Introducing Metaphysical Theology
Metaphysical themes in Catholic theology -- Trinitarian ontology
The purpose of this Substack is to explore metaphysical themes in Catholic theology, especially:
God as Trinity
Creation and Participation
Universals and Divine Ideas
Substance and Relation
Nature and Grace
Love and Person
Action and Free Will
The Ontology of Peace and Communion
Being as Gift
The Analogy of Being
I will be (1) showcasing the work of contemporary authors—Christian philosophers and theologians—who write on these topics, (2) interacting with their work and (2) sharing some of my own work / notes / commentary on the same topics. While my own writing is philosophical, it covers theological themes, sometimes overlaps with theology, and interacts with the work of philosophers and theologians alike. I am confident that my explorations of these themes will be of interest to Protestant and Orthodox Christians, not just Catholics.
In this post I highlight some recent developments (2019 onwards) in thinking about the Trinity. I will return to this content in more detail at a later stage.
New Trinitarian Ontologies
New Trinitarian Ontologies [was] an academic conference [that was] held at the University of Cambridge, 13-15 September 2019. Featuring Rowan Williams, David Bentley Hart, John Milbank, Thomas Joseph White, Catherine Pickstock, John Betz, Andrew Louth, Graham Ward, and many other distinguished theologians and philosophers. Theologians once studied the question of being so as to study the far greater question of God. Modern ontology has often attempted to build a towering structure of being, but, by failing to secure its foundations, has evacuated being into nothing. Yet if ontology cannot contain but rather points to God, then we may once more begin to investigate new approaches to metaphysics or ontology in imitation of the Trinity. We may witness today a great opportunity, one that is equally post-analytic and post-continental, to collaborate in the construction of new ontologies of the Trinity.
Video recordings of papers presented at the conference can be found at this YouTube channel.
I am aware of two follow-up conferences on the same theme, in 2021 and 2023.
There was also a student symposium at Cambridge University in the wake of the 2019 conference.
Two more recent conferences on Trinitarian ontology that I’m aware of:
Three books to be published soon:
Eduard Fiedler and Pavel Frývaldský (eds), Trinitarian Ontologies: Towards a Trinitarian Transformation of Philosophy Series: Studies on Triadic Ontology and Trinitarian Philosophy, Vol. 1.
This will be an edited volume with contributions from EuARe 2021 Panel in Münster & 2023 Trinitarian Ontologies Conference in Prague.
https://x.com/EduardFiedler/status/1752059367812129156/photo/1
Ryan Haecker, Restoring Reason: Theology of Logic in Origen of Alexandria
A revision of Haecker’s doctoral dissertation. Under contract to be published the new Verlag Karl Alber book series Studies on Triadic Ontology and Trinitarian Philosophy.
Ryan Haecker is editing a forthcoming book, New Trinitarian Ontologies
Under contract with Cascade Books.
I understand that this book gathers together the papers presented at the 2019 conference at Cambridge.
Two (fairly) recently published books on Trinitarian ontology
Klaus Hemmerle, Theses Toward a Trinitarian Ontology (2020)
From the blurb:
Written in 1975 as a birthday greeting to the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, Klaus Hemmerle’s Theses Towards A Trinitarian Ontology is of the highest theological moment as a key source text for the recent widespread interest in the idea of a “Trinitarian ontology.” Drawing on Hemmerle’s deep familiarity with German Idealism, the Theses sketch an ontology beginning not from invariance, but from “self-giving,” from kenosis, and articulate a distinctively Trinitarian response to the aporias of early twenty-first-century thought—a response for which only Love can credibly be understood as the meaning of Being.
“Hemmerle’s Theses, presented as a gift to Balthasar on his seventieth birthday, are in turn reflections on the gift, or more precisely, trinitarian self-giving to the world and human being. Authentic gifts are truly astonishing. Theses reflects Balthasar to himself while showing him a way forward towards Theologik 2 & 3 in which he formulated his own ontology of trinitarian love as it expresses itself in salvation history, thereby providing the horizon for all deep questioning into Being, beings, and their relation. This trinitarian ontology is an answer to Heidegger and Hegel, as well as a step beyond neo-Scholasticism’s insistence on deductive method and on divine unity rather than on process and relation. Furthermore, Hemmerle’s trinitarian ontology has the capacity to unite theory and praxis, individual and community, church and world. His Theses also suggests the emergence of a contest within Catholicism between strict phenomenology (later given expression to by Jean-Luc Marion) and a looser phenomenology that requires ontological specification. It is not going too far to say that Hemmerle’s gift is itself a figure of the gift of which he speaks, and represents a genuine participation in it.”—CYRIL O’REGAN, author of The Heterodox Hegel and Gnostic Apocalypse
“At last, Klaus Hemmerle’s crucial little work is fully available in English, in a fine translation. His vision of a fully trinitarian ontology points the way forward, not just for theology, but for thinking in general.”—JOHN MILBANK, author of Theology and Social Theory and Beyond Secular Order
See this review by Brendan Leahy in Irish Theological Quarterly (free access).
Piero Coda, From the Trinity: The Coming of God in Revelation and Theology (2020)
From the blurb:
From the Trinity provides an overall view of the history and the philosophical and theological significance of God the Trinity, not only from a religious point of view but from an anthropological and socio-cultural view as well. The perspective is that of Christian doctrine, specifically Catholic, in dialogue with the cultural sensitivity of our times and with the religious pluralism that characterizes it.
Following the generative-progressive method proposed by Vatican II, the book begins with a phenomenological reading of the signs of the times, with special focus upon the performative aspect of the announcement and the doctrine of faith. In particular, constant attention to the contribution made by the mystics and great charisms (from Augustine of Hippo to Francis of Assisi and Theresa of Avila up until Therese of Lisieux, Edith Stein and Chiara Lubich) toward a deeper understanding of the Trinitarian truth.
From the Trinity is unique in what it offers not only for Trinitarian theology, but also for other theological disciplines (Christology, Pneumatology, Anthropology, Ecclesiology, etc.) – in which the Trinity shines forth as the central and enlightening truth – as well as for philosophy, the humanities and the natural sciences. This perspective is especially developed in terms of a Trinitarian ontology (see Part V) by which reality is understood in light of the revelation of the Trinity. The implications of the incarnation of the Son of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit are taken seriously in studying the truth of all things as they are perceived in the space created by living and thinking “in” Jesus, united to the Father in the Spirit, as suggested by the title of the book, looking upon reality “From the Trinity.”
Movers and Shakers
Dr Ryan Haecker
Image source
Dr. Ryan Haecker is a theologian and philosopher whose research in systematic and historical theology explores the absolute questions of logic, science, and technology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a member of the European Academy of Religions, and serves on the editorial board of the journal Religions. He was in April 2022 awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Theology and Religious Studies from Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. His doctoral dissertation supervised by Rowan Williams explores theological interpretations of logic in the systematic theology of Origen of Alexandria as a critical resource for modern Christian theology. Beginning with a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, he is revising his doctoral dissertation, Restoring Reason: Theology of Logic in Origen of Alexandria, which is under contract to be published the new Verlag Karl Alber book series Studies on Triadic Ontology and Trinitarian Philosophy. He has previously studied history, philosophy, and theology at the University of Texas, the University of Würzburg, and the University of Nottingham. He has published 59 articles in journals, as book chapters, and as book reviews, including 9 peer-reviewed journal articles in journals, including Religions, Noesis, and The Journal of the Oxford Graduate Theological Society. He has presented over 138 papers and talks at conferences around the world. He led the organization of the international and ecumenical September 2019 New Trinitarian Ontologies Conference at the University of Cambridge. He has frequently been interviewed by the BBC, the Cambridge Festival, and many online podcasts. His research interests extend across a vast range of topics, including Trinitarian Ontology, Philosophy of Logic, Platonism, Patristics, and German Idealism. He has written a monograph Analogy and Dialectic: A Genealogy of the Trinity. He is currently editing a forthcoming book, New Trinitarian Ontologies, which is under contract with Cascade Books. And he hopes in the future to write a general prolegomenon for a future trinitarian ontology, Theology of Logic: A New Introduction to Absolute Knowing.
I will be interacting with Haecker’s work later. If all goes to plan, I will be hosting a video interview with him about Trinitarian ontology.
Fifteen More
Finally, here is a list of some philosophers and theologians who have authored works on the metaphysical themes listed at the beginning of this post. Each of them has influenced my own thought, or has done inspiring work with which it will be fruitful for me to interact, if I have not already. This list gives a rough indication of the specific community (or communities) of thinkers within which my own reading, thinking and (nascent) writing are embedded. All authors are Roman Catholic, except where indicated. Each of them deserves a whole post!
Erich Przywara (1889 — 1972)
Cornelio Fabro (1911 — 1995)
William Norris Clarke (1915 — 2008)
Oliva Blanchette (1929 — 2021)
Ferdinand Ulrich (1931 — 2020)
John Zizioulas (1931 — 2023) [Greek Orthodox]
Claude Bruaire (1932 — 1986)
David L. Schindler (1942 — 2022)
See this fine essay on Schindler by Australian theologian Dr Tom Gourlay
John Milbank [Anglo-Catholic]
The title of my doctoral thesis in philosophy (2011, University of Tasmania) is Plurally Possessed: Gift and Participation in the Theo-ontology of John Milbank
David Bentley Hart [Eastern Orthodox]