The Trinity

Prototype of Real Existence or Danger to Political Wellbeing? Tanner, Volf, and Yannaras in Conversation

Bibliographic Data

ID3476877
AuthorsJonathan Cole (0000-0001-6302-7196, Charles Sturt University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume12
Issue11
Pages998
Publication date2021-11-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel12110998
OpenAlexW3211964076
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited26

Kathryn Tanner maintains that political theologies based on the Trinity are not only unsound, but potentially dangerous. Her primary concern is that the Trinity, by definition, cannot serve as a "model" for human socio-political organization. Miroslav Volf, while sharing Tanner's sense that Trinitarian political theologies are fraught, nevertheless, maintains that the Trinity can serve as a "vision" for human socio-political relations, albeit not as a "program". This article brings Tanner and Volf into conversation with Eastern Orthodox philosopher-theologian Christos Yannaras, whose Trinitarian political theology regards the Trinity as the "prototype" or "archetype" of a mode of existence in which humans can participate by transcending their natures, with the aim of realizing truth. This article argues that Yannaras offers a novel way of conceptualizing Trinitarian political theology which escapes Tanner and Volf's criticisms, on the one hand, and offers Social Trinitarianism a fresh and fertile perspective that could advance its discourse

Archetype · Conversation · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Political science · Political theology · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Theology · Byzantine Studies and History · Communication · Computer Science · Law · Philosophy · Political Theology and Sovereignty · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions

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