God: How Near a Relation?

THE THOMIST A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EDITORs: THE DoMINICAN FATHERS OF THE PRoviNCE OF ST. JosEPH Publishers: The Thomist Press, Washington, D. C. ~0017 VoL. XXXIV APRIL, 1970 No.2 GOD: HOW NEAR A RELATION? IF THE ABOVE title suggests anything to the reader, the danger is that too much might be implied. I do not propose to treat of all the aspects of the " nearness " of God to man, nor attempt to investigate all th;Pl)plications of the category of " relation " commonly used in our effort to give an adequate theological account of the links that exist between the creature and the Creator. There are, however, a number of questions that have been placed insistently before the Catholic theologian recently that demand from him a more adequate interpretation of God's involvement in our world and in our history. This statement implies a position that the standard position is not strong enough. Though, as will appear, I have no intention of reversing the classic Thomistic position in this fundamental area, I do think that a concerted effort is needed to explicitate the richness, the flexibility and the relevance of this tradition of thought, and to see that in the long run the reality we attempt to express is more important 1.91 19~ ANTHONY J. KELLY than the words we use in that attempt. Further, I do not hope to give final answers, but I do hope that it will not pass as presumptuous to open some areas of our standard theology to more close scrutiny for the sake of the continuance of a balanced development. It can be reasonably admitted that the Thomistic arrangement and presentation of the theology dealing with the Mystery of God have not been easily understandable.1 One soon gets used to the predictable labels attached to the traditional " De Unitate Dei- De Trinitate Dei" schema: it is said to be too static, philosophical, too little in line with the basic patterns of Salvation History, etc. To anyone understanding the basic approach of St. Thomas, this causes little concern; he finds many of the current questions on God hopelessly naive, e. g., the " Honest to God debate," and feels that at the same time they can be speedily and neatly dealt with by an appeal to the best of traditional Thomism. Recent suggestions in theories of a " developing Deity " would be smartly dismissed as nonsense . But here we must be careful: it is possible to evade a responsibility. Are the Thomistic answers really available to modern thought? Are they too concealed within a system of thought that can appear overly rigid and exclusive? Have we spoken sufficiently with the proponents of the newer Theisms in an effort tore-actualize the context of the Thomistic doctrine dealing with man's affirmation of God? The answer to be given must be carefully qualified in view of the excellent work that has already been done.2 Those outside the Thomistic tradition seem to have considerable difficulty in understanding precisely what Thomists (and for that matter, all Catholic theology) are getting at when it 1 Cf. K. Rahner, "Remarks on the Dogmatic Treatise 'De Trinitate,'" Theological Investigations IV (London, 1966), 77-104; G. Martelet, " Theologie und Heilsoeconomie in der Christologie der ' Tertia,' " Gott in Welt IT (Freiburg, 1964), 8-4~. • Apart from the basic and well-known work of Rahner and Schillebeeckx, articles, such as C. Kiesling," A Translation of Tillich's Idea of God," Journal of Ecumenical Studiea 4 (Winter, 1967), 700-715, are of great value. GOD: HOW NEAR A RELATION? 193 comes to discussing the reality of God's relationship with man. Some recent developments in Catholic theology admit, implicitly at least, that we have fallen short in giving an adequate account of the God-Man relationship, as we shall soon see.3 It seems that traditional Catholic theology, from the Middle Ages on, has left the reality of God too " abstract," not sufficiently involved as an actual, free Presence in human affairs. Perhaps the very richness of the notion of being and the utter existential fulness of the divine Reality as understood in Thomism has given the impression that...