Prof. John Milbank - Why the theological future is Cusan rather than Thomist
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2023
- Cusanus Society UK & Ireland First annual conference
Tuesday 20 to Wednesday 21 June 2023, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Speaker: Prof. John Milbank. University of Nottingham.
Plenary Paper: “Why the theological future is Cusan rather than Thomist”
For all the continuing value of Aquinas when rescued from neo-scholastic confusions, the approach of Cusa more points the way forward for us today. His fusion of Albertinism, Eriugena and Chartrian humanism in a post-nominalist context allowed him to begin to develop a new discourse of participated creativity that refused any distinction between theology and philosophy, or any thinking of monotheism that is not also Trinitarian and Christological, while remaining more strictly monotheistic and even monistic in character (and thus open to other religious perspectives). It is in these terms that he more drastically confronted the inherent paradoxes of the Creator-Creation relationship than had been the case hitherto. In all such aspects (which do not anticipate Kant so much as the various currents of Romanticism) he opened out an ‘alternative modernity’ rather than a mere return to the pre-modern that is now theoretically and culturally impossible, besides being less than fully Christian.
cusanussociety.wp.st-andrews....
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
🤔 Nicholas *of Kusa played a pivotal role in Professor John Milbank's career, pointing him towards his current trajectory of studies in both philosophy and theology.*
📖 Kusa's *work blends tradition and innovation, combining Christian teachings with the growing emphasis on human capacity, arts and sciences, during the Renaissance era.*
🤲 Kusa *is believed to provide a more traditional way to be modern, making his studies and reflections important to understanding contemporary thoughts.*
🛠️ Kusa's *fusion of sacred theology with rational philosophy led him to establish an alternative Renaissance, favoring a metaphysics approach over the traditional Aristotelian approach.*
👀 Kusa's *work went unnoticed for a long time, overshadowed by successors Bruno and Spinoza, and later Descartes and Kent's subjective turn. Recent scholarship suggests Kusa's vision offers a different, less followed, but potentially more coherent path.*
🌍 Kusa's *perspective includes a strong sense of the unity between God and the world, and between philosophy and theology. It also integrated other faiths and cultures, seeing them as different and valuable perspectives on God.*
❓ The *relationship between God and the world, as described by Kusa, is marked with irreducible paradox. He emphasized the role of Paradox in understanding universal aspects and real relations.*
🔗 Central *to Kusa's philosophy are paradoxical themes - the unity of opposites, the coexistence of identity and difference, and the interplay between autonomy and heteronomy. This suggests all knowledge is essentially a construct, offering an arguably unique response to nominalism.*
📝 Nicholas *of Kusa argued that infinitesimal transitions should be seen as aparthetic discontinuities, as opposed to the 'rationalizing line' of Leibniz.*
💡 Nicholas *didn't anticipate the new mathematical science. He drew on a Pythagorean platonic understanding of mathematics, valuing mathematical discontinuities.*
🎭 He *posited that every thought or deed is essentially an artful construction or conjecture, contributing to the 'Divine game of creation'.*
⚖️ Nicholas *suggests that we balance finite and infinite, particularly in idealistic thought. He saw God as infinite art, infinite self-surprise, and infinite giving.*
🎨 Nicholas *held that the deed or performance doesn't precede the idea. Instead, thought is conjectural and imminently constructed. This thought led to the philosophical perspective that thinking and creating are interconnected, and creating is a mode of development and understanding.*
🦉 Humans, *as 'cultural animals', are participative thinkers, adding to the world's knowledge through their imaginative experiences and inspired creations.*
🔭 Nicholas *offered a perspective where rational and religious awareness are indistinguishable, both being conjectural and inspired by grace-given participation in the Divine act of Creation.*
🔄 This *forward-thinking, integral yet ecumenically open theological worldview, rooted in both philosophy and the tradition of Christianity, is the future direction Nicholas proposed. It encourages us to include art and culture in metaphysics of degrees of creativity.*
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Don't you just love when the mere title of the lecture already gives you an "eureka" moment?
yes, same here.
Thought I was the only one you felt this way. Spot on!!!
Thank you.
John is always insightful! Thanks for hosting him.
Wonderful talk. Please consider either using microphones for audience comments and questions, or ask your speakers to recap them before giving their responses.
I wonder what Edward Feser thinks about this.
who cares
@@yeats7508 I care. Cusan theology seems to lack the Aristotelian-Thomistic rigour, even though I reject the latter. Feser would probably be good at countering claims made regarding Cusan views.
Anyone know the name at 11:49?
Alain de Libera, presumably in reference to works such as his 'Raison et Foi. Archéologie d'une crise' (2003)
The difficulty is that as Christian ontology gets more clear-headed (dumping the goofy atonement/ransom dualism) it starts sounding like Taoism, with Jesus as a tough-luck Lao-Tzu. Richard Rohr, for example, has absolutely beautiful sermons about the universal Christ, but I'm not clear why this couldn't just be called the Universal Bob.
Cusa, incidentally, really didn't have any notion of the intimate infinite, that's really Bruno.
Not saying this is what you’re saying but we should all note that poor elucidations of the atonement shouldn’t negate the atonement and it’s importance in it’s more original/biblical/Pauline/patristic manner.
I have no idea as to what this one is speaking of...
Seems like a nice fella though I suppose 😃
You're not alone. I prefer Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman. Lucid and with some surprising ideas. Maybe not to everyone's taste though. Big on Dogma and yet strangely reassuring.
Neither does he...
Read Cusan, 20th century Continental philosophy, de Lubac, Blondel and the Radical Orthodoxy theologians. Then you'll get it. In other words, He's talking to very few people.