Description
Nicholas Wolterstorff’s distinguished career in philosophical theology continues to bear fruit, and here he shares his insight on the concepts of justice, art and liturgy. Although often discussed in isolation, as Wolterstorff masterfully demonstrates, they are bound together by divine love, and follow a common logical framework. Whether oriented towards the dignity of the other, the desire for creative engagement, or the infinite goodness of the creator, in every case unitive love is at their core. Wolterstorff explores all of this with consummate elegance, ultimately showing how each of the three topics find their fulfilment in the worship of God and in the affirmation of the image of God in each of us.
About the Author
Nicholas P. Wolterstorff is the Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, and author of many books including Until Justice and Peace Embrace (1983), Lament for a Son (1987), Divine Discourse (1995), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (2008), Justice in Love (2011), Art Rethought (2015), Acting Liturgically (2018), and Religion in the University (2019).
Contents
Foreword, by Alan J. Torrance
Acknowledgements
United in Love
1. The Underlying Unity of Love, Justice, Art, and Liturgy
Justice
2. Love and Justice
3. What Makes Gratuitous Generosity Sometimes Unjust?
4. The Just Limits of Love; or Why an Ethic of Pure Benevolence
Is Not Sufficient for Morality
5. All Justice Is Social, but Not All Justice Is Social Justice
6. Religious Intolerance and the Wounds of God
7. Modern Protestant Developments in Human Rights
Art
8. Human Flourishing and Art That Enhances the Ordinary
9. What Sort of Worth Do Works of Art Have?
10. Art and the Formation of Just Persons
11. Social Protest Art and the Graphic Art of Georges Rouault
Liturgy
12. Sacrament as Action, Not Presence
13. Preaching the Word of God
14. Knowing God by Liturgically Addressing God
15. Art and Liturgy
Afterword
Bibliography
Index
Endorsements and Reviews
Some thinkers labor in a particular furrow, hand to the plough, making progress on an area or line of argument over the course of time. Others, like Nicholas Wolterstorff, manage to contribute to the propagation of several different intellectual crops in different fields. In this work, he brings together essays in areas in which he has made signal contributions individually: on the notion of justice, on art and aesthetics, and on liturgy – binding them together with love. It is an important collection of his work, and a valuable contribution to the cross-fertilization of these distinct areas, which he has done so much to help flourish. Oliver D. Crisp, Professor of Analytic Theology and Director of the Logos Institute, University of St Andrews
We can always rely on Nicholas Wolterstorff for original and philosophically astute insights on matters which we often – wrongly – take for granted. Here, in his most recent set of collected essays, he brings together his reflections on justice, aesthetics, and liturgy, and finally unites them under the category of divine love. Let us not imagine that Wolterstorff has finished his thinking, for here we see yet new enrichment and depth. Sarah Coakley, FBA, University of Cambridge and Australian Catholic University
