The New Heaven and New Earth

An Interdisciplinary Comparison between Jürgen Moltmann, Karl Rahner, and Gregory Beale

Raymond R. Hausoul

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781725262843
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Teología cristiana

There is a growing focus on the Christian confession of God's completed kingdom, the new heaven and the new earth. This theme has time and again seduced people into elaborate fantasies that stimulated the senses. How can we talk about it meaningfully?Raymond R. Hausoul relates systematic theology to biblical theology by comparing three theologians: the Catholic theologian Karl Rahner, the Protestant Jurgen Moltmann, and the Reformed Gregory Beale. This leads to reflections on differences between matter, space, and time of the new heaven and new earth and those of our present reality. The hope for renewal and resurrection is thus linked to the prophecies of the new Jerusalem, the tree of life, and the resurrection body.

1

Introduction and methodology

1.1 Purpose of the investigation

This dissertation investigates how two systematic-theological designs on eschatology and a biblical-theological design can be of significance for theological discussion about the new heaven and the new earth. The concrete research question is:

How can comparison between Karl Rahner’s and Jürgen Moltmann’s systematic theological designs on eschatology and Gregory Beale’s biblical-theological design be of significance in a theological dialogue concerning the new heaven and the new earth?

In literature, the importance of such an interdisciplinary dialogue between representatives from the discipline of ST and that of the BT has already been mentioned several times (cf. §1.2.4).1 To ascertain its relevance, it is important to compare the designs of different professional experts from theological disciplines. This dissertation does not offer an independent systematic-theological or biblical-theological design concerning the new heaven and new earth. To begin with, this seems too pretentious and, moreover, it would ignore the core of the research question, which is to get a closer look at the way interaction between well-known designs on the part of ST and BT take shape, as well as which potentials of an interdisciplinary dialogue are as yet unused.

In this thesis, Rahner, Moltmann, and Beale are chosen, and their different theological designs are compared. Through this comparison, systematic-theological and biblical-thematic reflections on the new creation can be linked. In this way, a careful comparison reveals how an interdisciplinary comparison can increase the understanding of three separate designs from different denominational, cultural, and disciplinary areas, and at the same time shows how each design is limited and how a comparison can lead to enrichment on the subject of the new heaven and the new earth.

1.2 The relationship between BT and ST

In the past, a strict separation between BT and ST has often been made.2 The Dutch theologian Kees van der Kooi writes:

They are households next to each other, while at most in the kitchen, the housemates look over a shoulder with surprise at what the other brews. . . . Most practitioners of dogmatism are already happy when they have some overview of their own field. . . . A simple appeal to exegetical results and biblical theology, as it seemed to be for former generations, seems to be definitely over.3

As a result, the fields of BT and ST have little in common with each other. But we also discover in our society that there is an appreciation for the interdisciplinary discussion.4 This also has its influence on the dialogue between BT and ST. As a result of the demand for a responsible interdisciplinary dialogue, the desire to bridge the gap between ST and BT has therefore grown over the past decades. Kevin Vanhoozer already stated in 2014:

There are encouraging signs that the two disciplines, after generations of wandering in the wilderness in isolation from one another, are each approaching the Promised Land of interdisciplinary partnership.5

This will lead both disciplines to a cycle of mutual influence and enrichment. The same thought can be found with Markus Mühling when he pleads for more interaction between BT and ST in his reflection on the new creation.6 This motivates the research to compare two systematic-theological theologians and a biblical theologian and to find out what the added value of this comparison may be.

The interdisciplinary discussion involves two different disciplines that enter into dialogue with each other. This societal tendency is a reaction to a reduced approach of the individual sciences. On the one hand, a reduction can cause one’s own professional research to deepen and, on the other hand, can cause the research to overlook contextual elements and underestimate the complexity of the subject.7

In this dissertation, an interdisciplinary comparison is chosen between two theologians from the ST field and one theologian from that of the BT. Such a comparison between ST and BT is not new (see §1.5). Therefore, the synopsis below provides an overview of the relationship between ST and BT in Western theology.

1.2.1 General developments

What in Western theology today has been divided into ST and BT belonged together until the seventeenth century.8 Judaism and Christianity traditionally used the Bible in the reflection on religious subjects. Despite the differences in hermeneutical association with the Bible, there was a dialogue between biblical exegesis and ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Foreword
• Abstract and summary
• 1. Introduction and methodology
• 2. Rahner, Moltmann, and Beale on the dialogue between ST and BT
• 3. Karl Rahner’s concept on the new heaven and new earth
• 4. Jürgen Moltmann’s concept on the new heaven and new earth
• 5. Gregory Beale’s perspective on the new heaven and new earth
• 6. Comparison and enrichment
• 7. Conclusion
• Bibliography