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Papers by Ruth M Gornandt
Le Muséon, 2023
Gregory of Tatev was an Armenian theologian and polymath of the late Middle Ages. At the outset o... more Gregory of Tatev was an Armenian theologian and polymath of the late Middle Ages. At the outset of his doctrine of God, he talks of ‘sober theology’. The expression is far from clear and needs to be linked to the broad range of traditions from which medieval Armenian theology drew. This article first explains the immediate and the wider context of the expression in Gregory’s Book of Questions. It then shows that its roots stretch back as far as Philo of Alexandria, the Greek Fathers, Plato, Greek literary circles, and Neoplatonist philosophy. Against this backdrop, it becomes clear that the expression is not just one among many ideas but precisely describes what Gregory of Tatev aims to expound in the following: a philosophically engaged discussion leading to a cataphatic theology of what human reason can understand about God.
The Heythrop Journal , 2023
The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) holds that religion emerges from human cognition and its ... more The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) holds that religion emerges from human cognition and its intuitions. Hence, it describes religion as a 'natural' belief in 'supernatural agents'. Traditional theology also maintained that there is an 'innate' or 'implanted' knowledge of God or gods. It will be argued that CSR and theology can be related, yet not in a straightforward manner. After sketching out in what sense CSR calls religion 'natural' and how it describes 'supernatural agents', this article explores some examples of the traditional theological doctrine of an 'implanted' knowledge of God. It shows that the reliability of such an 'implanted' knowledge of God was disputed among theologians and, even if it was affirmed, had an ambiguous position in theology. This also applies to CSR if it is to be related to the traditional theological doctrine. There are illuminating convergences between CSR and theology but also considerable divergences. Both, however, prove significant for theology.
The Journal of Theological Studies, 2023
The dialectic of the cataphatic and the apophatic is vital for honouring the transcendent within ... more The dialectic of the cataphatic and the apophatic is vital for honouring the transcendent within the rational endeavour of theology. The medieval Armenian theologian Gregory of Tatev presents a theological approach that is strongly logical and analytical, discussing the mystical only in a few places. For this reason, he has been accused of abandoning the apophatic altogether. However, it can be shown that mystical theology is at the heart of his thinking and his own spiritual practice. After expounding his cataphatic and apophatic theology this paper shows that the divine hiddenness and incomprehensibility shape Gregory’s cataphatic theology in that they underlie its epistemology and hermeneutics. Both are developed from the spiritual experience that God is ultimately ineffable and that ‘unknowing’ is the highest form to know him.
wurde die Schrift erst nachträglich von ihrem Verfasser mit einem Briefschluß versehen, wodurch s... more wurde die Schrift erst nachträglich von ihrem Verfasser mit einem Briefschluß versehen, wodurch sie ihren Briefcharakter erhalten hat. Von Anfang an ist für die Mahnrede allerdings ihre Schriftlichkelt vorauszusetzen, wie die gezielte Konzeption und Geschlossenheit großer Abschnitte zeigt. 3 Wer nun der Verfasser dieser Mahnrede war, ist wohl nicht mehr zu ermitteln. Im Hehr selbst finden sich keine Hinweise. auf seine Person; man wird nicht mehr über ihn sagen können, als daß er eine gründliche Kenntnis des Alten Testaments, eine gute hellenistisch-jüdische Bildung sowie ausgezeichnete rhetorische Fähigkeiten besaß. Vermutlich ist aber diese Anonymität des Briefes vom Verfasser selbst beabsichtigt: Nicht durch seine Person oder den Verweis auf eine apostolische Autorität soll der Hehr überzeugen, sondern die Sachautorität von Schrift und Bekenntnis soll im Vordergrund stehen.4 Von den Adressaten des Hehr ist dagegen ein wenig mehr zu erfahren.
The history of Lutheran female abbeys in Lower Saxony after the reformation (in German).
Other by Ruth M Gornandt
Description of my doctoral thesis: Gerhard Ebeling, a German Protestant theologian, conceives th... more Description of my doctoral thesis: Gerhard Ebeling, a German Protestant theologian, conceives theology with a strong criticism of metaphysics and with reference to Martin Luther. I examine the following aspects: What does Ebeling mean by metaphysics, what is the aim of his critique and on which sources does he rely besides Luther?
The rejection of metaphysics in Protestant theology is not only a commonplace introduced by the m... more The rejection of metaphysics in Protestant theology is not only a commonplace introduced by the modern philosophical critique of metaphysics. It also appears to be indebted to the foundations of a theology in loyalty to the Reformation. In the works of Gerhard Ebeling, an important representative of German Protestant theology in the second half of the 20th century, one can find a surprisingly strong criticism of metaphysics alongside the effort to conceive a modern theology in the tradition of Luther.
However his theology, his special view on Luther and his rejection of metaphysics do not only lead to Luther but rather to a significant stream of German Protestant theology starting with Albrecht Ritschl and transformed by Wilhelm Herrmann whose theological foundation had a major impact on 20th century theology, especially on the hermeneutical theology of Rudolf Bultmann, a teacher to Ebeling.
So in my thesis, I do not only investigate Ebeling's criticism of metaphysics but also its historical background which I attempt to show consists in a stream of theology coined above all by Ritschl, Herrmann and Bultmann.
Talks by Ruth M Gornandt
The Doctrine of the Natural Knowledge of God and the Cognitive Science of Religion The Cognitive ... more The Doctrine of the Natural Knowledge of God and the Cognitive Science of Religion The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) emerged during the 1990s when scientists began applying methods from cognitive science to religion. They sought to explain the universality of religion as well as the
Conference Presentations by Ruth M Gornandt
Teaching Documents by Ruth M Gornandt
Overview of the first three/seven ecumenical councils with main doctrines, keywords, and rejected... more Overview of the first three/seven ecumenical councils with main doctrines, keywords, and rejected teachings
Le Muséon, 2023
Gregory of Tatev was an Armenian theologian and polymath of the late Middle Ages. At the outset o... more Gregory of Tatev was an Armenian theologian and polymath of the late Middle Ages. At the outset of his doctrine of God, he talks of ‘sober theology’. The expression is far from clear and needs to be linked to the broad range of traditions from which medieval Armenian theology drew. This article first explains the immediate and the wider context of the expression in Gregory’s Book of Questions. It then shows that its roots stretch back as far as Philo of Alexandria, the Greek Fathers, Plato, Greek literary circles, and Neoplatonist philosophy. Against this backdrop, it becomes clear that the expression is not just one among many ideas but precisely describes what Gregory of Tatev aims to expound in the following: a philosophically engaged discussion leading to a cataphatic theology of what human reason can understand about God.
The Heythrop Journal , 2023
The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) holds that religion emerges from human cognition and its ... more The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) holds that religion emerges from human cognition and its intuitions. Hence, it describes religion as a 'natural' belief in 'supernatural agents'. Traditional theology also maintained that there is an 'innate' or 'implanted' knowledge of God or gods. It will be argued that CSR and theology can be related, yet not in a straightforward manner. After sketching out in what sense CSR calls religion 'natural' and how it describes 'supernatural agents', this article explores some examples of the traditional theological doctrine of an 'implanted' knowledge of God. It shows that the reliability of such an 'implanted' knowledge of God was disputed among theologians and, even if it was affirmed, had an ambiguous position in theology. This also applies to CSR if it is to be related to the traditional theological doctrine. There are illuminating convergences between CSR and theology but also considerable divergences. Both, however, prove significant for theology.
The Journal of Theological Studies, 2023
The dialectic of the cataphatic and the apophatic is vital for honouring the transcendent within ... more The dialectic of the cataphatic and the apophatic is vital for honouring the transcendent within the rational endeavour of theology. The medieval Armenian theologian Gregory of Tatev presents a theological approach that is strongly logical and analytical, discussing the mystical only in a few places. For this reason, he has been accused of abandoning the apophatic altogether. However, it can be shown that mystical theology is at the heart of his thinking and his own spiritual practice. After expounding his cataphatic and apophatic theology this paper shows that the divine hiddenness and incomprehensibility shape Gregory’s cataphatic theology in that they underlie its epistemology and hermeneutics. Both are developed from the spiritual experience that God is ultimately ineffable and that ‘unknowing’ is the highest form to know him.
wurde die Schrift erst nachträglich von ihrem Verfasser mit einem Briefschluß versehen, wodurch s... more wurde die Schrift erst nachträglich von ihrem Verfasser mit einem Briefschluß versehen, wodurch sie ihren Briefcharakter erhalten hat. Von Anfang an ist für die Mahnrede allerdings ihre Schriftlichkelt vorauszusetzen, wie die gezielte Konzeption und Geschlossenheit großer Abschnitte zeigt. 3 Wer nun der Verfasser dieser Mahnrede war, ist wohl nicht mehr zu ermitteln. Im Hehr selbst finden sich keine Hinweise. auf seine Person; man wird nicht mehr über ihn sagen können, als daß er eine gründliche Kenntnis des Alten Testaments, eine gute hellenistisch-jüdische Bildung sowie ausgezeichnete rhetorische Fähigkeiten besaß. Vermutlich ist aber diese Anonymität des Briefes vom Verfasser selbst beabsichtigt: Nicht durch seine Person oder den Verweis auf eine apostolische Autorität soll der Hehr überzeugen, sondern die Sachautorität von Schrift und Bekenntnis soll im Vordergrund stehen.4 Von den Adressaten des Hehr ist dagegen ein wenig mehr zu erfahren.
The history of Lutheran female abbeys in Lower Saxony after the reformation (in German).
Description of my doctoral thesis: Gerhard Ebeling, a German Protestant theologian, conceives th... more Description of my doctoral thesis: Gerhard Ebeling, a German Protestant theologian, conceives theology with a strong criticism of metaphysics and with reference to Martin Luther. I examine the following aspects: What does Ebeling mean by metaphysics, what is the aim of his critique and on which sources does he rely besides Luther?
The rejection of metaphysics in Protestant theology is not only a commonplace introduced by the m... more The rejection of metaphysics in Protestant theology is not only a commonplace introduced by the modern philosophical critique of metaphysics. It also appears to be indebted to the foundations of a theology in loyalty to the Reformation. In the works of Gerhard Ebeling, an important representative of German Protestant theology in the second half of the 20th century, one can find a surprisingly strong criticism of metaphysics alongside the effort to conceive a modern theology in the tradition of Luther.
However his theology, his special view on Luther and his rejection of metaphysics do not only lead to Luther but rather to a significant stream of German Protestant theology starting with Albrecht Ritschl and transformed by Wilhelm Herrmann whose theological foundation had a major impact on 20th century theology, especially on the hermeneutical theology of Rudolf Bultmann, a teacher to Ebeling.
So in my thesis, I do not only investigate Ebeling's criticism of metaphysics but also its historical background which I attempt to show consists in a stream of theology coined above all by Ritschl, Herrmann and Bultmann.
The Doctrine of the Natural Knowledge of God and the Cognitive Science of Religion The Cognitive ... more The Doctrine of the Natural Knowledge of God and the Cognitive Science of Religion The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) emerged during the 1990s when scientists began applying methods from cognitive science to religion. They sought to explain the universality of religion as well as the
Overview of the first three/seven ecumenical councils with main doctrines, keywords, and rejected... more Overview of the first three/seven ecumenical councils with main doctrines, keywords, and rejected teachings