Abstract

LOUW, Daniel J.. On facing the God-question in a pastoral theology of compassion: From imperialistic omni-categories to theopaschitic pathos-categories. In Skriflig (Online) [online]. 2015, vol.49, n.1, pp.1-15. ISSN 2305-0853.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/IDS.v49i1.1996.

Many scholars in the 20th century warned against static, ontological and metaphysical schemata of interpretation, stemming from Hellenistic thinking with its impact on God images in Christian reflection. Against the background of new spiritual and philosophical phenomena like apatheism and anatheism, the question regarding the appropriateness of existing categories for God within the framework of pastoral theology surfaces. A paradigm shift from omni-categories to pathos-categories is proposed in order to deal with issues like human suffering, dignity and justice. In this regard, theopaschitic theology can play a decisive role in the reframing of existing static God-images stemming predominantly from the Roman-Greco world. The notion of a 'sustainable God' is introduced in order to reframe God's compassionate presence (ta splanchna) in terms of a continuum of infinitive interventions (infiniscience and the pneumatology of to-be-with).

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