Oliver O’donovan
Biographic Data
| ID | 3982841 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Oliver O’donovan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Oliver |
| FAMILY NAME | O’donovan |
| SIGNATURE | O’DONOVAN Ó |
| AFFILIATIONS | Edinburgh and St Andrews |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7235-4308 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Divine and Human Action
“Divine action must be strictly ‘coincident’ with uninterrupted finite action”, is the theorem, inspired by reading Austin Farrer, that dominates Rowan Williams’ Christ the Heart of Creation. It asserts the unbroken integrity of creaturely action in the presence of divine action. I shall defend this theorem, while at the same time reading Austin Farrer in a different sense, questioning the role Williams assigns to it, as “crystallising the genera…
Augustine’s Treatment of the Great Psalm
An ancient Hebrew poem of uncertain background and fastidiously subtle formal technique is made the subject of a commentary by a fifth-century Latin bishop with no Hebrew, working with a poor Latin translation, who, moreover, dismisses the formal complexities of the composition as irrelevant to interpretation. Claiming to detect hidden depths beneath the Great Psalm’s limpid surface, Augustine uses it as an opportunity to revisit some of the favo…
Learning from the pandemic
This reflection on the church during the recent lockdown and pandemic begins and ends in the incarnaton and the actual presence among us of Jesus Christ. We are called to engage with the theological task of interpreting God’s work in both the pandemic and in the healing ministry of the church. That is also a caring ministry which entails risk and an awareness of the basic human need for contact at the physical level. Such actual presence is also …
The Professional Politician and the Activist
Luke Bretherton wishes to encourage informal political activity, and asserts a contrast between two complementary and alternative ways of doing politics, formal and informal. But the tendency in his descriptions is to replace formal with informal politics, which is then in danger of being left without responsibility to the structures of political society
Some Reactions from the Ground
Resurrectio Carnis
Considering the distinction between discursive, acquired knowledge and intuitive knowledge raises the question of how theology as a learned discipline relates to the spiritual life. The two kinds of knowledge cannot exist apart in history, but may be in unhappy tension. Eschatology can have no place for discursive knowledge, while history may be conceived as veiling of intuitive knowledge behind discursive knowledge. The goal of theology, then, i…
Giving and Promising
Giving and promise must be thought together. Being-in-the world entails being-with the other, who is both “given” and bearer of a gift promised. But any disclosure may be understood as a gift; it is not anthropomorphic to speak of “self-giving” with a wider reference than person-to-person disclosure. Which implies that no act of giving can exhaust itself in its gift. Present experience never brings closure to self-revealing. Yet giving is crystal…
The Church of England's exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage
Behind the Church of England's public statements on marriage, such as Men and Women in Marriage, lies the thought of ethicist Oliver O'Donovan. This article highlights the influence of O'Donovan's arguments concerning 'sexual dimorphism' (male/female physiological opposition) and 'openness to procreation' upon the Church's case for the heterosexual exclusivity of marriage, by showing how they fill in the gaps in the reasoning of Men and Women in …
Nigel Biggar, Between Kin and Cosmopolis
Charles Mathewes, A Theology of Public Life
The Language of Rights and Conceptual History
The historical problem about the origins of the language of rights derives its importance from the conceptual problem: of “two fundamentally different ways of thinking about justice,” which is basic? Is justice unitary or plural? This in turn opens up a problem about the moral status of human nature. A narrative of the origins of “rights” is an account of how and when a plural concept of justice comes to the fore, and will be based on the occurre…
Luke Bretherton, Hospitality and Holiness
Judgment, Tradition and Reason
The author of The Desire of the Nations (DN) and The Ways of Judgment (WJ) responds to the criticisms and questions of the eight other contributors, defending his concept of government-as-judgment and exploring questions about international law and contemporary pluralism
The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is widely referred to in discussions of politics and religion but not always adequately understood. The second edition of this Companion brings the story of the movement's continuing importance and impact up to date. Additional essays, which complement those in the original edition, expand upon the issues by dealing with gender and sexuality and the important matter of epistemology. In the light of a more conservative ethos in…
The Just War Revisited
The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is widely referred to in discussions of politics and religion but not always adequately understood. This Companion offers an introduction to the history and characteristics of liberation theology in its various forms in different parts of the world. Authors from four continents examine the emergence and character of liberation theology in Latin America; black theology; Asian theology; and the new situation arising from the end…
No prominent works on this page.
The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is widely referred to in discussions of politics and religion but not always adequately understood. This Companion offers an introduction to the history and characteristics of liberation theology in its various forms in different parts of the world. Authors from four continents examine the emergence and character of liberation theology in Latin America; black theology; Asian theology; and the new situation arising from the end…
The Just War Revisited
The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is widely referred to in discussions of politics and religion but not always adequately understood. The second edition of this Companion brings the story of the movement's continuing importance and impact up to date. Additional essays, which complement those in the original edition, expand upon the issues by dealing with gender and sexuality and the important matter of epistemology. In the light of a more conservative ethos in…
Judgment, Tradition and Reason
The author of The Desire of the Nations (DN) and The Ways of Judgment (WJ) responds to the criticisms and questions of the eight other contributors, defending his concept of government-as-judgment and exploring questions about international law and contemporary pluralism
The Language of Rights and Conceptual History
The historical problem about the origins of the language of rights derives its importance from the conceptual problem: of “two fundamentally different ways of thinking about justice,” which is basic? Is justice unitary or plural? This in turn opens up a problem about the moral status of human nature. A narrative of the origins of “rights” is an account of how and when a plural concept of justice comes to the fore, and will be based on the occurre…
Luke Bretherton, Hospitality and Holiness
Charles Mathewes, A Theology of Public Life
The Church of England's exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage
Behind the Church of England's public statements on marriage, such as Men and Women in Marriage, lies the thought of ethicist Oliver O'Donovan. This article highlights the influence of O'Donovan's arguments concerning 'sexual dimorphism' (male/female physiological opposition) and 'openness to procreation' upon the Church's case for the heterosexual exclusivity of marriage, by showing how they fill in the gaps in the reasoning of Men and Women in …
Nigel Biggar, Between Kin and Cosmopolis
Resurrectio Carnis
Considering the distinction between discursive, acquired knowledge and intuitive knowledge raises the question of how theology as a learned discipline relates to the spiritual life. The two kinds of knowledge cannot exist apart in history, but may be in unhappy tension. Eschatology can have no place for discursive knowledge, while history may be conceived as veiling of intuitive knowledge behind discursive knowledge. The goal of theology, then, i…
Giving and Promising
Giving and promise must be thought together. Being-in-the world entails being-with the other, who is both “given” and bearer of a gift promised. But any disclosure may be understood as a gift; it is not anthropomorphic to speak of “self-giving” with a wider reference than person-to-person disclosure. Which implies that no act of giving can exhaust itself in its gift. Present experience never brings closure to self-revealing. Yet giving is crystal…
The Professional Politician and the Activist
Luke Bretherton wishes to encourage informal political activity, and asserts a contrast between two complementary and alternative ways of doing politics, formal and informal. But the tendency in his descriptions is to replace formal with informal politics, which is then in danger of being left without responsibility to the structures of political society
Some Reactions from the Ground
Learning from the pandemic
This reflection on the church during the recent lockdown and pandemic begins and ends in the incarnaton and the actual presence among us of Jesus Christ. We are called to engage with the theological task of interpreting God’s work in both the pandemic and in the healing ministry of the church. That is also a caring ministry which entails risk and an awareness of the basic human need for contact at the physical level. Such actual presence is also …
Augustine’s Treatment of the Great Psalm
An ancient Hebrew poem of uncertain background and fastidiously subtle formal technique is made the subject of a commentary by a fifth-century Latin bishop with no Hebrew, working with a poor Latin translation, who, moreover, dismisses the formal complexities of the composition as irrelevant to interpretation. Claiming to detect hidden depths beneath the Great Psalm’s limpid surface, Augustine uses it as an opportunity to revisit some of the favo…
Divine and Human Action
“Divine action must be strictly ‘coincident’ with uninterrupted finite action”, is the theorem, inspired by reading Austin Farrer, that dominates Rowan Williams’ Christ the Heart of Creation. It asserts the unbroken integrity of creaturely action in the presence of divine action. I shall defend this theorem, while at the same time reading Austin Farrer in a different sense, questioning the role Williams assigns to it, as “crystallising the genera…
Philosophy (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Theology (6 works) · History (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Law (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works)