Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review“The Difference Nothing Makes is incredibly learned, the product of a mature thinker who has been reading deeply and cross-sectionally for decades. The argument is sophisticated, intricate, and, in the end, convincing.” —Grant Kaplan, author of René Girard, Unlikely Apologist
"I found this book to be immensely engaging and illuminating. It offers a finessed account of creatio ex nihilo, one that is protological, eschatological, and Christological. Admirably conversant with the constancies of traditional views, it recreates for contemporaries a fitting sense of the lovable surprise of the gift of being, and what G. M. Hopkins called 'the dearest freshness deep down things.' Very warmly recommended." —William Desmond, author of Godsends
"The Difference Nothing Makes is not the usual, well-heeled essay in foundational theology. Conceived and born in the matrix of contemplation, Brian Robinette’s deeply engaging contribution is a learned, grounded, and perceptive exploration of creation, incarnation, and redemption in a refreshingly new register. An unintended fruit of this remarkable book is itself a subtle redemption of theology from its own self-conscious servitude to scripted cliché." —Martin Laird, O.S.A., author of An Ocean of Light
"Deftly demonstrating nihil's semantic flexibility and fecundity, Robinette illuminates the expansive yet negative nature of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo." —Modern Theology
"A passionate and poetically written defence of God’s creation of the universe ‘from nothing’...provides much valuable material for reflection on the practice of contemplative prayer and the God–world relationship." —Theology
"The ideas in this book are rigorous and carefully argued, and its vision of transformation based on a deep acceptance of the world’s givenness by God is also quite beautiful. ...We are in the author’s debt for this carefully argued, ecumenically engaged work of theology that is deeply attentive to connections between Christian theology and Christian life."—Reading Religion
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. Grammar and Contemplation
1. The Difference Nothing Makes
2. Undergoing Something from Nothing
Part II. Christ as Concentrated Creation
3. Jesus and the Non-Other
4. Strange Victory
Part III. Purgation and Union
5. On the Contemplative Consummation of Atheism
6. Return to Love
Bibliography
Index
