Person eller process? Tal om Gud i relation till Gordon Kaufmans konstruktiva teologi

Abstract

The article offers both a presentation of central parts in Gordon Kaufman’s theology with focus on In Face of Mystery ( 1993) and a discussion of his constructive proposal for a concept of God that meets contemporary science and promotes human life and humane values.

The starting-point is a distinction between functional and substantial aspects of apprehensions of God, and how Kaufman holds these together in his Kant-influenced epistemological perspective. For Kaufman, theology is essentially about imaginative construction, which evolves from the concepts of <God>, <human>, and <world>. Limitations are set by the conception of God as mystery, which baffles the human mind. Although it is impossible to grasp the full reality of God, there is a pragmatic force to use the concept of God as an ultimate point of reference in an all-encompassing theistic world-view in order to nourish what is human and humane. The content of the notion of God is spelled out in terms of creativity and process, fit for a scientific view of a cosmic biohis- toric evolutionary ecosystem. This leads Kaufman to discard traditional talk about God as person or agent.

Here begins the discussion. Appreciation is given to the modesty inherent to Kaufman’s theological strategy, but the author takes issue with Kaufman on the question of a fundamental conception of God, and makes a case for the possibility and probability of God-talk in terms of a person. In doing this, insights from mystic and apop- hatic traditions are employed together with a reflection on the receptivity of the human mind. The essay article concludes with some notes on trinitarian and christomorphic theology, and claims that it is desirable to talk about God in terms of both person and process.