Description
Book SynopsisPaul Dafydd Jones is Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, USA.
Trade ReviewThis volume is a remarkable achievement—deeply aware of, yet not overburdened by, questions of theological method, language, and epistemology. Paul Daffyd Jones’ examination of patience both human and divine appreciates the wisdom of the Christian past while opening a horizon for patience as a divine perfection in the present. -- Ruth Jackson Ravenscroft, University of Cambridge, UK
Can “regular dogmatics” be inspiring, liberative, and empowering? Jones’ magisterial treatment of patience—on human terms, a “burdened virtue”!—is all of those things. Recast as first and foremost an attribute of God, patience enables creaturely co-creativity, bestows temporal blessings, and is rewarded by responsive action in history. I impatiently await part 2! -- Hanna Reichel, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA
Patience—A Theological Exploration features a commanding appraisal of how theologians past have taken up the language of patience and richly illuminates what “patience” might signify when it comes to understanding the being in action of the triune God today. A vibrant, compelling, and timely volume. -- Angela Dienhart Hancock, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, USA
This is an exceptional book. Jones succeeds not only in profiling the often neglected motif of God’s patience. Above all, he brilliantly uses this motif to cast new light on classical theological topics like God's creation, God’s providence or human sin. And he does so in a theological exploration that constructively relates insights from the past with present day concerns and hopes for liberation. Readers of this first volume of Jones’ theological project will await the second volume with impatience. -- Markus Höfner, Universität Zürich, Switzerland
Patience—A Theological Exploration is an exemplary synthesis of interpretive and constructive enquiry. Jones draws deeply and widely upon biblical, patristic, medieval, reformation-era, and modern sources to articulate a fresh and challenging vision of patience as, in one respect, a divine perfection, and in another, a neglected yet “burdened” human virtue. -- Joel David Stormo Rasmussen, University of Oxford, UK
The book is a unique work [which]...presents a helpful framework to beginning thinking about God’s "letting be" and "letting happen" * Theologische Literaturzeitung *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Part 1: Interpretation Chapter 1: Patience in Patristic and Medieval Theology: from Tertullian to Julian of Norwich
Chapter 2: Patience in the context of the European Reformation: forbearance, haste, and transformation
Chapter 3: From Barth to “burdened virtue”: the promise and perils of patience
Part 2: Construction Chapter 4: The patience of God the creator
Chapter 5: The patience of God the provider (I)
Chapter 6: The patience of God the provider (II)
Epilogue: Retrospect and Prospect Bibliography Index
