Monday, June 20, 2011

Divine Abandonment
Obviously a question a trinity-abiding Christian asks - but kind-of similar questions easily raised about the Avot - but such a rich question to me;

"What does it mean to identify, as the definitive embodiment of God in human history, someone who declares himself abandoned by God?... If Jesus is the self-communication of God in flesh, then the cry of dereliction from the Cross is a communication of the selfhood of God: God is revealed when there is nothing to be said about God, nothing to be said about God by God incarnate."

This is fascinating, but Judaism also harbors a similar compelling voice - repeatedly, throughout Tanakh. Noah seemingly despairs, right after his salvation from epic destruction, and it's accounted a prophetic narrative (possibly even from Noach, if one accounts Sifre Avot). Avraham Avinu, as the embodiment of a human in covenant with God - argues with Him, Sarah laughs and lies! Yizhak and Yaakov either spoke or acted contentiously with God either by acting in ways that displayed a lack of trust or submission to God; the Psalms of David. But we account these seemingly human words as words of prophecy - ultimately from God. Judaism has mankind speaking to God with the Words of God - in abandonment, dissention and disputation! I'm not sure what 'place' von Balthasar's insight has, if any, in the line of "Judeo-Christian", but I find interesting the Jewish coorrelaries; they're precedent.

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