God Without Measure: Working Papers in Christian Theology: Volume I: God and the Works of God

by John B. Webster

This volume treats the themes of God's inner being and God's outer acts. After an overall account of the relation between God in himself and the economy of God's external works, there are studies of the divine aseity and of the theology of the eternal Son. These are followed by a set of essays on creation out of nothing; the relation between God and God's creatures; the nature of providence; the relation of soteriology and the doctrine of God; and the place of teaching about justification in Christian theology.

Each of these essays explores the relation of theology proper to economy, and together they pose an understanding of Christian doctrine in which all theological teaching flows from the doctrine of the immanent Trinity.

Genres: Theology

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Professor John B. Webster, MA, PhD, DD, FRSE was a notable contemporary British theologian of the Anglican communion writing in the area of systematic, historical and moral theology. He was educated at the independent co-educational Bradford Grammar School and at the University of Cambridge.

See also: John Webster

Image: Drawn by Rachel Nigh

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I realize that reviews on Goodreads are often prone to exaggeration (guilty), but this is truly one of the best works of contemporary theology I have read. Webster not only knows movements in contemporary theology better than most (he helped found the International Journal of Systematic Theology and was a key expert in the theology of Karl Barth and Eberhard Jüngel), he is clearly conversant with the best of the patristic, medieval, and early modern scholarship. In particular, he seems to have a fondness for Aquinas and Owen.

The chapters "Life in and of Himself," "Eternal Generation," "Non Ex Aequo: God's Relation to Creatures," and "On the Theology of Providence" were especially good. One of the things Webster does best is showcase how a focus on God and all things in relation to God is the proper object of theology. What this entails are positive descriptions of seemingly esoteric doctrines like creation ex nihilo, God's aseity, eternal generation, etc.

More than anything though, Webster causes the mind to soar with a disciplined focus upon the God of the gospel. If Webster is right that "regenerate theological activity" replaces intellectual greed with a "hunger for divine instruction," then he is a key model. There is nothing cute here. What one finds is a diligent focus on God's singular majesty.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction

Chapter 1: Omnia . . . Pertractantur in Sacra Doctrina Sub Ratione Dei. On the Matter of Christian Theology

Part I: God in Himself

Chapter 2: Life in and Of Himself
Chapter 3: Eternal Generation
Chapter 4: Christology, Theology, Economy. The Place of Christology in Systematic Theology
Chapter 5: One Who is Son

Part II: God's Outer Works

Chapter 6: Trinity and Creation
Chapter 7: 'Love is Also a Lover of Life': Creatio Ex Nihilo and Creaturely Goodness
Chapter 8: Non Ex Aequo: God's Relation to Creatures
Chapter 9: On the Theology of Providence
Chapter 10: 'It Was the Will of the Lord to Bruise Him': Soteriology and the Doctrine of God
Chapter 11: Rector Et Index Super Omnia Genera Doctrinarum? The Place of the Doctrine of Justification
Chapter 12: 'In the Society of God': Some Principles of Ecclesiology
Chapter 13: Purity and Plentitude: Reflections on Congar's Tradition & Traditions

Epilogue

Chapter 14: What Makes Theology Theological?

[David Goetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally good. Webster identifies two Christian doctrines as distributed: the doctrine of the Triune God and the doctrine of creation. Concern with these two articles of Christian faith and their ramifications permeate this work. I.e., every essay follows this rule: "Theology talks about everything by talking about God" (117). Or: "Christian theology is an exercise in concentration, required to fix its eyes not on everything but on the ways of God; only in assent to this restriction will theology find itself having something to say about everything" (223). Webster writes about this God reverently and therefore carefully. The language is rarely lush, but it's beautiful in its own restrained and docile way.

On creation, that second distributed doctrine, Webster does remarkable work. He takes this pretty plain-sounding notion that the human person is primarily a creature and unpacks and clarifies it in ways that chasten and orient us to our proper ends. "The double ontological rule of creaturely being is: what we are, we are in God; and what we are in God, we are. There is no other manner in which creatures can have their being" (173). An anthropology that begins with the our nature as created nature will get off on the right foot.

This is challenging reading, as it should be, but it's in service of what Webster calls "the infinite loveliness of divine teaching" (223), so it's all worth it!

[Brad East · Rating 5 out of 5]

Webster is extraordinary. Everything he writes should be mandatory reading for anyone in theology. The very highest quality of Christian dogmatics.

[Nathaniel Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most difficult book in my journey of spending one year reading Webster, but it's excellent. It's a serious collection of academic theology that, if carefully considered, will edify any reader who wants to be taught about God and all things in relation to God

[Jae H Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb...