christology by focussing on his notions of participation,
paradox, poesis, incarnation, the cross, and ecclesiology. The second section
provides a critical assessment. The central argument is that Milbank’s Christology
is inadequate in a participatory sense, because it lacks particularity and personal
relationality. This inadequacy is probably due to the way in which he fuses Neo-
Platonism and postmodern lingualism in order to construct his ontology. In order
to maintain his non-violent and poetic ontological position, Milbank needs to revert
to a general, “high” and impersonal Christology, and disregard “low” Christology.
However, if one’s ontological construction leads to a detached Christology, which
does not adequately affirm the central notion of one’s theology, serious doubts
arise concerning the legitimacy of one’s method.
Description
Keywords
Christology, John Milbank, Participation, Paradox
Citation
Vorster, N. (2012). A critical assessment of John Milbank’s christology. Acta Theologica, 32(2), 277-298.